The No.1 Anti-Fans in Basketball-Chapter 56 [Wave Riding Skill]

In just one week, Hansen’s anti-fans score had skyrocketed from over 90,000 to 160,000.

East University was known for having many star players, and consequently, plenty of anti-fans.

Of course, some of these were contributions from LeBron fans.

After he had declined LeBron James’s kindness, LeBron fans had started to target him more intensely.

Subsequently, as his playtime decreased and his performance declined, the criticisms naturally intensified.

Nevertheless, he could finally exchange for new talent.

He accessed the Anti-Fans System, scrolled to the second gear, and directly exchanged for the "Wave Riding Skill" worth 160,000 anti-fans points.

"Wave Riding Skill": A talent that enhances explosive power, change of direction speed, and bodily coordination.

Explosive power is crucial in determining the speed of the first step in a breakthrough.

No need to elaborate on the change of direction speed.

Then there’s bodily coordination, which affects the stability of finishing layups.

Previously, Hansen’s breakthroughs were inadequate, fundamentally due to a lack of explosive power and coordination talent.

Now all that was rectified in one go.

Moreover, since he had been consistently training on breakthroughs, it was foreseeable that he would reach his talent ceiling much quicker than with the previous "Star Catcher" skill.

The next day, Hansen started to seek out Conningham for targeted extra training.

Conningham was also training on how to control fouls on the defensive end, and the two hit it off immediately.

However, after training for a while, Hansen found that training with Conningham was not very effective.

It wasn’t that Conningham’s defensive ability was lacking, but as an insider, his footwork differed significantly from perimeter players.

This meant that after not long, Hansen could easily bypass him.

"I can’t guard you," Conningham eventually surrendered, admitting that this style of practice wasn’t much help to him either.

Consequently, Hansen had to switch partners.

Beyond him, the Cavaliers had other guards known for their defense, including veteran Parker and Delonte West.

Parker was amiable and had no conflicts with Hansen, but since they directly competed for the starting shooting guard position, it wasn’t quite fitting.

Hansen eventually chose West.

West was a 2004 rookie, entering the league a year after LeBron James, but like Hansen, had played three years in college before entering the NBA, making him 26 that year.

Although West had also been with the Cavaliers for two years, his reclusive nature meant he wasn’t particularly liked by LeBron James and his circle.

And unlike Parker, West was mainly competing for playtime with another of LeBron’s "Sword Guards," Daniel Gibson.

So although they were both guards, there was no direct competition between him and Hansen.

Hansen had good chemistry with West when he was a substitute, and after being pulled from the starting lineup by Coach Brown, he still more often played alongside West, making them quite familiar with each other.

Thus, when Hansen approached him about training together to fight for more gameplay and offered him an extra Magic Sound custom earphone, West readily agreed.

Training with West, Hansen quickly recaptured the feeling he had when he used to train with Wade.

Although West was slightly shorter, his defense was formidable, even oppressive due to his quick steals.

After all, he was the one mismatched against Turkoglu and Lewis during the Eastern Conference Finals against the Magic Team.

Considering the Cavaliers had Pavlovic and Szebiak, perimeter players with good size and defense, but West could still keep them on the bench, showed he had something special.

A month flashed by, and it was already mid-December.

By now, only about ten days were left until Christmas, the United States’ most significant holiday.

After a month of high-intensity training, Hansen’s breakthrough abilities had improved dramatically.

Adding his strong physical play, West was gradually finding it harder to guard him.

Of course, Hansen was still far from reaching his ceiling.

This meant that to advance further, he could only rely on facing stronger opponents in actual games.

On the day they played against the Wizards Team, Hansen and West had an extra training session in the afternoon.

After the session, they chatted as they walked back to the locker room.

But once they entered the locker room, their conversation stopped abruptly and both of them were stunned.

At the entrance, a woman was rummaging through a locker.

NBA locker rooms have strict access requirements; even staff members can’t enter without permission, let alone women.

Could it possibly be a thief in the locker room?

They had just finished training and were shirtless because of the heat. Hansen reacted quickly and put on his jersey, while West was still in shock.

The woman turned around, her gaze lingering on the shirtless West for a moment before she spoke:

"No need to be nervous, I’m Gloria James, I’m just here to pick up some stuff for my son."

The woman spoke politely, but Hansen and West simultaneously widened their eyes in surprise.

It was James’s mother!

Upon realizing who she was, Hansen turned to signal West to put on his shirt.

West, belatedly realizing, quickly pulled on his jersey.

The atmosphere was slightly awkward; they exchanged brief greetings and then returned to their respective places to sit.

Before long, James’s mother took what she needed and left the locker room.

Hansen came back to his senses and couldn’t help but shake his head.

NBA locker rooms do not allow outsiders, including family members of the players.

James surely knew that, yet here he was, trampling on both Brown’s authority and the team rules once again.

That evening, the Cavaliers hosted the Wizards.

Lately, the Cavaliers had been inconsistent and were now third in The East, trailing behind both the Celtics and the Magic Team, which was a disappointment to the fans.

The Wizards welcomed back Arenas this season, and with Arenas, Antoine Jamison, and Caron Butler all present, their trio was complete.

However, after years of turmoil, both their ability and morale were at rock bottom, recently having endured a six-game losing streak.

Facing such an opponent, it was a good chance for the Cavaliers and their fans to let off steam.

But once the game started, the Cavaliers’ performance was disheartening again.

O’Neal sat out due to knee pain, and the starting lineup heavily relied on James to break through for points.

Neither Mo Williams nor old Parker could hit from the outside, going clang after clang.

This forced James to forcefully push inside, managing to score by drawing fouls.

On the Wizards’ side, Arenas reciprocated with his own share of missed shots from the outside.

But Jamison was in great form today, not only outplaying Conningham but also drawing numerous defensive fouls against Ilgauskas.

Jamison wasn’t very famous, and Hansen didn’t know much about him.

All he knew was that Jamison was a guard of the 20,000-point club, had made an All-Star appearance, and had been significantly underrated after being traded to the Cavaliers.

Given his performance on the court, both his individual skills and influence in the game were strong, and he was in fine form.

If Jamison was indeed traded to the Cavaliers as he’d heard, it would definitely be a huge boost.

The teams were evenly matched in the first quarter, with Hansen entering the game at the start of the second quarter.

The Wizards’ bench strength was average, and during this time, Hansen and West worked together to extend the lead to double digits for the Cavaliers.

However, after playing for five minutes, Hansen was substituted off.

This was the situation he was currently facing; Brown, under immense external pressure, was adamantly executing James’s demands by strictly controlling his playtime.

After three quarters, the Cavaliers were trailing by three points, 72 to 75, going into the final quarter.

And it was this last quarter that shattered the mentality of the fans in the arena.

The Cavaliers lost the quarter 19 to 33, losing to the Wizards by 14 points and ultimately by 17 points, 91 to 108.

Before the game even ended, boos of dissatisfaction from Cleveland fans began to fill the venue.

Eventually, the chorus of displeasure morphed into a unified chant:

"Brown, you’re fired!"

This was not a spur-of-the-moment outburst, as for the past month, Brown had been stubbornly facing external pressure.

Tonight, with Hansen performing so well yet receiving only a meager 15 minutes of playtime and the team losing to a weaker opponent, the fans could no longer tolerate it.