Reborn NBA Gao Fushuai

The second day of the game against the Nets was originally a rest day, but Vujacic, who was stimulated by the contract offered by Nike, obviously couldn't calm himself down, so he arrived at the training hall early, and practiced according to the usual Plan, sweat on the training ground.

7 million in 9700 years, 5 million in 2500 years!
This set of numbers has now become the best magic weapon for Vujacic to stimulate his anger.

Vujacic stubbornly believes that this set of figures is already clear. In the eyes of those capitalists, he and James are two levels that cannot be compared at all, which makes Vujacic feel angry.

He has always been a sensitive person. Anyone who despises him will stimulate his nerves, which will bring endless revenge.

Of course, Vujacic's revenge is a bit naive. Maybe even if he can prove that he is better than James, Nike will not regret it. He is just a endorsement star. It's nothing at all.

However, Vujacic is stubborn and wants to win this tone. No one can ignore him, especially in the field of basketball. For him, what basketball represents is his self-esteem.

Fortunately, before Vujacic drove himself completely crazy, Jeff Reid sent him gunpowder.

"Hey! Jeff! It's me! Where am I? I'm training, yes! I'm training. I'm trying to strengthen myself while that ugly guy in Cleveland is having a good time. As my agent, you Shouldn't there be something to do?"

Vujacic's tone now is like a grieving woman who is dissatisfied with desires. It's still that damned number, completely lingering, hovering over his head non-stop, tossing him almost to the point of becoming insane.

Jeff Reed was also helpless when he heard the words. He has gradually understood the character of this employer and friend: "Okay! Sasha! In order to prove to you that I am really not fooling around, I decided to report to you the latest work progress."

Vujacic's eyes lit up: "You have already contacted the people from Adidas, what do those German guys say?"

Vujacic's tone was eager, not because he was greedy, he couldn't think about those things at all, he just wanted a number to prove that he was no worse than James.

God knows why he has so much resentment towards James. He has never even seen the "Cleveland ugly ghost" in his mouth. He has already regarded the "Little Emperor" as his sworn enemy just because of the endorsement contract given by Nike.

"The Germans are willing to offer you a three-year, $3 million endorsement deal!"

3 million in 3000 years?
Vujacic silently calculated in his heart, it seems that he still has more than 300 million less than James a year, and what does it mean that the Germans are only willing to sign a three-year contract with him?
"Don't talk, Sasha! Listen to me first, I know you want to refuse, don't deny it, I can feel it, I understand your character!"

Vujacic was taken aback. He really wanted to refuse. In his opinion, Adidas is only willing to sign a three-year contract with him. It is obvious that they have no confidence in him. The reason why they are willing to pay an average of 1000 million a year is not so much It would be more appropriate to say that it is a gamble to be optimistic about him.

Jeff Reid was silent for a while, and said, "Sasha! Do you want a big contract just to compare yourself with James?"

Vujacic was a little confused: "Don't you think so?"

Jeff Reid was really going to faint when he heard this: "Hey! Sasha! I'm a professional agent, I'm not an abettor. Yes, I was really angry when James was ungrateful, but I haven't You are so confused that you want to take revenge on James with your future, Sasha! Have you ever seriously thought that you will not be able to play for the rest of your life, and you are not just a player now, you are in the NBA, What kind of place is the NBA, here is full of rancid commercial smell, you have no way to refuse, you can only choose to blend in!"

Vujacic still didn't understand: "Jeff! What are you trying to say?"

Jeff Reed went on to say a word that Vujacic didn't understand very well: "Business development, Sasha! I think this cooperation with Adidas is a very good opportunity for you and me!"

Vujacic was taken aback when he heard the words. He really hadn't thought about the things Jeff Reed said. In fact, before that, he just positioned himself as a player, a pure player. He felt that as long as he played well on the court, he would be fine. As for other things, he didn't think about it at all.

However, Vujacic still felt that what Jeff Reid said about commercial development seemed very reasonable!
If you think about it carefully, it seems that many NBA players have started to get involved in business after entering this league.

For example, Magic Johnson, although he has long faded out of the fans' vision, but as a businessman, Johnson is all-powerful and giving pointers.

Magician is one of the NBA stars who became the boss earlier. After retiring that year, Johnson got part of the shares of the Lakers and became the small boss of the Lakers, starting his business career since then.

At present, Johnson is even building his own business empire. The Johnson Cooperative Development Company he owns has several branches, including the "Magic Johnson" film and television company, including the movie theater of the same name; the Las Vegas branch, including Las Vegas. a 235000-square-foot shopping center in West Vegas; affiliates with the California Pension Center; and newest affiliates with Starbucks and Fridays.

