The No.1 Anti-Fans in Basketball-Chapter 548 - 270

The next day, after the team’s practice session ended, Hansen threw a rubber wristband to JR.

JR caught the wristband and looked puzzled, but when he picked it up at Hansen’s gesture and saw the words printed on it, his expression froze.

Because it bore the name Andre Bell.

Hansen hadn’t heard JR’s story, as JR was just a minor figure in the long history of the NBA.

But he had heard another story related to Westbrook.

Westbrook always liked to wear a rubber wristband during games, emblazoned with the letters KB3.

KB didn’t stand for Kobe, but for his close friend Casey Bass.

Unlike JR, whose recklessness led to his friend’s death, Bass died of a heart attack during a game.

Bass was a high school student, as renowned as Durant and Jerald Green, and was destined for the NBA, but fate found him before tomorrow did.

Since then, Westbrook wore that wristband, living on for his friend as well.

That was also why Hansen had spoken the way he did to Lue.

If this couldn’t awaken JR’s fighting spirit, then perhaps JR really should be thrown in the trash.

JR put on the wristband, and their additional training began shortly.

Hansen could distinctly feel that JR had changed.

His defense hadn’t improved much, as those bad habits couldn’t be changed overnight, but he was indeed becoming more proactive.

It seemed the tactic was effective.

After all, Bell’s death was a seven-year-old story. Maybe, as Hansen had said, JR hardly paid attention to his own tattoo on his neck.

But Hansen had awakened his memory in such a way, constantly reminding him.

A week later, it was late January.

That day, Hansen summoned Malone and Griffin and played a one-on-one game with JR in front of them.

JR still couldn’t guard Hansen, but Malone was surprised.

Because JR’s defense had noticeably improved, something he hadn’t seen throughout the season.

He finally understood why Hansen had specifically called him.

After the one-on-one game, Malone agreed to let JR join the team practice.

Then Griffin also agreed to lift JR’s suspension, with the condition that if JR committed any more team-damaging acts on the court, the Cavaliers would cut him.

While the Cavaliers were lifting JR’s suspension, the NBA All-Star game voting results were announced.

Hansen had been voted the top player in the East, but lost the overall top vote-getter by 100,000 votes to Curry.

It was no surprise that Curry, with the Warriors having an exceptional season, received more votes than Nike affiliates like James, Kobe, Durant, Harden, and other stars.

But it was odd that Hansen had lost this top spot.

In past years when he had been voted top, the margins were overwhelming.

Could it be because the move to Cleveland resulted in East University fans not voting for him?

Impossible!

Even last year when the national team lost World Cup qualification and domestic criticism of Hansen was at its peak, he still had over a million more votes than the runner-up.

Moreover, it wasn’t just Hansen’s vote count that was unusual; Irving also fell behind Wall and Wade in votes, missing out on an Eastern Conference starting spot.

This year, to give Irving a better chance, Hansen had even listed himself as a forward.

Subsequently, East University fans revealed the answer through a series of queries on social media.

Their votes in this All-Star election had been disregarded.

Even going to the official voting site, once their IP was recognized, their votes were automatically deemed invalid.

This caused a major uproar domestically in East University, but was practically unreported in the United States.

Clearly, after years of protest by U.S. fans and players, the League had finally altered the All-Star voting mechanism under League President Silva following Stern.

Stern, favoring the Nike affiliates and more focused on the international market due to Jordan, contrasted Silva who valued money and competition, focusing more on the domestic U.S. market.

So, with East University fans largely dominating the All-Star vote outcomes in recent years due to Hansen’s rise, along with Curry’s sudden prominence and the Cavaliers thriving under Hansen in the East, the UA affiliates clearly outweighing the Nike affiliates, he probably decided to balance it further.

Hansen then raised questions on social media:

"East University has a large market—does that make them inherently invalid for All-Star voting?"

He understood the reasoning, but wasn’t the East contributing the most to the All-Star game viewership?

Silva, instead of thinking how to expand the East Market, was practicing discrimination?

Hansen’s action in speaking out for East University fans gained their support but also resulted in a lot of backlash from U.S. fans on his social media.

"Benefiting and still playing the victim, all these years you’ve been voted top because the voting system is flawed!"

"Not enough popularity but blaming the voting system! Isn’t it because the Cavaliers are performing poorly?"

"Great, we can finally watch the stars we like in the All-Star game, you’ll never get top votes again!"

"Tired of seeing you win top votes over and over, don’t throw a fit just because you lost this time!"

...

Hansen faced a lot of negativity, but it genuinely upset him.

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