The NBA's Absolute Dominance

Chapter 4 Contract
"Tang, this is the agency contract."

Back at the hotel, Eric Fleischer placed a contract in front of Tang Bei.

John Liu took a look and said, "Tang, the agent's commission is 3%, and the commission for commercial endorsement contracts is 10%."

"Okay, OK."

Tang Bei agreed without hesitation.

Now he has nothing and no other choice but to rely entirely on Eric Fleischer's abilities. After all, he needs to make money, not do charity.

Upon hearing "OK," Fleischer smiled with great delight.

The NBA stipulates that agents can take a maximum of 4% of their salary and 20% of their endorsement deals. He hasn't achieved much yet and can't be considered a senior agent, so he hasn't asked for the highest percentage.

"Tang, there's another clause in the contract. According to certain player protection rules in the NBA, if you are dissatisfied with Mr. Fleischer's abilities or if he causes you harm during the contract period, you can terminate the contract without compensation."

After John Liu explained the contract details in detail, Tang Bei picked up a pen and signed his name on it.

Eric Fleischer's family has extensive connections in the American basketball world, as his father, Larry Fleischer, was the first president of the National Basketball Association, a key figure in the merger of the NBA and ABA leagues, and the agent of Jerry West, the NBA logo designer.

Although his father is no longer alive, he still inherited a lot of connections.

After signing an agent contract with Tang Bei, he immediately contacted the Haidai team of the CBA league.

The CBA doesn't have as many rules as the NBA. You can join a team before the playoffs begin, but not after the playoffs start.

The CBA playoffs start tomorrow, the timing is perfect.

He planned to send Tang Bei to Shanghai to lead the team in the playoffs, gain some recognition and experience, and then participate in the NBA draft.

In the afternoon, the three appeared at the Miami Sea Team's headquarters.

"You can earn this much just by playing a basketball game?"

Tang Bei received a professional basketball player contract, with a salary of $2500 per game, equivalent to 14000 RMB, which made him extremely happy.

He had previously inquired and learned that working in sports in China didn't make much money; the salary was barely enough to support oneself, let alone a family. He never imagined that professional sports in the United States could be so lucrative.

However, Eric Fleischer told him that he also had to pay federal and state taxes, and he could get about 70-80% of them back. The lower the income, the lower the tax rate.

But this is already very good. Even if it's only 70%, you can earn close to 10,000 yuan in one game, which is equivalent to working in China for three or four years.

“Mias, this is a newcomer, he plays center. His name is Tang, Tang from Chinatown. He's Chinese. He's in your hands now.”

After finalizing the contract, General Manager Luther Lewis took Tang Bei to the training facility.

“Hello, Coach,” Tang Bei said.

After John Liu translated, head coach Maias Lance looked Tang Bei up and down with a scrutinizing gaze, and asked, "Luther, I heard that Chinese people can only play table tennis. Can you play basketball?"

Lewis said, "His fundamentals are very poor, but he has a lot of talent and is good at low-post offense, especially in the paint."

As he spoke, he handed over Tang Bei's physical test data and said, "I believe his talent can help us; at the very least, he will be our first tallest."

"Your basic skills are very poor?"

Maias Lance was somewhat helpless, but he could understand Lewis's actions.

Many players are so talented that they neglect basic skills training, preferring to eat, drink, and have fun all day instead of training, relying solely on their talent to play. There are many such players in the NBA; most of the talented players end up in the NBA.

"This, this talent..."

He took the data and looked at it. His eyes widened slowly. This wasn't just good talent; this was an explosion of talent!
"real or fake?"

He was somewhat suspicious, no, very suspicious.

Shrugging, Lewis introduced, "This is agent Eric Fleischer, Mr. Larry Fleischer's eldest son. He certainly wouldn't lie to me."

"I understand."

As a basketball coach, Maiaslans certainly knew Larry Fleischer, a prominent figure in American basketball during the 1970s and 80s.

"Coach Lance, this is troublesome."

Eric Fleischer extended a friendly hand to Maiaslans.

