The day after the draft ended, Li Hao, Holtz and lawyers came to the Los Angeles Lakers headquarters. Yesterday, Kupchak called to welcome Li Hao and asked him to sign with the team.
It has to be said that as a second-round pick, Li Hao is definitely the fastest to complete the signing. After all, many second-round picks have to finish the summer league and see how good they are before fully signing the contract. Those who can sign are already considered good, and some second-round picks have already signed. Even if the first-round pick was selected, he failed to sign a contract in the end.
The second-round pick's contract is a 1+1 model. The team chooses the second year. Although it has less guarantees than the first-round pick, it is not without benefits. If the second-round pick with two years less is produced, it can be better than the first-round pick. Round picks get big contracts earlier.
"Li, you wore jersey No. 8 in college." Kupchak looked at Li Hao.
"I want to wear No. 88 after entering the NBA." Li Hao knew that the No. 8 jersey would be retired with Kobe Bryant. Although Kobe now wears No. 24, No. 8 still belongs to Kobe.
"Okay" Kupchak didn't say anything when Li Hao said this.
"Li, it's time to sign." Li Hao's rookie contract is actually nothing to talk about. Generally speaking, second-round picks receive a basic salary, but the Lakers obviously did not give Li Hao a basic salary. Li Hao's two-year total is 1.9 million U.S. dollars. In the first year $880,000.
However, the 880,000 U.S. dollars that Li Hao can get is estimated to be only about 400,000. The tax in the United States is very scary, and California is the state with the highest taxes in the United States. After deducting the miscellaneous taxes from the alliance, it is not bad to get half of it.
After signing the contract, the team usually advances part of the salary. This is to help the rookie settle down quickly, so after signing this two-year contract, Li Hao finally has money, although it is not much.
In fact, the main income of NBA stars does not come from annual salary. Annual salary represents the importance a team attaches to the player. Real stars earn more from off-court sources.
Let's take Li Hao as an example. After he decided to join the Lakers, domestic commercial endorsements immediately came to him, and some merchants approached the Lakers. However, Li Hao has not yet established his reputation, and these endorsements are not very expensive.
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"Why are you here?" When Li Hao was signing the contract and taking promotional photos with Fan No. 88, Kobe suddenly walked in.
"I'm here for Lee," Kobe said to Kupchak.
"Didn't you say you were looking for a house? I happen to know a good place." Kobe asked about the house on his own initiative.
Now Li Hao can't afford a house in the famous and wealthy areas of Los Angeles, so he hopes to find an apartment with good security facilities to live in first.
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"What do you think?" Li Hao arrived at this high-end apartment in Kobe's sports car.
"It looks good" but the price of this apartment can be seen from the appearance.
"It's also close to the stadium and training hall. It only takes 20 minutes to drive there." Li Hao was a little disappointed when he heard that it would take 20 minutes to drive. After all, this guy only had an advance salary of more than 200,000 US dollars.
"Huh? This isn't your property, is it?" Li Hao found that Kobe was very familiar with this place.
"This is the house I bought before. I haven't been here for a long time." The young Kobe was a training freak. In order to disturb his family, Kobe bought this apartment.
As a superstar in the league, Kobe is naturally not short of money, and this apartment cannot be sold for much, so Kobe has kept this apartment until he asked Li Hao about the house yesterday.
Anyway, this place is empty, so it's better to let Li Hao live here. As for the rent, Kobe really doesn't care, but as a principled man, Li Hao is definitely not willing to take advantage of others.
There are two bedrooms, one living room, two bathrooms, and a small cloakroom. Because the floor is high enough, you can also watch the night view of Los Angeles.
"Kobe, you weren't here to watch the early morning in Los Angeles before, were you?" Li Hao couldn't help but asked curiously.
"Whenever I come here to stay, it means I have to get up very early the next day." I said that I had been training with Kobe for almost a month and had never seen Los Angeles at four in the morning.
"What if you rent it to me?" Li Hao asked.
"I haven't been here for a long time, and I think I will rarely come here again in the future." Kobe's current physical condition is no longer able to bear the kind of crazy training he once had.
"Okay, I'll rent it. How much does it cost?" Li Hao asked.
"Give me 30,000 U.S. dollars a year." 30,000 U.S. dollars a year is not expensive in Los Angeles. An ordinary apartment costs about 2,000 U.S. dollars a month. Kobe's apartment here is a high-end apartment.
"Thank you" Li Hao thanked.
Li Hao and Kobe don't need to worry about the house. Kobe's staff will follow up, and Li Hao's Holtz will also follow up, so Li Hao only needs to sign the contract after printing it out. .
After finishing the house, we still need to buy a car. Men all love cars, but there are no exceptions. The main reason is because of poverty. Li Hao's budget is US$30,000 to 50,000.
It's definitely not enough to buy a high-end sports car with 300,000 to 50,000 US dollars, but it's more than enough to buy a car for transportation. Even if you buy a small car, you can still have more than 10,000 US dollars left.
However, Li Hao did not choose a trot, but a pickup truck that is very common in the United States. It has a black body and a price of US$39,000. It is affordable and practical.
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Kobe left after the house matter was settled. Li Hao and Holtz bought the car together. After getting the car, Li Hao and Holtz went to have dinner together.
Because of Li Hao's draft, Holtz has been busy. Now that the draft is over, the two of them naturally want to have a good meal to celebrate.
After signing the contract, Li Hao got his first salary, and Holtz also got his first commission as an agent, although the money was not much.
"Li, my current task is completed, and it's up to you to do the next step." Holtz looked at Li Hao.
"I won't let you down" self-confidence. You can feel Li Hao's self-confidence from the first Holtz you meet, and this self-confidence radiates from the inside out.
It was Li Hao's confidence that made Holtz believe that Li Hao could gain a foothold in the NBA and bring him what he dreams of.
"Lee, although you have signed with the Lakers, the summer league is still very important." Holtz changed the topic to the summer league in July.
The summer league is very important for rookies and those players without contracts. Rookies need to show their strength in the summer league and tell the team that they are worth training, while players without contracts need to use the summer league to fight for a job in the NBA. contract.
As the highest-level basketball league in the world, the NBA is the dream of countless basketball players. However, only a handful of players have the real opportunity to step into this dreamland, and most of them fall outside the reality and cruelty of their dreams.
