Chapter 79: I'll Date Taylor Swift.
The next day during practice, Han Sen paid close attention to LeBron's behavior. He seemed to be in a great mood, with a smile constantly on his face.
There was no way his team wouldn't have informed him of everything that happened on social media yesterday, but it looked like he didn't care at all.
His reaction had now completely dispelled Han Sen's final reservations. He could already envision the scene of himself acquiring the floater talent and becoming stronger in his drives.
However, during practice, Han encountered a bit of a problem— he started to feel significant discomfort in his groin. After practice, he went to the team doctor to have it checked out. The doctor took him to a hospital partnered with the team, where they determined the issue was caused by overexertion.
To help Han Sen better understand, the team doctor explained the concept of the "rookie wall".
Rookies often hit a point in their first NBA season where they seem to lose all their energy, like they're facing an invisible wall that blocks their path forward. The causes vary but are typically attributed to the difficulty of adjusting to the NBA's intense schedule, resulting in fatigue or injury.
Han Sen was now experiencing something similar.
Even players from Division I NCAA teams only play around thirty games per season, including March Madness. That's not even three months' worth of NBA games. Add to that the fact that NBA games are packed much more tightly than NCAA games.
"And you've also put a lot more strain on your body with your summer weight gain, your training load, and your change in playing style," the team doctor warned after considering Han Sen's specific circumstances.
The doctor advised him to take extra care with his recovery after games and practice, including small details like icing sore areas. Additionally, he was advised to cut back on his training volume and let his body gradually adjust to the intensity of the NBA schedule, then slowly ramp up his training again once he's more acclimated. On top of that, he was told to prioritize sleep and cut down on late nights.
The team doctor was quite professional. After all, Cleveland might be small, but its healthcare system is well-developed.
After leaving the hospital, Han checked the [Hater System]. Until now, he had been focused on upgrading his abilities and hadn't paid much attention to injuries.
After browsing through the system, he found only one talent under the first tier that could improve his body's resilience to injury— [Iron Bones]— but it cost 2 million hater points. That was still a long way off for him.
It seemed like his only option now was to follow the team doctor's advice. More important than how well he played was whether he could stay on the court. The NBA has seen many players' careers ruined by injuries, and he didn't want to be the next.
Around this time, the NBA's annual All-Star voting had begun. The All-Star Game would take place in mid-February, still over a month away, but the voting process involved four rounds, so it started earlier.
According to current rules, each team submits a shortlist of four players to the league, and only those on the list will appear in the voting interface.
The Cavaliers' selections were LeBron James, Shaquille O'Neal, Mo Williams, and Hansen.
Along with submitting names, teams also promote their players for votes. This year, the Cavaliers were no exception.
The PR department asked each player on the list to write a slogan for their campaign, which would be used in promotional materials.
Han Sen was currently being heavily targeted by opponents. In theory, he should be ramping up his practice on his floaters, but due to his physical fatigue, he had no choice but to cut back on training. This inevitably left him feeling a bit anxious.
As a result, he wasn't particularly interested in making the All-Star team. What he really cared about now were hater points.
He needed to unlock the floater talent as soon as possible and start intensive training to get past his current challenges.
His plan to praise LeBron had worked well, and his hater points were still increasing. However, this tactic required the right moments and a careful balance— too much too fast, and even LeBron would start catching on.
So, he needed to combine it with other methods.
But making the All-Star Game wasn't going to happen. This voting wasn't going to gain him any haters...
Wait a minute.
Suddenly, an idea hit Han Sen like a bolt of lightning, opening up new possibilities.
Maybe he could use this opportunity to stir up some controversy and attract more hater points?
After all, the team was releasing these statements to the entire league.
He could say something bold, like, "Vote me into the All-Star Game, and I'll become the MVP."
But that seemed a little too clownish.
Searching through his memory of various strange campaign strategies, Han Sen finally came up with the perfect idea.
…
David Griffin was in charge of the Cavaliers' All-Star promotional campaign.
In addition to slogans, he had to create highlight videos for each player and even handle mass email campaigns for fans who had bought tickets. The workload was enormous, and staring at a computer screen had left him with tired, strained eyes.
At that moment, his assistant handed him the players' slogans.
Griffin rubbed his eyes and skimmed through the list. When he got to Han Sen's slogan, he suddenly felt wide awake.
Because he had written: 'Vote me into the All-Star Game, and I will date Taylor Swift!'
Was this some kind of joke?
Griffin went straight to find Han Sen, eventually tracking him down in the medical room where he was undergoing treatment.
"Yes, that's the slogan I came up with," he confirmed.
The idea had been inspired by Joel Embiid and his public pursuit of Rihanna.
Back then, Embiid's strategy had earned him four or five hundred thousand votes.
Of course, the votes weren't the main point. The main point was that Embiid's stunt, though not as wild as when Kevin Durant said he wanted to drink Scarlett Johansson's bathwater, had brought him a ton of criticism.
Embiid, as a Cameroonian, wasn't exactly beloved in the U.S. He was talking about chasing America's sweetheart, Rihanna. How could he not be mocked?
This was a perfect fit for Hansen, too— an Asian in America, at the bottom of the racial hierarchy.
As for why he chose Taylor Swift, it was something he found while searching online.
Over the past year, she had become the hottest celebrity in America. Three words described her best: "Red hot superstar."
At the MTV Video Music Awards this year, she beat Beyoncé for 'Best Female Video', prompting Kanye West to storm the stage and grab the mic to defend Beyoncé. Later, at the American Music Awards, she took the 'Artist of the Year' award from Michael Jackson. She even graced the cover of the prestigious music magazine 'Rolling Stone'.
With her vocal talent, good looks, and innocent persona, it was impossible not to be a star in America.
So Han Sen saying he would date Taylor Swift would inevitably provoke one response: 'Dream on. You're not Worthy!'
And with that, the hater points would start rolling in.
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