Chapter 297: This Will Be My Final Season.
By mid-September, NBA teams were ramping up their training camps, signaling the end of a long offseason. For the Cavaliers, this year's camp carried a different energy.
On the first day, everyone showed up on time, ready to work. Unlike last year, Kevin Garnett didn't need to yell trash talk to fire up the team — the hunger was already there. After a summer filled with reflection and regret, the players were eager to get back to work and prove themselves.
Kyrie Irving, in particular, was laser-focused. His playmaking still needed time to develop through actual games, but his defensive effort stood out more than ever.
'Defense wins championships,' Han thought to himself, satisfied with the team's mindset.
When your star point guard starts putting in extra work on defense, it sets the tone for everyone else. Teams often reflect their leaders, and when those leaders show up and grind, the rest of the squad follows.
"Fire runs faster when the locomotive pulls hard," Han remembered hearing back in China.
In Cleveland, he was that locomotive.
What made Han even happier, though, was the transformation of Nikola Jokic.
Over the summer, while Han was traveling in Africa, Jokic's weight loss journey continued. He further dropped from 260 pounds (118kg) down to 250 (113kg) — a perfect weight for his 6'11" (210.82cm) frame.
The difference in his mobility and strength was already evident. His lateral movement was still a work in progress, but his interior defense and agility had noticeably improved.
What surprised Han even more was how quickly Jokic gelled with the team. He was no longer the shy, awkward rookie who barely spoke. Now, he was cracking jokes with Kevin Garnett and engaging with his teammates.