NBA: Starting with the undercut by Parker and Bowen

"OK! OK!"

Rich Paul smiled and agreed, "We can and should continue to work together happily; it's a win-win situation."

In the summer of 03, LeBron James signed a seven-year contract.

Only four and a half years have passed, and if they want to renew the contract, they will have to wait until the summer of 10.

Nike's decision on who to sign and at what price is none of LeBron James's team's business, nor can they interfere with it.

As for leaving Nike and finding a new owner, they never even considered it.

Are you kidding me? The major basketball shoe manufacturers on the market right now are Nike and Adidas.

Adidas' basketball shoe market is shrinking. Investing now would be like joining Little Mustache in 1945.

They lack Yang Lin's boldness and the vast East Asian market behind him; they are unlikely to embrace small manufacturers.

Nike can help them make a lot of money, and it has a huge media channel. They are prepared to stick with this powerful company forever.

Rich Paul made that call simply because the squeaky wheel gets the grease; they wanted to show their grievances.

Hungry~~ Food~~ *crying emoji*

If nothing can be changed, then try to get something from somewhere else.

Nike executives remained silent, but Rich Paul wasn't embarrassed. He casually asked, "Would you mind revealing the details of Young's contract?"

"Heh! Richie, you know this isn't the rule."

Even though it was over the phone, Rich Paul still wore a fawning smile and said in a humble voice:

"Give them a little hint! That way LeBron will have something to strive for!"

The contract is supposed to be confidential, but it's mostly open to the general public.

If someone is interested in finding out more, even if they don't get to see the original contract, they can at least get a pretty good understanding of all the terms and conditions.

Therefore, after a moment of hesitation, the Nike executive on the other end of the phone said vaguely:

"Yang's basic contract is $1 million over 5 years because he won the championship, the Finals MVP, and has a huge Asian market behind him."

"So many? That's 20 million a year!" Rich Paul exclaimed.

Media reports indicate that Nike offered Yang Lin a 5-year, 1.3 million yuan contract.

According to Rich Paul, at least 50 to 60 million of that should be including conditions, with a basic annual salary of around 15 million.

But to his utter surprise, Nike was so generous this time, offering a basic annual salary of 20 million.

"Haha! Are you a little surprised?"

The Nike executives on the other end of the phone laughed, "If LeBron can win the championship and the Finals MVP, and there is a huge market that is almost untapped behind him, then we are willing to give him a base salary of 20 million per year."

"Ahem... Okay! This last one is a bit difficult. After all, no matter how good you are at making up stories, Africa is too poor, and with no market, you can't make much money."

"In short, you need to understand that we at Nike believe in win-win situations. When we make big money, you will also be able to make big money."

Rich Paul continued, "And what about the rest of the prize money?"

The person on the other end of the phone continued, "Ten million for signing bonus, ten million for playoffs, and ten million for All-Star appearances."

"Yang's team has promised that he will participate in the All-Star Three-Point Contest and win the Three-Point Contest."

That's complete nonsense.

Although Yang Lin's contract includes the All-Star Three-Point Contest, it is not a mandatory condition.

But this did not prevent Nike executives from using this to fool Rich Paul.

"If LeBron makes a commitment to participate in the Slam Dunk Contest and win the title, I can assure you right now that Nike would be willing to pay him a prize of ten million dollars for that alone."

Will Rich Paul dare to respond?

Dares not.

Given James's lack of flexibility, participating in the dunk contest would definitely be a laughing stock.

You can't exactly go up there and do a tomahawk dunk!

That thing looks imposing and powerful in actual combat.

However, when it's brought to the Slam Dunk Contest, its comedic effect is only slightly less than Jordan's "5-point" three-point contest.

After ending the call, Rich Paul looked around.

Besides him, LeBron James and his two other friends, Maverick Carter and Randy Mims, were also present.