“Mr. Fleischer, I will give him a chance, but it will depend on his performance on the field,” Maiaslans said politely.

Lewis added, "Don will enter the NBA draft after helping us finish the playoffs, so give him some more time."

Maias Lance nodded. A center with such natural talent should definitely get playing time; he had never coached a center with that kind of talent before. However, Tang Bei's arrival didn't seem to be welcomed by his teammates.

The first reason he was unpopular was because of his Chinese identity.

The United States has severe and pervasive racial discrimination, and the violent world of sports is no exception, with Chinese people at the very bottom of the social hierarchy.

The basketball world is somewhat better off, but the NFL, the most violent league, sees numerous violent fights involving racial discrimination every year, with many cases of serious injury or even death, which are all covered up by the NFL.

The second reason he was unpopular was that his presence meant increased competition in the paint, and several interior players glared at him with hostility.

The CBA league has a very high player attrition rate, and its professional careers are even shorter than those of NBA players, making the competition for the same position extremely fierce.

They didn't know Tang Bei's strength, but his height and wingspan made them feel a lot of competitive pressure; he had a talent that none of them possessed.

"Gentlemen, you have a new teammate named 'Tang'. I hope you will have a good working relationship with him."

Luther Lewis gave a brief introduction, then said to the tall Black player, "Chris Ander, gather your things and come with me."

"Mr. General Manager, I am still in training."

Chris Anders's expression changed, and he refused to move, speaking in an almost pleading tone.

"Okay, it seems you understand what's going to happen."

Luther Lewis said coldly, "I've never seen you work this hard in training. It's too late now, you're out."

"Damn Chinamen!"

In despair, Chris Ander cursed and charged at Tang Bei, throwing a punch.

"careful!"

Eric Fleischer shouted urgently.

A cold glint flashed in Tang Bei's eyes. He stepped forward with his left foot to dodge the punch, and at the same time, his right arm moved, hooking diagonally upward from under the opponent's right elbow and grabbing his neck.

"roll!"

The next instant, a furious roar exploded in his throat, and at the same time, his right foot stepped forward, and his right arm swung forward with the explosive movement of his body, instantly lifting Chris Ander, who had missed his shot, into the air.

"God!"

"Oh!"

When they saw Chris Anders being sent flying by Tang Bei's arm, everyone present was instantly stunned.

Chris Anders flew more than a meter backward in the air, crashed onto the floor, and then slid backward for several more meters.

The scene was quite shocking, but Tang Bei had already shown mercy by not slamming the person onto the floor. That would have caused much more damage; with his strength, he could have killed someone if the floor had been hard enough.

"Wrestling techniques?"

Luther Lewis was a wrestling fan, and when he saw Tang Bei's move, his eyes lit up. He felt that Tang Bei should go into wrestling.

Seeing this, Eric Fleischer breathed a sigh of relief.

However, there are also some concerns, because once Tang Bei gets used to solving problems with violence, he will gradually build up an image of a violent person, which will affect commercial value. No commercial brand would be willing to hire a violent person to endorse its brand.

However, Tang Bei is Chinese, and without any violent means, he will be bullied, whether in the current CBA or in the future NBA.

"Ridiculous!"

Looking at Chris Anders, whom he had thrown to the ground, Tang Bei coldly cursed.

At this moment, Chris Ander scrambled to his feet, no longer daring to cause trouble for Tang Bei, and left with the general manager.

Watching Ander's lonely figure as he left, Tang Bei realized one thing: in America, the strong survive and the weak are eliminated.

Simply put, the team doesn't show any favoritism. Those who are useful to the team will be treated well, while those who are useless will be disposed of like garbage.

However, with Chris Anders as their scapegoat, the remaining monkeys no longer dared to act arrogantly in front of Tang Bei and had to accept his presence.

"Tang, you train here. I'll arrange a place for you to stay and rent a car. I'll come pick you up later," Eric Fleischer said before leaving.

"Hey Tang, wanna deduct one?"

Center Rick Hanks tossed the basketball over.

(End of this chapter)