章 55: The Truth is a Sharp Blade.
Brown, of course, couldn't decide anything.
The Cavaliers weren't going to trade Hansen at this point either.
Even though the season had just begun and less than a month had passed, Hansen had already shown significant potential, even proving himself to be a valuable 3-and-D player.
The Cavaliers' management wasn't foolish. A quality 3-and-D player may not compare to a superstar, but they are rare commodities in the league.
Not to mention, this is the exact "championship piece" they've been searching for to support LeBron.
Rather than trade him, they'd prefer to see LeBron "tame" Han Sen.
So the final outcome was a "world where only Brown suffers."
Facing the media's criticism, he had to rack his brain to explain his personnel decisions.
If he hadn't already shaved his head, he would likely have lost a lot of hair by now.
Han Sen wasn't in a hurry either; the season was long, and his immediate priority was to quickly unlock his breakthrough talent.
The Cavaliers returned to Cleveland and had three days of rest. Brown gave the team a day off to relax.
Taking advantage of the break, Hansen and Thomas flew to Baltimore.
Baltimore, located in Maryland, is only separated from Ohio, where Cleveland is, by a small corner of West Virginia.
This city once had an NBA team. In 1948, the Baltimore Bullets won the BAA (the predecessor of the NBA) championship. However, they later went bankrupt due to financial problems, becoming the only championship team in NBA history to go bankrupt.
Later, the Wizards called this place home from 1963 to 1973, continuing to use the Bullets' name. But after they moved to Washington, Maryland has not had an NBA team since.
At UA's headquarters, most of the exhibits Hansen saw were sports apparel, with the majority being athletic underwear.
UA was founded on athletic underwear, pioneering moisture-wicking fabrics.
As for basketball shoes, they were more of a blueprint at this stage.
In one of the headquarters' offices, the staff prepared a detailed PowerPoint presentation for Han Sen, outlining UA's design concepts for basketball shoes and their production and marketing plans.
They even presented a market research report focused on the East Asian shoe market.
The depth of this research was not something put together in a short time.
It was clear that UA had been eyeing the East Asian market for a while and had likely tried to recruit other players before, but without success.
Of course, none of that mattered now. What was important was that UA was treating him with the seriousness Thomas had mentioned.
Furthermore, the strategy for signing Han Sen would be different from when they signed Curry. The focus would undoubtedly be on the shoe preferences of the East Asian market.
This made Hansen quite excited.
After reviewing the PowerPoint, Hansen and Thomas discussed the contract details, including performance bonuses, plans for an independent brand, and tiered shoe royalties, among other aspects.
The contract amount was slightly different from what Hansen had initially known.
The base amount was $8 million for four years, but if he met specific requirements, like making an All-NBA team in his rookie season, the contract could reach up to $10 million over four years, tying with the contract Nike had given Curry, making him the highest-paid rookie this year.
Once everything was finalized, Han Sen officially signed with UA, commemorating the moment with photos.
The visit concluded with a press conference UA had prepared for him.
They had invited numerous well-known media reporters to the event, including some from East Asia.
Since the conference was held in a room over 100 square meters, the atmosphere was particularly lively.
Han Sen and Thomas exchanged surprised glances, realizing they had underestimated UA's commitment to this deal.
This was great news because the more exposure he received, the more hate points he could accumulate for his purposes.
"Why did you choose UA as your brand?"
This was the first question posed, and it was the one on everyone's mind.
Han Sen didn't go into sincerity or future prospects.
"When I first entered the NBA, I mentioned why I chose the number 77. That is also the reason I chose UA."
As soon as he said this, the audience erupted.
When Han Sen first chose the number 77, he said he wanted to claim all the basketball talent that God didn't give to Jordan, which made waves at the time.
Did this mean he intended to help UA capture all the basketball shoe market share outside of Nike?
Even Elon Musk would have to shake his head at this.
"We know UA is still in the early stages of developing basketball shoes. What gives you so much confidence in their future success?"
The next reporter followed up on his previous statement.
Hansen looked at the male reporter and couldn't help but think, "Nice question."
"UA's first phase is targeting the East Asian market. I don't think that's a secret. And right now, East Asian-made basketball shoes aren't competitive. As long as we find the right positioning, a breakthrough won't be as hard as people think."
As Han Sen said this, the reporters below engaged in quiet discussions.
But the East Asian reporters noticeably furrowed their brows.
At this stage, East Asian shoes were mostly casual athletic styles. Basketball shoes were few and far between, and the quality was... questionable.
It was a fact, but acknowledging it and saying it out loud were two different things.
Soon enough, one of the East Asian reporters got their chance to ask a question.
"To my knowledge, Nike signed third overall pick James Harden and fourth pick Tyreke Evans for $250,000 a year. Does signing this higher contract make you feel pressured?"
This question was clearly meant to stir things up.
Basketball shoe contracts have never been tied to draft position but to marketability. By that logic, Curry's contract would also be overvalued.
The UA representative next to Hansen reached for the microphone, ready to defend him, but Hansen stopped him.
"You can speak Chinese," Han Sen said.
"I feel no pressure," he added before pulling the microphone away.
The East Asian reporter was completely stunned— was that the answer?
The UA representative couldn't help but chuckle. Not over-explaining was the best response to such a question.
...
Just a few days after the visit to UA's headquarters, an article titled The Sadness of a Basketball Player surfaced online.
"Our players go to the NBA for what? To help the national team achieve better results! But now, some people not only refuse to participate in the national team, causing us to lose the Asian championship...
They're intentionally using foreign brands to insult our domestic brands...
Our players' abilities may have improved, but their values and patriotism have declined...
They've forgotten that what they have today is the result of the hard work of generations of basketball players...
And yet, these are the stars we now idolize!
This is the sadness of our basketball players and the sadness of our society."
The article didn't mention any names, but everyone knew exactly who it was targeting.
Due to the time difference, Hansen saw the article in the evening.
He flipped over in bed and slammed his palm onto the headboard.
Feeling that wasn't enough, he got up, walked to the desk, and slammed his hand down on it too.
This article, filled with moral grandstanding and passive-aggressive rhetoric, was indeed impressive.
Just like before he had crossed over, these so-called "insiders" of the basketball world were still the best at writing such articles.
This time, Hansen couldn't resist checking the comments on domestic websites.
"UA? Garbage brand. If you had signed with Nike or Adidas, maybe we'd let it slide. But what's with this superiority complex over some trash brand?"
"Han Sen is trash. He's gone to the U.S. and forgotten his roots. Why don't you just change your nationality already?"
"I don't understand why the basketball association hasn't banned him yet. Do we even need him?"
...
Looking at the comments filled with aggression and vitriol, and then seeing his rapidly rising hate points, he couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Initially, his goal was just to use this wave of hate from fans to make some quick gains by dissing domestic brands. Whether or not it would be enough to fill his hate points wasn't something he could guarantee.
But unexpectedly, he ran into this "insider," who had done him a huge favor.
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