But this is just the tip of the iceberg. Johnson's business accomplishments are as good as his football skills. As early as 1998, the annual revenue of Johnson's cooperative development company had reached 2.54 million US dollars.

There is also the "God of Basketball" Michael Jordan. He is a model of NBA players' success in the business circle. Introduced a branch product named after Jordan for Jordan. After cooperating with Nike for many years to create countless classics, Jordan is now on the road of solo flight. In addition to the Jumpman series, Jordan also has his own Two3 series. His brand involves sneakers , jerseys, casual wear, formal wear and related supporting brands.

Jeff Reid talked a lot, some examples of successful NBA players doing business, and some knowledge in the financial world. Of course, Vujacic only had a half-knowledge, but he thought it was very reasonable.

Today's NBA players are very rich, and they have their own unique advantages. They are celebrities. First of all, they have a certain appeal in the society. , waiting to be moldy?
Moreover, a player's sports life is very limited. If you don't take advantage of the current popularity and act quickly, you will be forced to wait until you retire. The newspapers have reported more than once that there are former NBA superstars receiving social relief. There are even NBA championship players who have to work at gas stations in order to survive.

The more Vujacic listens, the more he feels that he has caught up with the good times. If it were 50 years ago, even if he wanted to, he would be powerless. It is said that the early years of the NBA were really hard.

In the early 50s, Bob Cousy, the seven-time assist king in a row and the NBA’s top box office, asked the Celtics for an annual salary of [-] U.S. dollars. The cardinal replied: "[-] thousand."

Cousy had no choice but to bite the toothpick.

At that time, the players still had to share a rented room and live on the floor, so Paul Arizin, the inventor of the jump shot, said that before he entered the NBA, he often traveled to many arenas to play, just wanting to earn a few more money to live.

If the money is not enough, there will always be advertisements, right?

no way.

George McCann ruled the NBA until he got tired and quit, and he had to go around the world to find opportunities to be a lawyer. The reason was that when he played in the NBA, he never signed a sneaker contract.

In the 60s, superstars of the Lakers' Elgin Baylor level had to hide their names every summer and play wild ball in small leagues in order to earn some living expenses.

In the mid-60s, Chamberlain took down his contract with an annual salary of [-] US dollars, which shocked the world, and felt that the NBA salary structure was about to collapse.

Russell took this matter to fight the cardinal: "No, I have to ask for one hundred thousand and one dollars, and he would be happy with a dollar more!"

But the two of them have such high salaries. Most of the players in the 60s earned [-] to [-] U.S. dollars a year.

Dave Bing, one of the top 50 players in the NBA, carried a financial textbook with him when he played in the 60s, and went to the bank every year to work part-time during the holidays. After retiring, he transformed into the Detroit Steel Giant.

In the 70s, everyone earned a little more money, but they were still poor. The ABA and NBA only spent about [-] yuan on players like Rick Barry and Dr. J who were fighting for each other.

Fast forward to 1979, and 20 yuan became a more common annual salary. Larry Bird was about to enter the NBA. His agent, Lion, proposed an annual salary of 100 million yuan, but was forced to cut it to 60 yuan. , Signed 50.

The reason for the Celtics is: "Jabbar and Dr. J, who have the highest annual salary in the league, are only 65!"

After Bird signed 60, there are only a few people in the league who are higher than him, Bill Wharton and Skywalker Thompson.

After the 80s, broadcasting rights were sold happily, and everyone’s life was better. In the mid-to-late 80s, an annual salary of one million became the standard for star players, and the bottom of the league also had around 20. There is no need to worry about the good days when the annual salary is 300 million.

Players in the 90s were more bullish. When the No. 1994 pick Robinson entered the industry in 6800, he opened his mouth and said, "I want to become a man worth 1994 million yuan." At that time, Barkley, Dameng, Ewing and other superstars were all revolving around the annual salary of 400 million.

The great story happened in the summer of 1996. Free agents moved everywhere, and big contracts were flying around. The Heat first signed Mourning for 31 million in seven years, and then tried to sign Juwan Howard for 5600 million in seven years. The bullet quickly made up for Howard with 3000 million in seven years.The Sharks signed with the Lakers for [-] million in seven years, and Uncle Mu signed with the Hawks for [-] million in five years at the age of [-]. Then, Jordan and the Bulls made the entire league blown away with a salary of [-] million.

By 1997, Kevin Garnett had signed 2000 million for six years, and the league began to panic. The annual salary of [-] million was flying all over the sky. When will it end?

During the labor dispute in 1998, this matter was brought to the fore. The seven-year long contract was gone, the maximum salary was restricted, and the middle class and special clauses were divided. From 1997 to the present, the salary of the league has been fixed.

