CHAPTER 672: CHAPTER 324: SONGBOR RACING KING (PART 2)

If he were born here, he would probably, like Jokic, want to earn enough and then go home for retirement.

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, they went to the local race track to challenge horse racing.

Serbia, a country primarily of Eastern Orthodox faith, also has a traditional sport of horse racing.

The price of the racehorse was somewhat unexpected to Hansen, as it actually cost over 200,000 US dollars.

After buying the horse, the first thing Jokic did was give it a bath, and Hansen felt he looked at it with even more love than at his own girlfriend.

After washing the horse, he also sat on the cart and test drove a little bit himself.

This kind of racehorse is different from the horses you usually see; they are raised from a young age and can run on the track as soon as they receive commands.

After running two laps, Jokic got off the cart, and you couldn’t miss the joy on his face.

As the saying goes, "to do a good job, one must first sharpen his tools," having money is truly a great feeling.

The horse race was to be held a week later, and Hansen used this time to tour other cities in Serbia.

During his wandering, the 2016 NBA Draft took place at the Barclays Center.

Serbia and the United States have a time difference of six hours; when the draft was happening there, it was early morning in Seville.

Hansen didn’t watch the draft but checked it out the next day when he woke up.

This year’s first pick belonged to the 76ers, and they selected the "next James," Ben Simmons;

The second pick belonged to the New York Knicks, and they chose Brandon Ingram;

The third pick belonged to the Brooklyn Nets, and they selected Jaylen Brown;

The butterfly effect continues to take effect; many "histories" Hansen knew no longer appear.

The Kings played pretty decently in the regular season last season, placing in the 8th position.

Their final choice was the same as Hansen’s suggestion to Ajalee; they selected Domantas Sabonis at this position.

Sabonis Jr. is the son of international basketball superstar and famous NBA "old rookie" Arvidas Sabonis.

Sabonis Jr. didn’t inherit his father’s height, and at 2.08 meters, he wasn’t in the prominent rookie ranks.

However, in the small-ball era, this height is actually more than enough to play center.

Moreover, little Sabonis inherited old Sabonis’s passing genes, typical of a European white bear, excellent in pick-and-rolls and positioning. You could consider him a poor man’s Jokic, which is more than enough for the Kings, a team renowned for being long-time underperformers.

The Cavaliers finally chose a dual guard from the University of Washington, Dejounte Murray, with the 25th pick.

Then the Warriors selected Zhou Qi with the 30th pick.

This choice made Hansen pause for a moment.

However, just like last year’s Ding Yanyuhang, his appearance elevated the expectations for East University players among NBA management.

Moreover, Zhou Qi’s draft predictions were once in the lottery, but because he came from the system and was revealed to be older, his draft position dropped significantly.

The Cavaliers picked Little Derrick Jones with the 55th pick.

Then, Hansen saw the Grizzlies selecting Wang Zhelin with the 57th pick. This pick originally belonged to the Spurs and was specially traded for Wang Zhelin.

You can’t easily say they weren’t trying to consolidate the Chinese market in Memphis that Hansen previously established.

Selected in his sleep, it’s unclear whether Wang Zhelin in this parallel world will choose to venture into the NBA.

A week later, Hansen ended his brief journey in Serbia and returned to Songbor to watch the horse racing competition.

On the day of the horse racing, Hansen found that the stands were packed, with at least thousands of people.

In a small town with a population of only 50,000, this was simply incredible.

But this also showed how beloved horse racing is in the local area.

Just before the horse race started, a government official came over to greet Hansen.

After an introduction by an interpreter, Hansen learned that the official was Serbia’s national sports minister.

This surprised him greatly; he hadn’t expected that just coming to watch Jokic race would cause such a sensation.

But this was actually within reason.

Hansen’s current influence is global; a visit by an athlete of his caliber to Serbia should have caused a sensation sooner, except for the unpublicized nature of his visit.

Hansen had already been in Serbia for a week; it was only natural they’d catch up with him eventually.

What made Hansen comfortable was that after the necessary exchanges and photos, the sports minister returned to his position and didn’t sit with him throughout.

This allowed him to focus all his attention on the horse race.

Soon the stadium resounded with cheers as the contestants and their racehorses gradually appeared on the field.

Jokic’s towering height stood out among the contestants.

Slavic people generally are tall, but 2.16 meters is still rare.

In fact, Jokic could have chosen to find a professional jockey, but he did it to fulfill his childhood dream.

The race was about to start, and the contestants all sat in their wagons.

Hansen was a bit worried for Jokic’s horse.

Fortunately, Jokic hadn’t yet reached the barrel-chested Mount Baishan version; otherwise, running a race might have worn the horse out.

With the sound of a whistle, the annual Sombor horse race officially started.

This race called horse racing, actually felt more like car racing to Hansen.

Jokic’s horse took the lead, proving the money was well spent.

However, shortly after, he was overtaken.

His physique was a disadvantage in this kind of competition.

The Sombor race track is similar to a car track: oval-shaped, with each lap at 1,200 meters, needing three and a half laps in total, nearly 4,000 meters.

This distance isn’t too tiring for the horse and also tests the jockey’s skills.

Hansen quickly witnessed Jokic’s skills.

His technique of hugging the track’s edge during turns was quite ingenious, almost canal-turning-like.

His heavy weight pressed down on the cart, becoming an advantage at that moment.

As the saying goes, who can’t accelerate on straights? Overtaking on turns is the true skill.

This guy probably studied horse racing even more than basketball.

As the race continued, the endurance of the racehorses started to show.

Jokic’s horse had ample stamina, gradually overtaking opponents.

Entering the last 200 meters sprint, Jokic was truly in the lead.

The crowd erupted with cheers, and Hansen stood up to applaud Jokic.

Ultimately, Jokic was the first to dash past the finish line.

After the race, Hansen went down to the field to congratulate Jokic.

Though it was just a preliminary round, Hansen had great confidence in Jokic.

In the afternoon finals, Jokic continued his strong performance and successfully won the 2016 Sombor horse race championship.

After winning the championship, Jokic held the trophy and sang unfamiliar Serbian songs in the stable, dancing joyfully.

His excitement was much more intense than when the Cavaliers won the championship before.

Hansen was now certain that this kid genuinely loved horse racing more than basketball.

After the horse race, there was a bonfire celebration at night to celebrate the successful conclusion of the horse race.

It was at this bonfire party that Hansen tasted authentic Balkan BBQ and drank the Slavic favorites, mead.

This mead, like vodka, had a high alcohol content.

As they drank more and more, both of their faces became flushed as the alcohol kicked in.

"Boss, I really don’t understand why you have so much faith in me; you don’t like men, do you?" Jokic began to babble nonsensically.

Hansen pushed Jokic away to clarify his stance.

"What if I tell you I’m a transmigrator and know that you’ll become an NBA superstar in the future, would you believe me?"

"Then quickly tell me tomorrow’s lottery numbers." Jokic genuinely wanted to retire early.

But obviously, he thought Hansen was joking.

After all, who in their right mind would believe in transmigrators?

Hansen couldn’t help but laugh.

Yet gradually, his laughter subsided, and he patted Jokic on the shoulder, saying seriously:

"Because between our countries, we were once brothers."

When traveling to Serbia’s capital, Belgrade, Hansen visited the site of the East University’s embassy in Yugoslavia.