Portland Trail Blazers rookie center Yang Hansen (æ¨ç森) finally got his long-awaited moment with Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic, aand Portland made sure fans saw it.
The Blazers posted a short video of Hansen meeting Jokic, closing the loop on a running storyline thatâs followed the 20-year-old rookie for months, from draft night through All-Star Weekend chatter.
The Blazers posted the moment Yang Hansen had been waiting for
Hansen has been open about Jokic being his favorite player, and the player heâs studied as he adapts to the NBAâs speed and physicality. That fandom turned into a mini-saga this season because Hansen kept getting asked the same thing: Have you met Jokic yet?
During All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles, Hansen leaned into the moment with a playful line about wanting to âkissâ his idol, a quote that ricocheted across social media and helped turn a simple fan aspiration into a recurring headline.
Not long after, Portland posted video of the âfinallyâ moment: Hansen greeting Jokic, smiling through the nerves, and getting his first real face-to-face with the player heâs modeled parts of his game after.
What Hansen said after meeting Jokic and why it landed
Afterward, Hansen made a point to clarify the cultural context of his earlier joke, framing it as respect rather than anything literal, and that mix of humor and sincerity is part of why the story has stuck.
“I practiced English for that,” he told the Blazers social media team. “I used all of it.”
In the clip circulating from the encounter, Hansen says, âI donât really want to kiss you. In China is respect,â while also sharing that Jokic told him not to be nervous all the time.
Thatâs a small exchange, but itâs meaningful for a young player navigating a new country, a new league, and a new role. Hansen has talked about the challenges of adapting to NBA life and language, and has pointed to veteran teammates helping him settle in.
Why this matters for Portlandâs rookie storyline
On its face, this is a feel-good NBA moment. Underneath it, itâs also part of Portlandâs bigger development arc with Hansen, a 7-foot-1 center drafted 16th overall in 2025 who arrived with real intrigue as one of the highest-drafted Chinese players ever.
The Jokic connection matters because itâs not just fandom. Jokic is the modern template for how some teams think about the position: playmaking, processing speed, and turning passing into offense. Hansen has openly framed Jokic as a model, and thatâs been central to how fans understand what Portland hopes he can become.
Portland also has reasons to lean into this kind of content right now. With the NBA calendar moving from All-Star Weekend back into the stretch run, âwho is this rookie, and whatâs his trajectory?â stories tend to travel, especially when thereâs a clean, human payoff.
What happens next
For Hansen, the moment is a milestone, but the real work is what comes after it: continuing to carve out his role, stack minutes, and show the skills that made Portland comfortable taking him in the middle of the first round.
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