Revealing Yang Hanson's assignments and recalls: Two arenas only 10 minutes apart, with a daily meal allowance of $150

On December 20th Beijing time, the NBA Chinese official website revealed some insights into Yang Hanson's life and training with the Trail Blazers and Rip City. Below is part of the content—

Yang Hanson is often recalled and sent back, causing some fans to question: isn’t such frequent movement tiring?

On one side, for players, having the opportunity to be with the team is very valuable, so complaining about the “hustle” isn’t really justified. For instance, earlier this month when Klingen and Lowry suddenly didn’t play, the Trail Blazers temporarily recalled Yang Hanson. At that time, Yang flew from Portland to Memphis, a trip over nine hours, which was definitely quite “taxing,” but undoubtedly very worthwhile.

On the other hand, the Trail Blazers try to minimize the “hustle” for Yang Hanson. The team usually has a well-thought-out plan for his assignments and recalls. When the team has frequent away games, they either keep him with them the whole time or let him stay with Rip City continuously. Compared to that, most two-way players don’t get such treatment and are often on standby 24/7.

Recently, the frequent assignments and recalls of Yang Hanson by the Trail Blazers are due to the “schedule advantage”—from the 12th after playing the Pelicans until the 21st, the Trail Blazers had very few games in nine days, with only two games at home. This means they stayed in Portland for the entire nine days. Rip City also played only home games during this period. In other words, although news reports make it seem like frequent moves, Yang Hanson didn’t actually change locations but just switched between two arenas.

How close are the two arenas?

Rip City’s game venue is located inside the University of Portland, while the Trail Blazers’ training facility is called the “Portland Trail Blazers Training Center.” The two places are only about a 30-minute drive apart. Training with the team in the morning doesn’t interfere with evening games.

In fact, Rip City’s game venue is even closer to the Trail Blazers’ home game arena, just a 10-minute drive away.

Some fans also wonder if Yang Hanson’s round-trip flight tickets are reimbursed when he is assigned or recalled? Absolutely!

Playing in the NBA is a high-benefit job that covers meals, accommodation, and travel expenses. Not only are flight tickets reimbursed, but any journey over an hour is reimbursed in first class.Additionally, there is a daily meal allowance of about $150.Regarding this expense, the team often bypasses the reimbursement process and simply gives the money directly. Therefore, some lower-paid players—like those on 10-day contracts—may receive a generous meal allowance and choose to buy their own meals, which can be seen as a form of “extra income.”

People often joke that some players “watch games for free from the front row,” and indeed, players do have this perk: the labor agreement requires teams to provide each player with free tickets—4 for home games and 2 for away games.