The No.1 Anti-Fans in Basketball
Chapter 508 - 253 Cleveland Welcomes Back Their King_3

Chapter 508: Chapter 253 Cleveland Welcomes Back Their King_3

The 2014 NBA Draft was set to take place at 8 o’clock on the evening of June 26th at the Barclays Center in Brook, New York.

However, before the draft began, an announcement from the league office shocked the entire NBA.

The Cavaliers traded away the 2014 first overall pick, 2013 first overall pick Norrense Noel, the fourth overall pick of 2012 Dion Waiters, unprotected first-round picks in 2016 and 2018, and a trade exception worth five million dollars to acquire Hansen and James Johnson from the Grizzlies!

Even though there had been various rumors beforehand, when the trade actually happened, it still caused a severe shock.

Without exaggeration, the level of surprise from this trade was comparable to when Jordan announced his retirement after completing his first dynasty.

Furthermore, there was widespread speculation, with the dominant opinion suggesting that perhaps Hansen, like Jordan back then, had lost interest in contending for championships with the Grizzlies.

After all, given everything he had accomplished with the Grizzlies, no one would have traded him unless he himself had wanted it.

Yet this conversation didn’t last long, because right after the trade broke, Carrell published an even more explosive news piece on TNT.

"Hansen was ready to lead the Grizzlies to a four-peat, but Grizzlies owner Heisley decided to trade him in order to avoid paying taxes."

In the article, he also revealed details that Hansen had always opposed trading Guy and Randolph, which led to building resentment between him and Heisley, and that was the reason for the trade.

Just like many people knew Windhorst was James’s go-to reporter, over the years, everyone also knew about the relationship between Carrell and Hansen.

So when this exclusive news broke, it immediately made the fans in Memphis go ballistic.

The fans believed it without a doubt, because Wallace’s earlier resignation finally found a reasonable explanation—he was fired because he didn’t want to trade Hansen!

Not only was Heisley lambasted by the fans in Memphis, but the new general manager Rush also became the target of public anger.

Heisley quickly made a clarification on social media: It was Hansen himself who wanted to leave! That was a condition in the supermax contract that Hansen had signed!

He even tagged the informed Wallace and Hansen’s agent Thomas.

But unfortunately, both Wallace and Thomas chose to remain silent at this time.

Not just them, players from the Grizzlies had collectively vanished that day.

Then came the thrilling part.

As Adam Silva came out backstage with a smile, hosting the first draft of his tenure as commissioner, the local police in Memphis also announced that Heisley’s mansion had been the target of an arson attack.

Even the luxury cars parked in his driveway had been vandalized.

At the same time, a large number of Grizzlies fans gathered outside the FedEx Forum, raising placards and shouting slogans like "Heisley out of Memphis."

It was said that Heisley took a flight out of Memphis overnight.

He must have had a mental preparation, even made contingency plans, but he had never expected Hansen to seek revenge in such a shameless manner.

Even worse, now the Grizzlies fans believed only what Hansen said.

Was Memphis in chaos? Tonight, the fans would have the final say.

This scene was very much like the reaction of fans following James’s decision back then, except now the story’s protagonist shifted from James to Heisley.

And the other protagonists of the story, the fans in Cleveland, started pouring into the streets on their own after hearing the news.

They hadn’t been summoned by anyone, but the scale was unprecedented.

The news reporters from all major media outlets also rushed to the streets to capture footage.

They witnessed many unbelievable scenes.

For instance, lots of people had made a multitude of signs on their way there, with messages like "Welcome home, Hansen," "We’ve missed you so much, Hansen."

Another example was the large number of fans donning Hansen’s old number 77 Cavaliers jersey.

It was at this moment the world realized that Hansen’s popularity in Cleveland had not stemmed from his success with the Grizzlies, but rather was established during his rookie season with the Cavaliers.

Even though some people had put on weight over the four years and the jerseys now looked like tight shirts, it did nothing to diminish the excitement on their faces.

They began chanting Hansen’s name and kept gathering outside the Quicken Loans Arena.

The king of Cleveland was coming back!