Rebirth of the Industrial Tycoon - Vol 2 Chapter 568
Chapter 568
Li Weidong doesn’t know whether a lifetime contract can dig Carter, but this is already the biggest bargaining chip he can give, and he can only give it a try.
James Bond continued: “This year’s draft is about to begin. Do you have any promising young people? Do we have to choose another tens of millions of guys this year?”
Li Weidong pondered for a moment, and then asked; “Among the young people this year, who is more famous?”
“Of course it is Lamar Odom! You have followed the drafts of the past two years, and you must have heard of this name. Before that, there were many predictions that he could get a good ranking. This year he is finally determined to run.” James Bond said.
Li Weidong of course knows Lamar Odom. As early as when Kobe participated in the draft, the name Odom had already appeared in front of Li Weidong.
Odom became famous when he was young. He can play from position one to position five and is a rare “all-round fighter”. And this type of player is very popular in high school basketball where the confrontation is not very intense.
In high school, Odom has grown to 2.06 meters, but he has the skills of a defender. No one on the court can prevent him.
In addition, Odom is a New Yorker, playing in a metropolis like New York, he will receive more attention congenitally, so Odom has also become the title of one of the strongest high school students in the United States.
Odom’s academic performance is relatively poor. Because of his dismissal of subjects, he did not have the opportunity to play in the senior year of high school. He once wanted to run as a high school student. But because there are still many universities throwing an olive branch on him, Odom decided to go to university.
As a result, Odom was too able to do it himself. He went to Las Vegas and was arrested as a prostitute. As a result, he had no college to go to.
However, Odom is well-known after all. Many low-level league teams are still willing to recruit Odom. The Continental Basketball League of the United States has taken out the highest annual salary of 100,000 US dollars in history and invited Odom to join.
And the overseas club’s offer to Odom even reached half a million dollars, which has exceeded the annual salary of a second-round rookie in the NBA, which is enough to show how famous Odom is.
In the end, Odom was delayed for a year and then entered the University of Rhode Island. After a year of college career, he finally decided to participate in the NBA draft. And he is also the most famous rookie in this class.
Odom is a guy who eats, drinks, prostitutes, gambling, and smokes all kinds of drugs. He owes gambling debts and asks Kobe to borrow money. He suffers from strokes and heart attacks from time to time. His wife and others show affection in front of him. Expect to sell sneakers.
So even if Odom is famous, Li Weidong will not let Odom endorse sneakers.
Li Weidong thought for a while, and then asked: “The American media predicts, who will be the champion?”
“Let me take a look. In addition to Odom, Elton Brand of Duke University, Byron Davis of UCLA, and Steve Francis of the University of Maryland may all become champions. “LeBron James replied.
“Boss Fred is here too!” Li Weidong secretly said in his heart.
Francis was Chairman Yao’s teammate back then, and Chinese fans are quite familiar with him. It’s a pity that this three-time All-Star peak is too short. He is in a serious decline when he is less than 30 years old. The ball can be hit.
As for the bearded Byron Davis, the situation is similar to that of Francis. His peak years were indeed a top breakup, but when he was thirty years old, his state dropped rapidly and soon there was no ball to play.
This kind of player with a relatively short “flowering period”, and has not reached the level of a superstar, is definitely not suitable for coming to be a sneaker endorsement.
Elton Brand is the No. 1 pick this year.
“Captain” Brand comes from the famous basketball school Duke University, and was personally trained by “Old Coach K” Krzyzewski.
Last season, Brand was the best inside player in the NCAA, and he also won a lot of awards, such as NCAA Player of the Year, All-American First Team, John Wooden, Naismith Award Wait, they are all in his pocket, almost copying the success of Duncan University.
Brand’s physical condition is very good, with a height of 2.06 meters, but with a wingspan of more than 2.20 meters, he is a typical long-armed player, and on the technical level, it is also similar to Duncan, especially in singles. , Very similar to Duncan.