The 1000 million level is for wrists, the 2000 million level is for superstars over the years, Jordan’s 3000 million may also exist, but you have to renew your contract loyally for several years to accumulate that level, and the income of middle and low-level players is skyrocketing. The gap has been slowly narrowed. Of course, the superstars don't care too much. The salary has not increased too much, but they have sneaker contracts to make up for it.

Generally speaking, from the peak of more than 50 US dollars in the 60s, to the peak of 70 US dollars in the 60s, to the peak of 80 US dollars in the late 90s, the peak salary and general salary of the NBA are slowly progressive, and the million dollars in the 3000s Level, to the [-] million level in the [-]s, or even [-] million, is a leap period.

Since then, the peak salary of the players has been managed, but the income of middle and low-level players has gradually increased. Taking a balanced route, it is unlikely that there will be a story like Pippen who is a superstar but leads 300 million, so The history of NBA wages is also a history of changing blue-collar workers to white-collar workers and improving welfare benefits.

For the NBA, the 80s was a period of great renaissance. Of course, there are a series of causes and consequences. The key figure in it is the league chairman David Stern, who made the NBA officially move towards commercialization. Look, it’s business again. This is also the core idea that Jeff Reid will teach Vujacic today.

Business!

The 70s was quite tragic for the NBA. It was forced to compete by the ABA. A large number of drug and alcohol players ruined the image of the league. There were frequent fights and scandals, but there was a great revival of the NBA.

Dr. J and the ABA's gorgeous style of play made the NBA realize that the viewing of the game is sometimes more important than the competitive nature. The addition of Magician and Bird has sharply increased the league's attention and suspense.

In the end, David Stern backed out of his line and commercialized the NBA, first by packaging the NBA as a great televised object, and to this day, the NBA signed a six-year-worth deal with three television networks in 2002. $3 billion contract.

Since then, the NBA has transformed from a blue-collar league in the 70s into an entertaining star league.

The joining of Jordan in the mid-80s was a major historical moment in the NBA. Those gorgeous characters in the 70s did not catch up with the prosperous era of TV broadcasting. Jordan was a master of flying, dancing, viewing and competitiveness.

The addition of His Majesty the Flying Man made the Magic VS Bird more diversified in the 80s. The NBA's broadcast income increased, and the sneaker contract also followed. The NBA stars in the 80s began to transform into public figures.

The 1992 Dream Team played in the Barcelona Olympics, which was the result of the hard work of Stern and the American Basketball Association. The NBA shocked the world with this, and the other side of the NBA's values, in addition to being competitive, can also have gorgeous viewing and greatness. The star effect has been successfully promoted to the world.

Jordan's personal great legend has continued to advance the NBA's dream theater-style development, and finally the salary of NBA players has taken a leap.

The labor dispute in the summer of 1998 caused a series of vicious effects in the NBA, such as suspension, market value reduction, and audience dispersion, but at least some results were achieved.

The control of the player's maximum salary, the setting of the contract period and the supplement of middle and low-level players have damaged the interests of superstars, but the majority of middle and low-level players have gained more value.

Moreover, all these effects are top-down, and the cultivation of stars starts from universities and even high schools.A large number of scouts and agents are digging out young players like scouts. Although this is a bit exhausting, it makes "basketball stars" equivalent to entertainment stars in the United States.

Nowadays, the existence of video and the Internet has blurred the identity of the NBA as a sports league, but the images or pictures of the players have been more conveniently disseminated.

The value of the stars themselves has also greatly changed their commercial image. Players who still had a blue-collar flavor in the 80s now seem to be elite successful people.

Their increased market effect has also enabled the NBA to have more star-chasing fans. Although Stern's salary limit order and zero tolerance have castrated players' personalities, they have indeed brought forth new ones on the star production line.

All in all, the NBA has changed from a blue-collar workshop to an elite assembly line entertainment company today. In fact, the current NBA is actually a commercialized major league.

The more Jeff Reed analyzed, the more Vujacic felt that it made sense. He is now a big player in the NBA. Why does he have to keep a job when everyone drives a luxury car and lives in a luxury house? A rookie contract, renting a small apartment, and making out with Hilary Duff all have to worry about protesting downstairs.

He is not one of those blue-collar workers in the early days of the NBA who had to travel around to make money in order to make a living. He has caught up with the good times, why not make a lot of money?
Excessive commercialization, tarnishing the sanctity of basketball?

That's bullshit!

"Jeff! Tell me, what should I do?"

Jeff Reid laughed, he knew that Vujacic had been moved by him: "Listen, Sasha! The first thing you have to do is not to have resistance to the demands made by the Germans, this is the most fundamental, Then leave the matter to me, I will make you the most successful and greatest star in NBA history, this is our goal, of course, this will also accompany us, fame and fortune!"

Vujasic also laughed when he heard the words: "Good idea, Jeff!"