Jiang Shan came to Li Kaiming now mainly for this matter, but in the end, Jiang Shan also brought another news that surprised Li Kaiming.
Huaguo Sports Channel wants to conduct an exclusive interview with him, preferably tomorrow.
Li Kaiming thought for a while and agreed. Although some people in China had opinions about Yi Jianlian, he knew that such people were only a small minority and that most football-savvy fans still supported him.
He cannot directly offend the entire Chinese fans because of some bad apples. You must know that China, as the most populous country in the world, has unlimited market prospects, so offending Chinese fans is definitely one of the stupidest behaviors.
Look at the Houston Rockets. Because of the selection of Yao Ming, their influence has risen to a higher level, and the owner of the Rockets has made a lot of money.
As long as Li Kaiming wants to make money, he must have a good relationship with Chinese fans.
Of course, making money is only one of the reasons. Another equally important thing is that he wants to represent China in games.
His parents, uncle and aunt are all authentic Chinese and have a deep cultural identity with China, so they also gave him an obsession. He has never even set foot on that land on the other side of the ocean, but it is His hometown.
Although he signed with China's sports brand Hongxinerke, he himself has no direct communication with Chinese fans or even Chinese officials. This exclusive interview is an opportunity for Chinese fans to truly know him and understand him. His chance.
So Li Kaiming just thought about it, agreed to Jiang Shan, and then asked her to arrange the arrangement.
If his agent Monica sees this scene, she will definitely be furious!
The star she signed participated in the show, but as an agent, she didn't know about it?
However, there was a reason why Li Kaiming did not let Monica get involved. The game between him and the Chinese officials was not a simple money transaction, so it was difficult for Monica to play a role in it.
He did this for the latter's good.
After Jiang Shan received Li Kaiming's affirmative reply, she quickly left Li Kaiming's home. She also wanted to inform reporters from China and let them prepare for this exclusive interview.
The location of the interview was still chosen at Li Kaiming's home, but this time it was not in the living room. Outside Li Kaiming's home, there was a swimming pool of about 20 square meters. This interview was conducted right next to the swimming pool.
The people sent by the Huaguo Sports Channel were Zhang Weiping and Su Qun, as well as several cameramen and logistics personnel.
After shaking hands with the two famous commentators and hosts, the two parties sat down separately.
Zhang Weiping sighed, "I didn't expect your Chinese to be so good, Kaiming. It's rare for people born in America to be so fluent in Chinese!"
Su Qun on the side also nodded. The two of them had made a fuss over this just now.
When Su Qun came up, he spoke some broken English to Li Kaiming, but Li Kaiming smiled slightly and said directly, "Let's communicate in Chinese. I have no problem at all."
Li Kaiming's words directly made the atmosphere at the scene extremely awkward, and Su Qun was even more ashamed.
In order to interview Li Kaiming, he prepared English for a long time one night in advance. He even memorized a few "authentic" American slang words in preparation for showing off his English in front of Li Kaiming.
Unexpectedly, before the interview even started, his three-legged cat English was directly upstaged by Li Kaiming's fluent Chinese, and the English interview prepared in advance was directly changed into Chinese.
However, this episode had no impact on the interview itself. Could it be that my mother tongue could cause some problems?
Zhang Weiping, as the oldest person in this group, coughed slightly and started today's interview.
"Hello Li Kaiming, I am very honored to conduct an exclusive interview with you on behalf of the Chinese Sports Channel. If I remember correctly, this is the first time that a Chinese media has conducted an exclusive interview with you, right?"
Li Kaiming nodded in agreement.
Zhang Weiping continued to ask, "As the second yellow champion after Yao Ming, do you have a different perception of your identity?"
Li Kaiming smiled and shook his head, "I don't think there is any difference between me and other No. 1 picks, including Yao Ming. I don't think there is any difference between him and other No. 1 picks."
Zhang Weiping raised his eyebrows, "You two are the only two top picks among the yellow race. You represent the highest level of basketball for the yellow race. Don't you have a sense of belonging to this status?"
Li Kaiming replied, "In my opinion, the No. 1 pick is the No. 1 pick, and the loser is the loser. It has nothing to do with your skin color. As long as you have enough strength, even if your skin is green, I think the identity of the No. 1 pick should be What's yours is yours. Although there is racial discrimination in our society, when it comes to sports, I personally do not agree with racial discrimination or racial prejudice. No skin color is more suitable for a sport than other skin colors. If we put too much emphasis on our skin color, isn’t it also a kind of lack of confidence in ourselves to some extent?”
Zhang Weiping and Su Qun looked at Li Kaiming in surprise.
In their understanding, athletes who specialize in sports are already one in ten without drinking. But there are even fewer people who can have their own opinions on something and accurately describe it. .
To put it bluntly, he has a social elite background, rather than being like some players who are just a gangster by nature even if they sign a big contract.
It seems that today’s interview is very interesting!
Zhang Weiping then asked, "There are rumors outside that it was you who talked to the Wizards management and allowed the Wizards to trade for Yi Jianlian, and then obtained the opportunity for Sun Yue to sign a contract with the management. Is that true?"
This method is very widely spread in China, and to some extent it has helped Li Kaiming lay a good fan base in China.
Li Kaiming smiled and shook his head, "Trading Yi Jianlian is entirely the management's decision and has nothing to do with me. I will not interfere with the management's operations, and I don't have the ability. As for Sun Yue, he and I are playing in the summer league We trained together every time. I pointed out some problems to him in training, which helped him a little, but it was not as outrageous as the fans said. His contract was obtained by himself, and he had nothing to do with me. Connections! Here are hundreds of the best basketball players on the planet, so there will never be connections here.”
Li Kaiming's answer was sincere and he also praised Sun Yue. This answer made Zhang Weiping and Su Qun rate Li Kaiming much higher.
There is no shortage of people in this world who are good at golf, but there are probably not many who are good at golf and are also humble.
Then Su Qun asked a question, "Will you represent America in international competitions?"
This question was extremely pointed, and there was no foreshadowing in the question. Even Zhang Weiping frowned at the side.
Li Kaiming's answer was still very sincere, "Before something happens, I won't be certain. Everything is possible. I am still an American citizen, and it is reasonable for me to compete on her behalf. But I don't Will deny the possibility of playing for China..."
Zhang Weiping and Su Qun were both refreshed when they heard this!
Anyone who is familiar with Chinese spoken language knows that what follows "but" is the real meaning of the passage. Li Kaiming is so familiar with Chinese that it is impossible not to know this convention.
In other words, Li Kaiming wanted to represent China in the war!
Now the attitude of the rightful owner has been made clear, it depends on the attitude of the Chinese official side...
In fact, the fact that Zhang Weiping and the others came to America showed that the attitude from above had begun to loosen.
As Li Kaiming showed his dominant strength in the regular season, it became increasingly impossible for China to ignore this wanderer from a foreign country.
Looking at Yao Ming's state, I'm afraid it's almost impossible to count on him for the next Olympics. It's already on the agenda to find a new core for the national team!