So Brand has not yet entered the NBA, so he has the title of “Little Duncan”.
The 1998 to 1999 season happened to be a year for Duncan to show off. This year Duncan led the Spurs to the championship and made the entire NBA aware of the terrible nature of this top power forward.
Faced with the Spurs’ victory, the “Little Duncan” Brand’s draft momentum naturally followed the tide. All teams wanted to replicate the Spurs’ success, hoping to get a second Duncan, and Brand was pushed all the way. The position of the champion.
Of course, with Brand’s strength, he deserves to be the champion. Brand, who has no injuries, is second only to the existence of the four power forwards Duncan, Garnett, Nowitzki and Webber.
It’s just the sneakers of the inside players, which have not been sold well. Even if it is a genuine Duncan, but few pairs of sneakers have been sold, how can one expect a “little Duncan” Brand to sell sneakers.
Actually, the 1999 draft is full of talents. Although there are no superstars, there are several All-Stars. There are also many successful role players. They are also the mainstays of the NBA in their years.
Among the rookies this year, the one with the most honors should be considered Argentine “Demon Knife” Ginobili. Although he was selected by the Spurs, he played in Europe for two years and won a European basketball player before entering. To the NBA.
Before coming to Europe, Ginobili was already a well-known international player. He was well-known in Europe and he had already won the endorsement contract given by Nike.
Ginobili’s career has mainly endorsed Nike’s AirMax series and ZOOMAir series. These two shoes are the core shoes of Nike, and their sales are very good.
Another relatively strong star player this year is the “hacker” Sean Marion.
When he was young, Marion had very good physical fitness. He was also a spring man. At his peak, he was a player with both offensive and defensive capabilities.
Especially in terms of defense, Marion’s ability is very outstanding. He is one of the few players in the NBA who can defend from the first to the fifth position. He can be called a defensive master. He has not been selected to the best defensive team. A big regret in my career.
Marion’s contribution to the team is not only reflected in personal data, so he is very popular with the team, and the team is willing to give him a high salary.
But in terms of selling sneakers, this kind of player is definitely not popular. Fans still like the more distinctive star.
Among the rookies of this class, the defender stronger than Marion is “AK47” Kirilenko.
Kirilenko has also been selected to the All-Star, won the block king, two best defensive teams twice, and the best defensive team once.
It’s a pity that he was a bit untimely. If Kirilenko appeared in the small ball era, he might become an enhanced version of Dreamcatcher Green, who might get the season’s average triple-double.
This kind of defensive player, sneakers have always been difficult to sell, not to mention Kirilenko is still a Russian, which is destined to not be too popular in the American market.
In addition to the above players, this year’s All-Star players include Richard Hamilton, Szebiak and Mehta Wald Pease.
There is also an assist king Andre Miller and a best sixth man Jason Terry, who are also well-known players.
Metta-Wald-Peace is a literal translation of the English pronunciation. According to the meaning, the translation is Charity-World-Peace, which is the Ci Shiping that Chinese fans are familiar with.
Ci Shiping is probably the best seller of shoes among these well-known players.
At this time, Ci Shiping was still called Ron Artest, but he was already a famous “dynamite bag” on the court.
He is also a New Yorker. He once played an amateur league with two other New York fellows, Brand and Odom, but before the game was over, he started to fight with Brand.
In the 1999 draft, Ci Shiping was selected by the Bulls. At that time, the Bulls had just lost the two leaders of Jordan and Pippen. It was a distraction, and this gave Ci Shiping room for the rookie to play. .
As a rookie, Ci Shiping is relatively restrained from his “fighting talent”, but after the two-year rookie period, it became clear.
In the summer training camp of 2001, Jordan laughed at Ci Shiping, but in the confrontation training, Ci Shiping broke two of Jordan’s ribs.
Later, Ci Shiping joined the Pacers, and the infamous Auburn Hills fight occurred. He also received the most serious punishment in the NBA at that time. He was suspended for 73 games and fined 5 million US dollars.
