The No.1 Anti-Fans in Basketball
Chapter 339 - 185: Finals, Here We Come!

Chapter 339: Chapter 185: Finals, Here We Come!

In fact, the nightclub story wasn’t only circulating in Oklahoma City.

In the latest episode of the show, Barkley and his crew already started to poke fun at this news.

Thunders fans were even more furious.

No wonder the Thunders were performing so poorly on the road; it turned out that Harden was enjoying himself at nightclubs.

This was to be expected, after all, Harden has always had a fondness for nightclubs.

It’s all Harden’s fault. If he hadn’t played so poorly, the Thunders should have been leading 3 to 1.

Wrong, it’s the dastardly Grizzlies who actually resorted to foul play, drawing Harden into their "honey trap."

When the words "Harden" and "nightclub" were linked together, many memories also awoke in Hansen’s mind.

Harden was indeed a frequent visitor of nightclubs, at a level that could get his jersey retired by a nightclub.

However, when it really came down to the series against the Thunders, combined with what he knew of "history," Hansen began to feel that things weren’t as simple as they seemed.

One could clearly feel in Game 3 that the internal dynamics of the Thunders weren’t as solid as imagined; contradictions were evident.

That could actually explain why Harden went to a nightclub.

It was his timid nature that dictated this; he wasn’t the type to burst out in defiance when internal conflicts arose.

So, someone who wouldn’t fight back would naturally go to the place where they felt most comfortable to relax when they felt wronged.

And the fact that this incident was exposed by Oklahoma City media instead of Memphis media was very interesting; it was like cutting off Harden’s retreat.

Combined with Fisher’s news, the situation seemed to make sense:

After Game 3, when the team lost, Harden wanted to increase his ball-handling rights to help the team win, but Westbrook wasn’t willing, and some disputes arose. Then Fisher, as the "locker room leader," scolded Harden, who then went to the nightclub in a bad mood.

So, all this was a manifestation of the struggle for ball rights.

Westbrook was close with Durant, and Westbrook had just signed a 5-year, $80 million renewal contract with the Thunders last summer.

This was similar to Guy’s situation; the Thunders wouldn’t give Westbrook such a big contract without granting him enough ball rights.

So Hansen’s knowledge of that "6 million history" became clearer.

It appeared to be a gap of 6 million in the contract amount, but in reality, it was about obeying the team’s arrangements and playing a role like Manu Ginobili honestly. Harden wasn’t willing, so he was naturally traded away.

People say that the Thunders’ management made foolish trades, but in fact, it treated the players like characters in a game.

However, there was no excuse for Harden’s nightclub visit, and the critical point was that he performed poorly after visiting the nightclub, which was asking for trouble.

Jordan still went gambling all night during the Finals and came back to dominate on the court.

If you can’t take the heat, stay out of the kitchen. Harden just didn’t have the ability.

After understanding this, Hansen knew the series was over.

Because the release of this news almost officially announced the Thunders’ internal conflicts.

What a team with internal issues would end up playing like, the Grizzlies didn’t need to be told; they had experienced it themselves.

to 82, the Grizzlies ultimately delivered a 20-point thrashing to the Thunders on the road, sending them fishing.

At the end of the match, the Ford Center was deathly silent.

This was a stark difference from last season when the Grizzlies lost to the Mavericks.

Last season, although the Grizzlies lost, they showed a promising future, but now the Thunders only had despair.

Of course, there was another thing, the Grizzlies, like them, were also a young team; there was no way to outlast them, and the Grizzlies were destined to be their nemesis in the future.

Moreover, they had to watch the Grizzlies celebrate.

The Grizzlies’ players could hardly contain themselves.

Having established their victory early, they had long been waiting for the end of the game.

Or rather, since defeating the Lakers, they had been waiting for this moment.

So when the final whistle blew, both players on the court and on the bench began to scream and celebrate wildly.

Han even had a big chest bump with Guy.

They had finally won!

They were heading to the Finals!

Battier seemed a bit dazed, however.

When he joined the team last season, his only thought was to win a playoff game for the Grizzlies...

But now, he was about to contend for the championship with this team!

"It sounds unbelievable, but now, the Memphis people are going to make a run at their first-ever championship in their 18-year team history!" Barkley exclaimed from the commentary seat.

"The Grizzlies have been incredible this season, successively eliminating the Mavericks, Lakers, and Thunders, three teams considered championship-caliber. If they finally win the championship, it will be an epic victory!" Kenny Smith also echoed.

Before this, no one thought that the team to emerge from The West would be the Grizzlies.

Even though they performed well at the end of the regular season, many teams were already resting their main players for the playoffs.

But the Grizzlies got there one step at a time.

"They even withstood the pressure of biased refereeing; I don’t know what could stop them," O’Neal lamented, feeling an unstoppable sense of regret.

Watching the Grizzlies’ celebration, that earlier thought came back uncontrollably.

How wonderful it would be for him to be on this Grizzlies team!

At the postgame press conference, Han and Randolph appeared together.

Scoring 20 points tonight, it was Randolph’s first since entering the postseason, and his performance was clearly revived.