NBA: Yao Ming at his peak returns to his rookie season

Yao Ming's unexpected remarks.

It almost caused Bill Duffy's hair to collectively run away from home.

Meanwhile, the Rockets also launched an emergency public relations campaign.

After all, that's Shaquille O'Neal.

but!

None of their worries came true. There was no fan boycott, no star players resorting to insults, and even O'Neal remained silent during an interview.

"A challenge? Shaq doesn't accept challenges from nobodys. See this side?" O'Neal held up his palm, which had no rings on it, but ignoring Kobe's sullen face, he counted playfully: "One, two, three, Shaq's fist has three championship rings!"

However, Kobe Bryant immediately countered, saying, "Yao Ming is amazing! He's one of the best centers I've ever seen. My God, that's how players should be! If I don't surpass Jordan at some point in the future, then my basketball career will be a failure!"

The atmosphere within the Lakers team instantly became tense!

Shaquille O'Neal didn't object to Kobe's ambition to surpass Michael Jordan, but he was unhappy that his own little brother dared to "defect" at such a crucial time.

The two started exchanging barbs, and the media... naturally went into an uproar!

Kobe's agent is going crazy.

The shoe contract with Adidas was already in a stalemate, and things were finally starting to loosen up a bit, so why are you trying to ride on that big guy's coattails?!

Forget it, let's just destroy it!

Kobe and Yao Ming vs. Jordan and Shaq!

This is the biggest topic in the league right now.

If Joe is available, choose Joe; if not, choose Shark.

Although this is just a rumor, it also illustrates Jordan and O'Neal's absolute dominance.

They are virtually unshakeable.

Now, both of them have faced their respective challengers: Yao Ming and Kobe Bryant.

The news became incredibly lively.

The league's focus has shifted from last season's East McGrady and West Kobe to the two pairs of champions and challengers!

The popularity is even higher!

Adidas has also begun a new round of review.

Companies like Adidas and Nike can't be idiots. In fact, even if the bosses were idiots, they could pay someone to add brains to their brains.

The reason Adidas gave up on Kobe in his past life.

Aside from salary issues and lack of funds, the biggest turning point was that McGrady's popularity surpassed Kobe's in this All-Star voting.

Kobe may have popularity and status, but he was the Lakers' second-in-command.

McGrady was the leader of the Magic.

After some deliberation, Adidas hoped that McGrady would be like Jordan in his prime.

Adidas also favored McGrady this time, but Kobe and Yao Ming's super popularity made Adidas hesitate.

Hook, their arch-rival, is now kicking himself for it.

Adidas' independent sub-brand "Adiwang" will officially launch its first product, the "Giant God" series, during the All-Star Game.

The latest insole technology gives Adiwang a core competitive advantage.

Many players received their insoles.

Looking at the data, the management of Hook must be furious with the people who did the market research for Yao Ming. Yao Ming's sneakers have already exceeded 1500 million yuan in pre-sales, and with a month to go before the All-Star Game, things are bound to get even more crazy.

This is only the first pair of shoes.

This stuff can be produced continuously in the future.

On the other side, Yao Ming finally received his first pair of sneakers.

The overall design is bright red with the classic three bars in black, and the icon is a giant hand in a bold "OK" style.

Moreover, the insole technology is based entirely on data provided by Yao Ming.

His insoles are more expensive than the shoes themselves.

But there's a reason why it's expensive. It's not just about being sweat-absorbent and breathable; even Yao Ming feels that the pressure on his ankles is reduced when he jumps!

All I can say is that cutting-edge technology is amazing!

Yao Ming didn't get to wear his new shoes until the All-Star Game. Now that the Rockets are on a losing streak and he's won the Western Conference vote in the third round, it's time to make a big splash!

Yao Ming will wear these new shoes in the upcoming away game against the Pacers.

And as a home advantage.

At the next Houston Rockets home game, 100 pairs of Yao Ming's autographed shoes will be randomly placed under the benches in the arena as blind box gifts.

