When Hansen Met the Joker

📍PORTLAND, Ore. — The night the Trail Blazers drafted Yang Hansen last June, a quote from an anonymous Nuggets scout went viral calling the out-of-left-field pick "Chinese Jokic."

Since then, comparisons between the 20-year-old rookie big man and the three-time NBA MVP have been unavoidable, fueled by Yang's electric Summer League performance. He's been open since the draft about Nikola Jokic being his favorite player growing up.

However, they'd never met in person until Friday evening, an hour before the Blazers' 54-point blowout loss to the Denver Nuggets.

But let's back up a week, to last weekend's All-Star festivities in Los Angeles, and one of the most viral social-media moments of the weekend. After Yang played in the Rising Stars event on Friday, he and his interpreter, Chris Liu, went to the mixed zone for media availability.

A reporter asked him what he was looking forward to the most about his first All-Star experience. Yang answered the question in Mandarin, and then Liu translated it: "I want to see Nikola Jokic somewhere. I can't wait to see him and chat with him."

Yang giggled, and it became clear that Liu hadn't offered an exact, word-for-word translation of what he said. Finally, Liu said, sheepishly, "I can't wait to kiss him."

As with anything Yang does or says, the quote spawned a million social graphics.

So there was a lot riding on Friday's meeting.

During pregame warmups, the two shared a hug and a few words, and it gave Yang an opportunity to clear up the joke that got lost in translation.

"I said, 'I don't really want to kiss you,'" Yang told us Friday night, answering the question in English, something he's been attempting to do more lately. "In China, it's respect, because I really like him."

Yang said he was first introduced to Jokic's game when he was 13 years old by his coach, who showed him some highlights and told him to emulate him.

"I'm speechless when I watch his playing," Yang said through his translator. "Just like, 'Whoa, we can play like that?' Anytime they post highlights on YouTube or on Chinese social media, it's different than a live game. When you see what he did in the whole game, it's really impressive."

Yang wasn't the only one Jokic left speechless on Friday. The Blazers couldn't do anything with him all night. He scored 19 of his 32 points in the first quarter, looking every bit like the best player in the world. They couldn't do much with anybody else in a Nuggets uniform, either. Denver scored 125 points through the first three quarters, forced 17 Portland turnovers and held every Blazers player under 20 points.

Losing a game to a title contender is one thing. Losing at home by over 50 points doesn't make anyone look good. Not since the two 60-point losses in the 2023-24 season have the Blazers been this thoroughly outclassed.

"It was one of our worst games of the season," Tiago Splitter said. "The Nuggets had a sense of urgency. We came off the [All-Star] break and just weren't ready."

Yang didn't get in until the fourth quarter, when Denver's lead had ballooned above 40 points. He played the final eight minutes of garbage time, scoring four points and uncharacteristically going just 2-of-6 from the foul line. By then, Nuggets coach David Adelman had pulled his starters, so Yang didn't actually get to share the court with his idol.

But their pregame moment made Friday night one of the highlights of Yang's very rocky first season in the NBA.

After they got the "kiss" misunderstanding cleared up, Jokic told Yang how much he enjoyed his offseason trip to China last summer, and encouraged the rookie to be himself on the court and keep working hard.

"He has [respect] for my game," Jokic said afterwards. "He's young. I remember when I was coming into the league, I had people I looked up to. It was cool to have a moment with him."