This record of the most severe punishment was broken in 2009 by the incident in which the “General” Arenas took a gun in the locker room.
At that time, Arenas actually took out a real gun in the team’s locker room!
If you take a shotgun, you should not be punished.
It is worth mentioning that Chinese players are also rookies in 1999, but the general NBA experience is not considered successful, and they will return to China a few years later. His development focus is still at home. If Li Weidong wants to sign him, he can sign directly from the domestic renminbi instead of US dollars.
After thinking for a long time, Li Weidong still felt that he could consider signing Ci Shiping. You don’t need to give him signature sneakers, just let him be the endorsement of sneakers.
It is a double-edged sword to make Ci Shiping endorsements. The irritable temper and the uneasy situation will indeed affect the endorsement brand image.
But I can’t bear the high profile of charity and parallel affairs!
Don’t say anything else, just changing your name from time to time can attract a lot of media reports. With a little hype, it’s definitely a top searched content.
This kind of players who have fun at every turn, shine in the media, and can cause controversy by the way, have always been very popular with sponsors.
To put it plainly, Ci Shiping is equivalent to a traffic-based internet celebrity of that era. With some strength in itself, coupled with various means of blogging, it is easy to become popular.
And after all, Ci Shiping is not a superstar player, and is a time bomb in itself, so the asking price for endorsement is not very high.
In addition, Ci Shiping has another advantage, which is that it cooperates with the sponsor’s promotion.
In the future, Ci Shiping signed a contract with Peak, and never declined the various promotional activities held by Peak. Not only does it come to China every year for publicity, but it also cooperates with the hype.
For example, when I came to China for a promotional event, I hyped a Chinese girlfriend. When I wanted to join the CBA, I clamored to be renamed “Panda Friends.” Switching to other stars, there is not such a good degree of cooperation.
Thinking of this, Li Weidong said: “There is a young man named Ron Artest, do you know?”
“Let me take a look.” On the phone, I remembered the voice of looking through the information, and then James Bond said: “I found it, Ron Artest, from St. John’s University.
The data shows that he is of average height, overweight, and also has mania. Offensive efficiency is average, defensive evaluation is very good. Boss, are you going to sign him as this year’s ten million boy? ”
“You can pay attention, it’s not a tens of thousands of kids, just ordinary endorsements.” Li Weidong said.
“With all due respect, this is a very risky move. I understand that mania is a disease. This is like an active volcano. I don’t know when it will erupt.” James Bond said.
“What you said is very reasonable. For the sake of safety, don’t rush to contact him. After the start of the next season, look at his performance and decide whether to sign him or not.” Li Weidong said.
……
The phone rang, Carter looked down, and said to McGrady next to him: “It’s my agent.”
“I’ll go to that glass of water.” Tracy McGrady walked aside with interest.
Carter picked up the phone and asked, “What’s the matter?”
“Vince, I think it is necessary to tell you something. The president of Feiyue Sports contacted me again, hoping that you can become their spokesperson.” The agent said.
“I have been wearing their shoes recently, and I feel very good.” Carter then asked: “Then how much are they willing to pay?”
“Only half of Puma.” The agent replied.
“Giving half the price is like digging someone? When I am a fool!” Carter smiled disdainfully, and then said: “I am very grateful to Feiyue Sports for providing me with comfortable shoes, but thank you, thank you, business It’s business.”
“You are right, business belongs to business, so they also put forward additional conditions.” The economic man said.
“You are talking about dedicated signature sneakers! They made the same conditions before participating in the draft last year.” Carter’s tone was cold, obviously unmoved.
The agent said: “Not only are they signing sneakers, they are also willing to provide a lifetime contract.”
“Lifetime contract?” Carter was taken aback.
At the time, a lifetime contract was only a treatment that Jordan God had. Except for Jordan, there are so many superstars or legends in the NBA who have never received a lifetime contract.
So things like lifetime contracts are more like a recognition of “the first person in the league”.
