The No.1 Anti-Fans in Basketball-Chapter 42: Atmospheric Player

O’Neal didn’t take Hansen to a nightclub, he invited him to his own house instead.

Although he had also arrived in Cleveland this season just like Hansen, the place he lived was completely different from where Hansen stayed.

What Hansen had was called a residential house; what O’Neal had was truly living life.

This mansion, covering over a thousand square meters, epitomized luxury and extravagance.

Just the luxury cars parked in the garage alone numbered five.

And this, it was merely one of O’Neal’s temporary residences.

It’s nice to be rich.

O’Neal took Hansen to the living room, then he went to his basement to retrieve a bottle of treasured liquor.

Hansen’s eyes lit up when he saw the bottle of liquor.

Because that was a bottle of Wuliangye!

Although in O’Neal’s hands it looked like a bottle of oral solution.

"This is from Yao," O’Neal revealed the origin of the bottle.

Hansen suddenly understood. He remembered news reports from back in the day about Yao Ming gifting his teammates Wuliangye, guessing that Yao had probably given a bottle to O’Neal too.

Speaking of which, O’Neal and Yao Ming had turned from enemies to friends, and now their relationship was quite good.

They poured the drinks and had a servant bring over some appetizers, and their conversation took off.

Starting with Yao Ming as the common link, then moving on to Miami, O’Neal had lived in Miami for nearly four years.

As the effects of the alcohol kicked in, they lazily lay on the sofa and discussed the events of the evening.

"You were a bit impulsive. Varejao is LeBron’s closest teammate after all," O’Neal turned his head.

Should one consider the master before beating the dog?

Hansen couldn’t help but scoff.

That saying was true, but the problem was he didn’t even respect the master of the dog.

It wasn’t an issue of personal ability, but rather the memories carried in the mind of this transmigrator.

Brothers basketball, hometown basketball, father and son basketball; six-step layups, seven championships, eight-point demobilization; Decision one, Decision two, Decision three; crowning himself, discontented life, shocking kneeling; "I won’t involve in selecting coach, I won’t interfere in drafting, I want to take a pay cut"...

Seeing Hansen’s reaction, O’Neal put down his wine glass and sat up straight.

"When I first came to Miami, I also had conflicts with Dwyane (Wade). We failed that season, but we ultimately chose to reconcile, and then we succeeded the following year."

O’Neal was using his own experiences to guide Hansen.

Hansen also put down his wine glass at this point.

"Shaq, why did you come to Cleveland?" he didn’t follow O’Neal’s topic, instead he posed a question back to O’Neal.

"Championships, Kobe has as many championships as I have now," O’Neal confessed his feelings as the wine deepened.

Don’t mention that Shaq and Kobe sharing the MVP at last year’s All-Star game means they reconciled, with so many conflicts in the past, and the infamous "Shaq’s doing it too", how could these be easily resolved?

The so-called reconciliation was just the League needing to tell some fairy tales to the fans.

O’Neal’s reason for joining the Cavaliers, which he just disclosed, was very true.

"I’m also doing it for the championships," Hansen straightened up.

O’Neal was a bit confused by what he heard. He advised Hansen to avoid conflicts with James and Varejao for the sake of championships, yet Hansen was arguing that his conflict was for the championships?

"Shaq, did you feel quite awkward playing at the beginning of the game tonight?"

O’Neal nodded. If Brown hadn’t replaced him with Hansen later, he wasn’t sure what his performance would have been like tonight.

"Do you think this situation would improve with LeBron’s return?" Hansen pressed O’Neal.

O’Neal furrowed his brow.

Today, Brown had replaced Moon with Hansen, which had improved the spacing on the court, but it was impossible for Brown to replace James with Hansen.

The answer to the question was quite clear.

"Not only will it not improve, but it’ll get worse," Hansen answered for O’Neal,

"LeBron has an immense desire for control over the ball; with him on the court, the Cavaliers can’t play like they did tonight."

