The No.1 Anti-Fans in Basketball
Chapter 618 - 302 "I Have Never Played for a Super Team

Chapter 618: Chapter 302 "I Have Never Played for a Super Team

Hearing Jokic’s words, Hansen recalled a news article he had read before crossing over, which mentioned that Jokic had considered retiring after leading the Nuggets to their first championship.

At the time, he thought Jokic was just showing off, since people’s desires always increase—after one championship, they want a second, a third, and then to surpass Jordan.

But now, it seemed that everyone had their own ideas, and maybe that was really what Jokic wanted to do.

For him, he had made money, won championships, and played basketball for many years; it was time to enjoy life.

However, once a person becomes famous, they can no longer control their own life.

Because when you’re barefoot, you can do whatever you like, but once you wear shoes, there’s a lot more to consider.

Teams, fans, sponsors, contracts...

Even for ordinary people, the dreams of their student days get crushed by reality, and the idea of impulsively traveling only exists in short videos.

Of course, all that was a problem for Jokic to worry about later.

"I’ve made enough money"—but he hadn’t actually made any money yet!

So, Hansen thought this might be the key to motivating this carefree young man.

"Nikola, do you like horse racing?" Hansen found his entry point.

"Yes, it’s the most interesting sport in the world!" Jokic’s face lit up at the mention.

"Can a horse handle you riding it?" Hansen looked puzzled.

You know, even Lv Bu described in Romance of the Three Kingdoms was only about 207 cm tall, and Jokic, at 211 cm, would surely flatten the horse, right?

"No no, I don’t ride the horses."

Feeling Hansen’s interest, Jokic moved his stool closer and explained.

It turns out, in Serbia, horse racing isn’t about riding on horses, nor is it betting on horses like in Hong Kong movies, but rather sitting in a small cart attached to a horse and racing that way.

This sounded a bit like the chariot races in ancient times during the Warring States period at East University.

"Nikola, when this season’s over, I’ll go back with you to Serbia and take part in that horse race you mentioned," Hansen promised, considering it a compensation for calling Jokic to Cleveland ahead of schedule.

Jokic was incredulous after hearing this.

But soon, he looked regretful.

"What, no horse races next year?" Hansen looked confused, wondering if horse racing happened only once every four years like the Olympics?

"It’s not that, I just don’t have a horse."

Jokic’s response surprised Hansen—how had he participated in races without a horse?

Fortunately, Jokic quickly explained, "I was planning to use my advanced salary to buy a horse, but..."

The rest didn’t need to be said. It was because Hansen had called him early to Cleveland, and that money went to housing.

Hansen brightened up, "How about this—if our team wins the championship this year, I’ll buy you the best racehorse in the world, how does that sound?"

"No need, just the best from Songbor is fine," said Jokic, referring to his hometown.

With that, the deal was sealed.

Hansen smiled and fist bumped with Jokic, sealing their agreement.

On Christmas Day, Hansen got up early and headed to Los Angeles with Jokic, Tucker, some other teammates, and the coaching staff.

It was while they were on the plane that a piece of news started circulating all over social media.

Thanks to the league’s publicity machine, interest in the Christmas Battle was off the charts.

As one of the main figures, LeBron naturally faced interviews.

In one, he was asked about Hansen’s previous comments about teaming up.

"I have never played in a super team. I don’t agree with that notion. Before I joined the Heat, they were just a team with 47 wins and 35 losses, the Lakers were the same, truly they weren’t."

Only for LeBron to surprise everyone with his answer.

This directly caused a social media earthquake.

"You joined not just a 47-win Heat, but a 47-win team plus Chris Bosh."

"You emphasize the team’s record before you joined, but you omit to mention your teammate’s stats."

"How could you have the confidence to claim you’d win more than 7 championships if it weren’t for a super team?"

...

Perhaps at this moment, LeBron fans would realize that the biggest LeBron critic might actually be LeBron himself!

Hansen saw this news after disembarking.

He thought of a thousand ways LeBron could’ve responded, but never expected this one.

When they arrived at the gym for the public training session, Hansen was naturally asked about LeBron’s super team comments.

Interestingly, last season, Hansen had even joked about always being on a super team.

"Even a child should know what the definition of a super team is."

In fact, thinking about it, it wasn’t strange for LeBron to say this, because, just like redefining ’the greatest of all time,’ the best way to destroy a word’s meaning is to redefine it.

’The greatest’ has always been the highest mountain, so I’ll define the longest river;

A super team is this season’s strength, so I’ll define last season’s strength.

This logic might seem absurd, but that’s LeBron.

However, Hansen didn’t plan to end the topic there, and he seriously analyzed LeBron’s comments once more:

"We all know that DW was a top-five player in the league at the time, and Chris Bosh was a top ten. If it were without other stars joining, they would just be championship contenders, not a super team. So, is LeBron saying he was just a role player back then?"