After the game, Li Kaiming finished the post-game interview, drove directly to pick up Williams, and then took the latter to find a restaurant for dinner.
It was almost ten o'clock now. There were not many restaurants open at night in Washington, especially at such a late hour. So Li Kaiming drove around the city for a long time before he found one that was not closed. Small restaurant.
The two people got out of the car and walked in. As expected, it was an Asian person who opened the restaurant.
Europeans and Americans are more concerned about their rest time. Only East Asians, who are generally more curvaceous, will sacrifice their rest and entertainment time to make money. There is no right or wrong between these two kinds of thinking, it is just a difference in concepts.
Just like people in America prefer to enjoy the present moment, many young people in America basically don’t save money. Even if they get paid, it’s just money. They can already live in America without owing a credit card. Among the young people who are stuck, they are among the best.
People in China prefer to save money to enhance their ability to resist risks and to buy a house. The latter is not an obsession of young people in America. For them, there is a big difference between renting and buying a house. It's not that big.
Li Kaiming walked into the restaurant and sat down at a relatively clean table.
The owner of the restaurant is a middle-aged man with a mustache, a chubby face, and a distinct Japanese accent. He is as stiff as a robot.
After ordering, Elliott Williams looked at Li Kaiming and said, "You are now a successful man. Not only did you buy a house in Washington, but you also have your own car! I'm so envious. I want to buy a Hummer too." , but it’s a pity that I don’t have any money in my pocket!”
Li Kaiming asked doubtfully, "You are also a lottery pick, so your salary should be quite high, right?"
Williams covered half of his face, "Brother, the gap between lottery picks is bigger than the gap between humans and pigs. You are the No. 1 pick and naturally you can't realize the difference because you are the one receiving the highest salary! I originally My salary is small, and I was so unlucky to be selected by the Raptors. You don’t know how high the taxes in Canada are. I don’t make much money. I pay almost half of it in taxes. The rest is I also need to give some to the agents..."
Li Kaiming really has never understood that there are so many ways to deal with salary, because he has always left these matters to his agent Monica to manage, and he only needs to perform on the court.
It seems that NbA stars, who are glamorous in people's eyes, are not that easy to be. Not only do they have to face the risk of being eliminated at any time, but they also have to give most of their income to the local government and agents.
Because there were only two of them in this small shop, the food was served quickly. Li Kaiming and Williams exchanged what they had seen and heard after entering the NBA while eating the food. Because they had to drive back in the evening, Li Kaiming Just didn't drink.
After drinking and eating, Li Kaiming and Williams sat for a while, almost resting, and when they were about to leave, a text message alert suddenly came from Li Kaiming's cell phone!
Li Kaiming frowned. Who sent him a message so late?
He picked up the phone and turned on the screen. The moment he saw the text message, he was stunned!
Williams, who was sitting opposite, was about to get up and leave, but found that Li Kaiming, who was sitting opposite, was sitting there blankly, so he asked doubtfully, "What's wrong, Li?"
Li Kaiming was silent for a while, and then replied in a low voice, "It's Tommy, a text message from Tommy Shepard!"
"Is this your team manager?" Williams asked.
"He's the vice president, but he's almost the same as the team manager," Li Kaiming nodded slightly, "He said in the text message that Gilbert was going to be traded..."
"What? You mean, the team president sent you a text message telling you that Gilbert Arenas is going to be traded by the Wizards?" Williams' eyes were so wide that his eyes almost fell to the ground!
Li Kaiming made a "shh" gesture, then glanced in the direction of the kitchen and found that the boss had not noticed it. Then he lowered his voice and said, "Keep your voice down. I must be the first few people to know this news. Now The deal hasn’t been completed yet, so there can’t be any leaks!”
Williams reacted and subconsciously covered his mouth with his hand. At the same time, he turned his eyes towards the restaurant's chef, "This news is really shocking! That's Arenas! A salary of 20 million, It can rank high in the league!"
Li Kaiming also nodded, didn't he?
Although after the conflict between him and Arenas, it was almost certain that the latter would be traded, but at the moment when this happened, he still felt in a trance!
This is not the kind of news he would scroll through on his phone, just for fun. This was something he personally witnessed, and to a certain extent, he was even responsible for the transaction!
Although the season has played so far, Li Kaiming has fully felt the overall level of the NBA. Combined with his own data, he is also very confident in his own level and future prospects.
But when the team's original veteran and big brother were directly traded by the team's management without hesitation, Li Kaiming still couldn't help but feel a sense of sadness in his heart!
For the first time, he felt the cold-bloodedness and cruelty of capital.
