The No.1 Anti-Fans in Basketball
Chapter 272 - 157: Reunion After a Long Separation

Chapter 272: Chapter 157: Reunion After a Long Separation

After the dust settled on the trades, Paul, who had just arrived in Los Angeles, could hardly contain his excitement and immediately posted on his personal social media:

"It’s our turn now!"

However, his status quickly became a battlefield for LeBron fans and Kobe fans, and it was incredibly thrilling.

"Kobe is the least talented superstar ever, first he was clinging to O’Neal, then to Gasol, and now he’s starting to cling to Paul!"

"The Lakers are the cancer of the League, they got Gasol with some scraps, and now they’ve got Paul with scraps! It seems like they are the only ones who deserve to win championships!"

"Weren’t you the ones who said Bynum and Odom were the Lakers’ Big Three, Four Pillars? How come they’ve suddenly turned into scraps? Odom was the best sixth man last season!"

"And you talk about LeBron forming super teams, isn’t this one even bigger? Paul is better than Wade, Gasol is better than Bosh, plus there’s Okafor, haha."

"Yeah, at least we formed our team with free agents, you always rob through trades, shameless!"

"That’s still one-man-one-city Kobe for you, any time the team struggles, he cries about leaving, forces the management to spend big, but I don’t get my hands dirty."

"Wow, the eunuchs can really invert right and wrong, talking as if LeBron is so clean. Go read Gilbert’s open letter!"

"So, no one is cleaner than anyone else, stop pretending, everyone is peak super team."

"You guys are amazing, forcefully comparing yourselves to Jordan, then you get to be historically second? Treat our normal trade like a super team, and then everyone does the same?"

...

Hansen was also shocked when he saw this message.

This wasn’t like the "history" he knew; Paul and Kobe had really teamed up!

Paul, Kobe, Gasol together might not be as exaggerated as Paul, Kobe, Howard, but it was still remarkable.

And Okafor, the center who had beaten Howard for Rookie of the Year, though his abilities had declined with age, he was still strong.

Undoubtedly, after this trade, the Lakers’ on-paper strength was not inferior and might even be said to surpass the Heat’s Three Giants.

No wonder the LeBron fans were so agitated on social media, attributing last season’s loss to an accident, but now, they had to face this new behemoth, the Lakers.

Hansen hadn’t expected that his casual suggestion to O’Neal to join the Mavericks would trigger such a massive chain reaction.

It really felt a bit like "It’s all because Qiu Chuji passed by Niu’s Village."

But after his initial surprise, his emotion wasn’t regret but excitement.

Just like Nowitzki once said, competing against the best makes you stronger.

And speaking of which, this Lakers team was more conducive for him to increase his troll value.

If he could knock this Lakers team down, he wouldn’t need to say anything, and he would be trashed by the Kobe fans.

"Do you know what you’ve done? You’ve ruined our boss’s last chance to surpass Jordan!"

Just thinking about it was thrilling.

And this Lakers team definitely had weaknesses. Starting Kobe, Paul, Gasol, Okafor, their combined salaries already exceeded the salary cap.

That meant their bench quality definitely wasn’t great; at best, they could use a mid-level exception, and if they didn’t sign the right players, they might face rotation issues like last season’s Grizzlies.

No, maybe bigger problems than the Grizzlies since next season’s schedule is packed, and any injury would be a significant loss.

So, the Grizzlies would definitely have a chance against the Lakers.

Turning his attention away from the overwhelming news, Hansen checked on the Mavericks.

Chandler had finally signed a 5-year, $70 million contract with the Mavericks, the average salary matching what the New York Knicks offered, but with an additional year team option.

The Mavericks did not re-sign Caron Butler, who reached a 3-year, $24 million contract with the Clippers.

There were salary issues and internal conflicts; Butler and Marion had overlapping playing styles and did not get along well last season.

To offset the impact of Butler’s departure, the Mavericks used their mid-level exception to sign Carter to a 3-year, $9 million contract.

Meanwhile, they traded Haywood and the 2012 first-round pick to the Wizards for Andre Blatche.

Blatche had a career-high 16.8 points last season, although the Wizards were at the bottom of The East.

Having seen this series of maneuvers, Hansen admired Cuban.

Because after Paul went to the Lakers, the most sensible thing for Cuban to do would have been to disregard the words he said during the championship speech and clear cap space for the 2012 free-agent market.

But perhaps that’s just Cuban’s style; the Lakers’ move could have spurred him on.

Or maybe, the air of championship the Mavericks were supposed to lose after their title was rekindled by the Lakers’ actions.

Add to that the Thunder strengthened by adding Fisher, the ageless Spurs, the rising Griffin, and the "track team" Nuggets.

Even though the new season’s schedule was condensed, the hellish level of The West was back.

Whoever emerged from The West next season would surely have to go through a tough battle.

Time quickly moved to December 24.

This day is Christmas in the United States and also the day before the official start of the season.

"Octopus" Stan worked overtime and published his first power rankings of the new season before it officially began.