Of course, Carter knows that he is far away from the first man in the league, but which player does not want to be treated like Jordan?
Moreover, Carter still wore the hat of “Jordan successor” and entered the NBA. If he could get a lifetime contract with a sneaker sponsor, he would be one step closer to Jordan.
This is a kind of forced grid, a kind of card face. For young people like Carter, he still cares about forced grid and card face very much.
From the perspective of economic benefits, Carter does not suffer.
Although Feiyue Sports’ offer is not as good as Puma, it’s still easy to choose between a long meal and a full meal.
At this moment, Carter’s heart moved.
……
Kobe also received a call from his agent.
“The president of Feiyue Sports told me that if you want, they can provide you with a lifetime contract!” the agent said.
Kobe was slightly surprised, then smiled and said: “Feiyue Sports is always so insightful!”
Kobe has always been arrogant. In this season, the Lakers traded starting guard Eddie Jones, and Kobe smoothly became the starting player. Although the season has shrunk, Kobe has already achieved all-star statistics and standards.
The Lakers even renewed their contract with Kobe ahead of time and signed a six-year $70 million maximum salary contract. Many sports reporters have already started to compare Kobe with Jordan and the Lakers legend “Magic” Johnson.
If the previous Kobe is only regarded as Jordan’s successor, this season’s Kobe has been used as a challenge to Jordan’s existence.
The renewal of the Lakers also means that Kobe has become the cornerstone of the Lakers’ future.
So when he learned that Feiyue Sports was willing to provide a lifetime contract, Kobe was surprised, but with his arrogance, he was not very excited.
Kobe is confident that he will definitely reach Jordan’s height in the future, and it will be a matter of time before he gets a lifetime contract.
So Kobe said, “Thank Feiyue Sports for me. But I don’t think I need to worry about the life contract. I have opportunities in the future.”
“I think so too.” The agent continued; “But I also got a message that Feiyue Sports has also opened a lifetime contract to Vince Carter from Puma. It is said that Carter has agreed. The two sides are now in further negotiations.”
“Vince Carter? He’s still a rookie! Why can he get a lifetime contract!” Kobe’s tone revealed a trace of anxiety.
Carter is one year older than Kobe, but Kobe participated in the draft after graduating from high school and joined the NBA two years earlier than Carter. So when Kobe talked about Carter at this time, he felt a kind of predecessor.
The agent went on to say; “Although Wins Carter is in the first grade, his stats are not much worse than yours now. He has shown the potential of a superstar.”
Kobe pouted with an unhappy face. His rookie season data is far inferior to Carter’s rookie season. In this regard, Kobe really lost a game.
And Carter’s data this season is only slightly lower than Kobe.
Kobe and Carter have many similarities. Both are shooting guards, both are 1.98 meters tall. They are both known as Jordan’s successors, and they are both very powerful young men.
One of these two people is in Los Angeles and the other is in Toronto. There are not many opportunities for direct contact. Even if it is a game, they can’t meet them several times in a season.
However, the similarities between the two make them unconsciously have a sense of competition and become competitors with each other.
And Kobe’s character is exceptionally competitive, how can he tolerate Carterby getting a lifetime contract first!
“If Carter has a lifetime customer, but if he doesn’t, wouldn’t it be a loss to Carter! Wouldn’t it appear that I’m inferior to Carter! People ask me that Carter has a lifetime contract, why don’t you have it, I’m so shameless!” Kobe thought Secretly.
At this time, Kobe is like seeing the toys that other children are buying. Although the toys chosen by the other party are not my favorite, I just want it!
Thinking of this, Kobe said: “Promise Feiyue Sports, I want this lifetime contract, and I want to talk to them as soon as possible, I want to sign before Vince Carter!”
updated today, thank you parents for subscribing, the end of the month, there are still more than 200 monthly tickets, some book friends also hope to support it. Today’s Christmas, although I can’t pass this kind of foreign festival, the blessings are still sincere, and I wish you all a happy new year.
(End of this chapter)