The No.1 Anti-Fans in Basketball-Chapter 533 - 264: Irving Has Only One Instruction Manual

"In history," Zion Williams burst his PG2.5 sneaker during his NCAA debut, causing Nike to lose $1.3 billion.

Hansen’s opening game played until the Grizzlies underwent a change of ownership, which was quite a similar sensation.

However, team trades aren’t something that can be completed overnight because they involve a series of complex issues such as finance, law, and debt, especially for owners like Heisley who don’t have much financial strength and also have to deal with loans.

Moreover, the League will also need to conduct a series of reviews and evaluations, and the trade can only be effective after their approval.

Therefore, this trade is expected to be finalized at the earliest by the All-Star break.

If that’s the case, the All-Star Game will also become particularly interesting.

Time quickly moved to December, and the new season had already finished its first month of competition.

The team that performed most impressively in this month was neither the Lakers nor the Heat or Rockets but the Warriors.

The Warriors, ranked twelfth in Stan’s prediction, turned out a record of 14 wins and 2 losses in November and now stand at the top of the League with a total record of 15 wins and 2 losses!

Such a performance not only slap Stan in the face but also was a huge embarrassment for Nike.

They had laid out plans all summer long and had always been closely watching Hansen and the Cavaliers, only to be blindsided by Curry, the number two figure at UA!

Since Cole took over the Warriors, he boldly promoted Green and Barnes to the starting lineup, and placed the two All-Stars David Lee and Iguodala on the bench, which not only greatly increased the offensive spacing for the Warriors’ starters but also made the Warriors’ bench depth the best in the League.

But what’s more crucial is the performance of the team’s core, Curry.

Curry in November averaged 25.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, 7.8 assists, and 1.9 steals per game, with a 44% three-point shooting percentage, and was selected as the Western Conference Player of the Month for the first time in his career.

After becoming the team’s first tactical option, he unleashed amazing energy.

And the Eastern Conference Player of the Month was Hansen.

Hansen averaged 30.7 points, 5.6 rebounds, 8.9 assists, 3.1 steals, and 1.6 blocks per game in November, with a shooting percentage of 51.4%, leading the Cavaliers to an 11-win, 5-loss record.

No matter how hard Nike’s executives racked their brains, they couldn’t have imagined their perfectly planned season would start with the monthly best being monopolized by UA!

That was really a huge blow.

But thankfully, the season had just begun, and Nike’s Heat and Rockets were still performing well in terms of record.

The Heat stood at the top of The East with a 13-win, 3-loss record, with the Rockets following close behind the Warriors with a 13-win, 4-loss record at second place.

On the other hand, the Lakers team, which had been highly anticipated before the season, performed somewhat below expectations, ranking third in The West with a 12-win, 5-loss record.

Their main problem still came from James.

This time it wasn’t James messing around on the court, as he played the role of the organizer comfortably when on the court with Kobe.

This was somewhat unexpected but considering it was Nike’s layout, it also made sense.

The key issue was James’s attacking power.

There are too many strong teams in The West, and the wing configurations are also top-notch.

The Warriors have Iguodala, the San Antonio Spurs have Leonard, the Rockets have Ariza, the Grizzlies have Guy and Wiggins, and even the Blazers have Batum. This meant that James was living on the edge every day.

And once James had trouble with attacking, they could only rely on Kobe to brute force it.

Although Kobe hadn’t suffered an ankle fracture like in "history," he was already 36 years old and could hardly maintain offensive efficiency while being the main attacker for a long time in the games.

One day, Griffin handed Hansen his Player of the Month trophy.

Big awards like the MVP would have a special ceremony, but smaller awards like this one, which were just a trophy handout, only mattered to certain groups who liked honors and would trot them out when bested.

Of course, Griffin’s visit wasn’t just to deliver the trophy. He also gave Hansen a hint—that if Hansen needed it, the team could make trades.

The Cavaliers’ current rank was third in The East, only behind the Heat and the unexpectedly rising Hawks.

But this also exposed some problems.

The first and foremost was defense. Although Hansen put out monstrous defensive numbers in November, the Cavaliers’ defensive efficiency was only ranked tenth in the League.

Defense is never a one-man job.

Irving and Hawes were always targeted by opponents on the court.

In the game against the San Antonio Spurs, their defensive performance could only be described as disastrous.

This also explained why the Cavaliers, despite their strong roster last season, failed to make the playoffs.

Defense is always key to winning, no matter the era.

Even the Warriors were no exception. They had played basketball systems like their current one before. Old Nelson’s run-and-gun strategy was even more comprehensive than Cole’s, but the current Warriors team shone only after Mark Jackson instilled a defensive gene, creating a team that excelled on both offense and defense.

The next issue was Irving’s performance.

He averaged 15.8 points and 6.8 assists in November, with only a 42% shooting percentage, which obviously did not meet the team’s expectations.

This even led to a significant amount of chatter about the Cavaliers trading Irving.

After all, Irving had never proven himself; now that he wasn’t playing well, it seemed a better choice for the Cavaliers to cut their losses and trade early.

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