Trail Blazers announce! Farewell, Yang Hanshen! First demotion in his NBA career

Trail Blazers officially announced:Yang Hanshen has been assigned to the team’s G League affiliate, the Rip City Remix, for routine training.

In the recent 109-107 victory over the Nuggets, with NBA defensive second-team member Lowe returning, he shared the center position's minutes with Klingen and Reece. As a result, Yang lost his rotation spot, was a DNP for the first time this season, and was promptly sent down to the G League.

Trail Blazers reporter Sean Highkin followed up with a report saying,The reason for Yang Hanshen’s demotion is to give him more training time, and he is expected to return for the home game against the Lakers this Tuesday Beijing time.

Another Trail Blazers reporter, Danny Marang, added that if Yang’s playing time in upcoming games remains limited, he will likely shuttle between the main team and the G League this season.

No surprise here, it was expected. The blame lies with Yang Hanshen for not seizing the opportunity during Lowe’s absence. So far this season, he has played five regular-season games, averaging 5.8 minutes, with 1.8 points, 0.8 rebounds, 0 assists, 0.6 turnovers, 0 steals, and 0.4 blocks, shooting 22.2%, 0%, and 83.3% in the three main shooting categories.

As expected, poor performance in competitive sports is a fatal flaw. Because his gameplay fell short of expectations, Yang Hanshen’s public image has shifted from a rising star to being widely mocked online, with many labeling him as lazy and undisciplined.

Yang’s girlfriend, who has been supporting him throughout his NBA journey in the U.S., became a target of criticism as well, forcing her to delete all her personal social media posts due to immense pressure.

Regarding the barrage of online attacks, Yang Hanshen doesn’t need to respond or try to silence everyone. The only way is to prove himself through outstanding performance, which will naturally improve his reputation.

Yang Hanshen is fortunate to gain more exposure than any previous Chinese male basketball player in this internet age, boosting his commercial value; yet he is also unfortunate to face unprecedented public scrutiny, as anyone can now comment on him freely.

No matter what, he must believe in his talent and trust that hard work will pay off.