O’Neal rubbed his head with his hand; Hansen’s words were really headache-inducing.

Yet, they were the truth.

"So to solve this problem, either LeBron should improve his three-point shooting to become a shooter or..." Hansen paused here,

"it’s about switching to a power forward who can create space."

After Hansen finished speaking, O’Neal’s forehead began to sweat involuntarily.

He heard the implied meaning in Hansen’s words.

Having Varejao, who completely lacks a shooting ability, clogs the offensive space too much. His presence inevitably leads to an irreconcilable situation between him and James.

He would face a situation with the Cavaliers similar to last season with the Phoenix Suns.

It was a choice between a seven-second offense and O’Neal for the Sun’s, and for the Cavaliers, it would be James versus O’Neal.

However, the difference was that James’ position in the Cavaliers was unshakable. The inevitable result would not be balanced, but his gradual marginalization.

He might even be squeezed out of the starting lineup.

Wiping his sweat, he couldn’t help but look at Hansen.

This 21-year-old kid saw things too far ahead!

Of course, he wouldn’t know that Hansen had seen this in his past life, how awkward it was when James and O’Neal played together.

"But the Cavaliers don’t have the kind of power forward you’re talking about," O’Neal reminded.

"Yes, Dante Conningham," Hansen named someone who had been overlooked.

"He’s just a rookie."

"He’s played four years of college. It might be more fitting to call him an ’old rookie.’"

O’Neal stroked his chin thoughtfully for a while.

He could see that Hansen had a good relationship with Conningham.

So what Hansen said wasn’t wrong, but it was clear he also had his own interests at heart.

And since Hansen had brought up Conningham, it was essentially an invitation, an invitation to help remove Varejao from the starting lineup.

But removing Varejao would inevitably lead to a conflict with James.

So that was why Hansen had originally asked him why he came to the Cavaliers?

He wanted him to weigh his options and make a choice.

He couldn’t help but look again at Hansen, feeling, like Malone, that he couldn’t see through this young man.

"LeBron’s contract expires next summer, and the Cavaliers’ only goal this year is the championship. Even if Dante could start, the management would worry about his experience and would try to trade for a stronger space-creating power forward."

Just then, Hansen added another weight to the scales O’Neal was weighing.

"You’re right, for the championship, Varejao has to come out of the starting lineup," O’Neal picked up his wine glass again.

Hansen also raised his glass, and the two drank after clinking glasses.

The night was deep, O’Neal had gone back to his room to sleep, but Hansen was still sitting in the living room.

His mood was rather good.

The conversations they had earlier were actually meant to be shared later, once James and O’Neal were clearly having issues, as that would have given Hansen a better chance of persuading O’Neal.

But O’Neal had unexpectedly invited him over, and they had drinks and touched upon the topic, so he took the opportunity.

And pushing Varejao out of the starting lineup was only his shallowest purpose.

Having Conningham start would inevitably decrease the interior defense, which would bring a cascading effect that necessitated strong perimeter defenders.

This would increase his chances of getting into the starting lineup or at least increase his playing time.

Of course, that was only the second layer.

Because regardless of whether he worked against Varejao, the Cavaliers would eventually realize the integration problems between James and O’Neal, and just like in history, they would kick Varejao out of the starting lineup and trade for a top-tier space-creating power forward like Antoine Jamison.

So the third layer, which was his deepest purpose, was what he originally intended to do: unite O’Neal.

O’Neal was not Malone, especially at this point in his career after having gone through so many ups and downs, he was very shrewd.

He wouldn’t just offend James because he liked him or had a rapport with him.

Especially since O’Neal had even mentioned Dwyane earlier in the evening. If he could let Dwyane go, what about James?

But ultimately people are selfish, and when their own interests are harmed, it triggers a defensive mechanism.

And once O’Neal and he worked together against Varejao, they would naturally stand against James.

Thus, naturally, they would unite.