Maverick Carter spoke first, saying, "Honor is the most important thing. Only by winning the Larry O'Brien Trophy can LeBron have a greater say in the business world."

"But..."

James frowned, looking troubled. "Cleveland right now isn't strong enough to support me in my championship aspirations!"

"Last year we barely made it out of the Eastern Conference. This year, the team has not only not improved, but has actually regressed quite a bit. Not to mention that the Celtics in the East have formed a Big Three, and Orlando has signed Lewis to a nine-figure contract."

Upon hearing this, Rich Paul decisively replied, "Then contact Daniel (Gilbert) and have him strengthen the team."

"Why!"

James sighed deeply, somewhat melancholy, and said, "Cleveland is a small market; how easy is it to strengthen the team?"

Maverick Carter gritted his teeth and suggested, "If LeBron can't win a championship within this contract period, then it's time to move to another place!"

The other three people in the room were shocked. Randy Mims hesitated before asking, "Won't this damage LeBron's reputation?"

Carter replied, "Honor can wash everything away; people will only remember the ultimate victor. At worst, we can always come back when the time is right."

After a moment's thought, Rich Paul wholeheartedly agreed, saying, "Maverick's suggestion is valuable. LeBron has two and a half years left on his contract, which is the time we're giving Cleveland."

"If the Cavaliers can't win a championship during this period, then LeBron should definitely switch teams. We have to think about his career."

After some discussion, James' team confirmed their intention to leave.

The season continues.

Tuesday, April 2008, 1.

The Rockets visited Washington, D.C., to challenge the Wizards.

It's a bit of a shame that Gilbert Arenas, the first-generation shooting legend, is currently recovering from injury, so Yang Lin will miss the match.

Or perhaps, even if they do meet on the field in the future, Arenas will no longer be the "Great General" he once was.

I still remember last season, when Arenas faced off against Kobe in Los Angeles.

He scored a career-high 60 points and led the Washington Wizards to a 147-141 victory in overtime.

At the time, Wizards head coach Eddie Jordan was full of confidence and said that he believed Arenas fulfilled all his fantasies about guards and could do everything that Kobe could do.

Of course, Eddie Jordan's praise was a bit exaggerated.

但上个赛季的阿里纳斯，确实打出了惊艳表现：整个赛季9场40+，其中包括1场60+和3场50+。

Yang Lin's most vivid memory of Arenas is his Adidas GG:

Hello everyone! I'm Gilbert Arenas, and this is my story.

When I first entered the NBA, I spent my first 40 games on the bench...

But instead of sitting there complaining, I kept training and training.

...I still wear jersey number 0 because I want to remind myself to work hard every day.

So inspiring, right?

After seeing this guy for the first time, Yang Lin felt a surge of anger and ran three laps around the track.

Unfortunately, the story of "Agent Zero" was good in the first half, but ended poorly.

If it were just injuries, people would sigh and feel regret.

But then he got into the gun incident, went to jail, and kept making a series of bizarre moves. People thought he was just reaping what he sowed.

8 PM, Capital Arena No. 1.

The game was easy; in just over two hours, the Rockets won 92-84.

Throughout the game, the Wizards offered almost no resistance.

「三剑客」剩下的那两人，巴特勒16投5中仅拿到12分，正负值-17；贾米森13投4中仅拿到14分，正负值-5。

Their most rebellious figure was Nick Young, the creator of the "Black Man Question Mark" meme, the 16th overall pick in the first round of the 07 draft, and the first person to hold the nickname "Young Warrior".

Let him be strong, I'm Nick Young.

Young scored 13 points tonight, shooting 6-for-11, with a plus-minus of +6.

But Yang on the other side was clearly more impressive. With just a few shots, he easily racked up an all-around stat line of 25 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists, and 3 steals.

Sitting on the bench, Nick Young watched Yang Lin's easy and effortless three-pointers and couldn't help but think: I want to play like that too.

Wizards head coach Eddie Jordan: No, you don't want to!