Someone as strong as Arenas will become a bargaining chip for capital at the end of his career and cannot control his own freedom. What about others...
On the other hand, Williams, who was sitting opposite him, after experiencing the initial surprise, came back to his senses and immediately began to be happy for his good brother, "Lee, it's okay now, Gilbert is gone, Wizards." This is your team!”
Li Kaiming calmed down, nodded and said, "That's right. I just don't know which team Tommy and the others are trading to? In terms of strength, Gilbert's level is pretty good. I don't know if the replaced players can do it." To what level..."
Williams waved his hand, "Hey! Why are you thinking so much? Those issues are issues that the team management needs to consider. What does it have to do with you? As long as the people traded this time can convince you!"
This is true! Li Kaiming nodded, and the two chatted for a while, then got up and left the restaurant.
Li Kaiming drove Williams to the team's base, and then drove back home. Lying on the bed, Li Kaiming thought about what happened today, whether it was what Williams said to him, or Arenas, who was even more shocked. The transaction made it difficult for him to sleep.
I don’t know how long I thought about it before sleepiness slowly came over me...
On November 17th local time in America, the famous sports reporter woJ posted a big news on his Twitter!
The Washington Wizards and the Orlando Magic completed a deal. The Wizards sent point guard Gilbert Arenas to the Magic in exchange for Rashard Lewis, the "Mr. Billionaire" of that year!
This blockbuster exchange between Arenas and Lewis instantly shocked the entire league!
For a time, almost all the media were discussing this deal, especially what improvements this deal could bring to the lineups of both parties, and whether the existing league structure would change!
Of course, the vast majority of the media believe that the Orlando Magic have received a greater improvement in this deal!
They traded a forward who was plagued by injuries at the end of his career and still took up 20 million salary space for a guard who averaged close to 30 points per game at his peak. And judging from his performance before the trade, Arenas was obviously better than Rashad. Lewis is much better!
After such a trade, the Magic formed the starting lineup of Arenas, Vince Carter, Pietrus and Dwight Howard!
Just looking at the paper strength of this lineup, I am afraid that it is only second to the Heat in the entire league!
As for the Wizards who traded Arenas for Lewis, there was relatively less discussion in the media. Most believed that the Wizards would trade Arenas, who could not play with Li Kaiming, for a player with a lower level but The obedient Lewis can only be said to have stopped the loss in time. No media believes that this transaction will increase the strength of the Wizards.
What's more, he also said that the Wizards without Arenas would be good if their strength does not decline!
After Li Kaiming woke up, he also saw the news on the Internet. At the same time, he also took a look at Arenas's personal Twitter. The latter had already deleted the Wizards player introduction in his personal profile on the Twitter interface and forwarded it to As for the Magic players, it seems that they can't wait to report to the new team!
And after changing his personal information, Arenas also sent a tweet, Aite Magic Team official: I'm here!
Under the tweet, most people were blessing Arenas, and of course many people were pointing the finger at Li Kaiming.
"It's all because of that yellow-skinned monkey! You could have stayed with the Wizards until you retired, Gilbert!"
"Grunfield will pay the price for his choice to come back. That yellow-skinned monkey will definitely let him down!"
…
Li Kaiming looked at it for a while and then put down his phone. He put aside the matter of eating melons for now. There was a game tonight, so now he had to go to the home arena first.
After enjoying a sumptuous breakfast, Li Kaiming left the house as if running away before his uncle and his two men urged him to get married, and then drove straight to the MCI Center, home of the Wizards.
For some reason, as soon as he walked into the arena, Li Kaiming always felt that everyone who greeted him had something else in their eyes.
Just after he passed a corner, a person suddenly stopped him, "Good morning, Li!"
Li Kaiming stopped and turned around to see that it was Tommy Sheppard who had sent him a text message last night!
Sheppard smiled and waved to Li Kaiming, and then walked towards the office area. Li Kaiming hesitated for a moment, but quickly followed.
This time it was Shepard's office. The two of them found a place to sit down. Shepard spoke first, "Li, it was still at the critical moment of the transaction last night, so I can only tell you that this happened, but Can’t go into more details, sorry!”
"You have nothing to be sorry for, Tommy. You are just completing your work. You don't need to report anything to me." Li Kaiming said solemnly.
Shepard smiled, "Aren't you curious why we made such a seemingly loss-making deal?"
Li Kaiming did not answer, and Sheppard continued, "Because Flip Saunders told me that he discovered a tactic that can create unlimited possibilities, and this tactic requires some players who are very good at shooting three-pointers..."