The Rockets gave this publicity the green light.

They even gave me money to buy sneakers.

As a boss known for being "stingy", this was a huge splurge, but watching the Rockets' value rise from 170 million to 300 million was quite an achievement.

He then had no more thoughts.

Historically, apart from Jordan, no player has ever brought such a terrifying rate of increase in value to a team; it's faster than printing money.

Although there will be a fourth round of voting after the third round.

However, based on past practice, there won't be much change among the players.

The starting lineup is basically guaranteed.

After receiving the shoes, Yao Ming also received a call from Bob from Adidas. Yao Ming's All-Star appearance this time should trigger the incentive option according to the shoe contract.

Adidas gave him 50 plus a bonus of 10.

Adidas was willing to pay this money.

They've made a fortune.

Furthermore, while "Adiwang" proposed signing an independent shoe contract with Kobe, Bob also called Yao Ming to ask for his opinion.

According to the player agreement, Yao Ming himself does not hold a management position.

I only hold shares in Adiwang.

But everyone knows that Yao Ming was the one who made the final decision in the end. Yao Ming's offer of a 4-year, $5000 million independent contract for Kobe was indeed outrageous.

On the other hand, Adidas essentially spends no money and even earns a 20% brand usage fee.

As long-time rivals.

Even though the Hook didn't manage to take Kobe away, they still made a profit. So in the end, Bob and Yao Ming raised the brand usage fee to 25%, allowing Adidas King to independently sign star players.

This is a very important contract.

Just like AJ and Swoosh, although they are under the same company and Swoosh even receives a share of the profits, AJ is almost independent in every aspect.

The current "Adiwang" has taken an important first step in this country within a country.

Kobe had been at odds with Adidas for a long time, and his siding with Yao Ming was just the trigger.

With Adiwang taking over, Kobe couldn't wait to sign the contract, and Adiwang also showed Kobe enough respect.

I showed him the 'Mamba' series before he signed the contract.

In Adiwang's words, the era of Peter Pan is over, it's time for you to become a legend!

"Is it time?" Kobe was very receptive to this!

Before the Rockets' game against the Pacers, Adidas officially stepped down.

Kobe Bryant signed a separate contract with Adidas King Shoes.

This greatly alleviated Adidas's financial problems.

Adidas has released a teaser announcing the signing of three star players: Yao Ming, Kobe Bryant, and Tracy McGrady!

The Houston Arena has updated its official poster, featuring a huge banner showing Yao Ming catching a ball with one hand, flanked by Tracy McGrady and Kobe Bryant.

It was a good experience taking pictures with Kobe and McGrady.

Both of them have extensive filming experience.

However, Yao Ming was watching the Pacers' game video on the court, which led to him having a lot of conversation with Kobe Bryant, while McGrady looked at the two of them as if they were looking at something terrifying.

That's absolutely insane.

Adidas has gained a huge number of fans this time, recruiting almost all of the league's three hottest stars, leaving Stan Smith with nothing but a pile of money to plan for the future.

The day of the game against the Pacers arrived.

I originally thought it would be a tough battle.

Unexpectedly, an accident occurred during pre-game training for the Pacers, with Jermaine O'Neal suffering an ankle injury.

Is this for real?

Yao Ming, who had been preparing for half a day, was speechless. What's even more outrageous is that Jermaine O'Neal got injured, supposedly because Artest made a dirty move during a defensive play.

Such injuries, caused by team training or teammates, are very rare.

It's probably similar to a fairy tale.

But this mess seems so reasonable when it happens to Artest.

Thus, the Pacers, with the best winning percentage of the season, faced off against the Rockets, a team with super rookies, and the game ended rather anticlimactically.

The Rockets won by a large margin, 107-82.

The Rockets' losing streak has ended, and they are now just one game behind the Jazz, who are in eighth place in the Western Conference. Their next game is against the Jazz.