CHAPTER 670: CHAPTER 323: JAMES FINALLY BRINGS A CHAMPIONSHIP TO THE CAVALIERS (PART 2)

So at this moment, Griffin’s recognition of Hansen’s draft vision is unparalleled.

When Hansen saw the draft list, he, who was originally leaning there, sat up as well.

This year, there are quite a few players to hit big on.

The Cavaliers have a first-round pick this year, although it’s the 30th pick, with a little maneuvering, there’s a chance to move up a few spots.

In that case, Pascal Siakam, Dejounte Murray, Ivica Zubac, Malcolm Brogdon.

Picking any one of them is a huge gain.

Hansen’s first choice is Brogdon, if he remembers correctly, this guy doesn’t have the best talent, but he’s strong right away.

Jokic is a special case, other rookies without an environment to develop will likely remain ordinary, but those who are strong immediately have a chance.

And this summer for the Cavaliers, players like Garnett are likely to retire, Cunningham, JR, Williams, West’s contracts all expire.

Unexpectedly, there will be major changes to the Cavaliers’ roster next season.

As he continued to read, Hansen discovered surprises.

This year’s predicted undrafted players include many familiar names to him.

VanVleet, Caruso, Little Payton, Derek Jones.

This year is an exciting draft indeed.

Hansen simply handed all these names to Griffin, and who gets drafted or signed is up to Griffin’s moves.

Just as he said before, although he’s a transmigrator, rookies need an environment and time to develop, you can’t expect them to immediately become the player he remembers.

After finishing business talks, Griffin and Malone left first, not interrupting Hansen’s enjoyment of the party.

Just as Hansen was about to get up, Ajalee called him back.

Hansen looked back curiously, thinking that Ajalee was worried he’d fool around.

Unexpectedly, when he sat down, they started talking about the draft again.

Ajalee originally didn’t partake in her father’s team management, but the Kings have been too bad these years.

Griffin and the others’ trust in Hansen’s draft vision surprised her, so she wanted some advice from him as well.

Hansen laughed after hearing that, but he didn’t refuse either.

To him, it’s just saying another word.

...

A few days later, the Cavaliers held a grand championship parade in Cleveland.

The streets along the parade route were packed with people.

This was the most exciting moment in Cleveland’s sports history, and the city’s biggest celebration this century.

The resident population of Cleveland City is only 390,000. Originally, the expected number of attendees was 500,000, but the actual number that day exceeded 1.2 million!

Fans who couldn’t witness the Cavaliers’ trophy moment in person were even more motivated to join the championship parade.

The starting point at Quicken Loans Arena was already besieged by overnight-queuing fans a day before the celebration began.

The entire parade route was so congested that police had to deploy a large force to clear the way.

This caused the parade, originally scheduled to start at 11 am, to be delayed by four hours.

The scale of this Cavaliers parade convoy was also very large, with more than 60 vehicles.

Not those big buses, but one person per car.

Hansen and Ajalee shared a car.

He wore sunglasses, held an unlit cigar, and sat in the back seat of a customized BYD convertible with a UA-logoed T-shirt.

But soon, their vehicle was again surrounded by fans, making it unable to move forward.

On the rooftops of nearby tall buildings, there were fans unable to get close enough.

Even more extreme, there were fans hanging from treetops and standing on utility poles waving Cavaliers flags.

Even more outrageous, some fans were wedged into building crevices taking pictures regardless of the danger.

During his time at East University, Hansen experienced the craziness of his fans, but this was the first time he felt that fans in the United States were just as crazy.

His initial feeling was right, Cleveland, this small city, had the most special fans in the league.

Hansen was finally moved, stood up, and took his phone to capture the surroundings.

Then soon, he saw a scene that made him envious.

Up ahead, Irving got off his vehicle and started dancing in front of the fans to celebrate.

He still loved his Indian dance moves.

And JR was shirtless, showing off his full-body tattoos as he stood on the pickup truck’s roof, basking in the fans’ cheers.

Hansen suddenly remembered that this guy was shirtless even when they queued.

Behind him came a cheer, it was Garnett, who stood up and pounded his chest fiercely, letting out roars.

These scenes would move anyone.

Hansen bit his cigar too, sitting on the top of his seat, spreading his arms like an emperor, welcoming the fans’ cheer.

Cleveland isn’t a big city, but it wasn’t until evening that the Cavaliers completed their loop of the city and returned to the stage built outside Quicken Loans Arena.

Looking out from the stage, there was a sea of people stretching beyond sight.

The lack of tall buildings in Cleveland was suddenly an advantage at this moment.

Malone was the main speaker for this event.

He commented on each player’s performance and shared some stories from the season.

The message he conveyed explained why the Cavaliers could ultimately win the championship on a deeper level.

The biggest difference between this Cavaliers team and the previous one was that there were no privileged players in the team.

Even Hansen wouldn’t demand rookies polish his shoes; instead, he offered genuine help to rookies.

Powell was the best example.

When talking about the Finals against the Lakers, Malone couldn’t hide his excitement.

For Hansen, what left the deepest impression this year was the Conference Finals against the Heat, but for Malone, defeating the Lakers was more important to him.

In fact, at the end of his speech, he couldn’t hide his excitement and shouted Hansen’s most classic trash talk line from his days in Cleveland as the conclusion:

"Who is your daddy!"

Suddenly, the whole place was boiling.

Scenes of Hansen once jumping onto Boston’s technical platform flashed in their minds.

Hansen was also amused by Malone’s antics.

No doubt, after the parade, this phrase would be associated with James.

After Malone finished his speech, the Q&A session followed.

Hansen got the most questions.

In this session, Hansen kept mentioning his teammates.

Not just Irving and Jokic, who made great contributions, but also other teammates who didn’t get much playtime.

During this process, a fan asked about James.

Just like Hansen’s past FMVP speeches, due to the presence of these old Cavaliers members, it’s hard not to compare the two teams.

And once you do compare, you’ll find that this Cavaliers team isn’t even as good as the previous one, but they still succeeded.

In this celebratory atmosphere, James’s name didn’t deserve to pop up, but since a fan asked, Hansen could only laugh and reply:

"LeBron fulfilled his promise."

Hansen’s words stirred a commotion among the fans; they looked at each other, not knowing what Hansen meant.

"When he was with the Cavaliers, he said he wanted to bring a championship to the Cavaliers, and after all these years, he’s finally fulfilled his promise."

After Hansen explained, the fans still took a moment to realize.

Soon after, the entire place filled with a joyful atmosphere.

You know, if it weren’t for James, the Lakers wouldn’t have had an easy time winning this championship.

It’s not that James’ ability was so strong, but without him in the Lakers, the Cavaliers’ Finals opponent would have been the 73-win Warriors.

Being in the Lakers while keeping the Cavaliers spirit, who can say James isn’t a knight enduring humiliation for the greater good?