"That's that, that's that." Curry nodded in agreement. "The regular season is the regular season, but after all, the regular season is still preparing for the playoffs. The championship is the most important." Curry couldn't help but take a deep breath. After a while, "Your football is too perverted. The playoffs are a single-game elimination system. A little distraction may ruin the entire season's efforts, so you still have to concentrate."
"I'm already under enough pressure. Are you sure you want to keep putting pressure on me?" Lu Ke complained with his eyes widened.
Curry was stunned, "Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to do it." But then he noticed the smile in Lu Ke's eyes, and then he gradually realized it, shook his head speechlessly, and hit Lu Ke's shoulder hard, "You It’s just a pervert, you know that, right? You are a pervert!”
Lu Ke shrugged and accepted the "praise" calmly, "How about, if I make it to the Super Bowl this year, will you have time to come and watch the game live?"
"Phew, we have a game the day before, but we can rest for two days after that. Theoretically, there is no problem." Curry had already confirmed the itinerary -
This year's Super Bowl is held on February 3. The Golden State Warriors were at home the day before to face the Phoenix Suns; then they had two days off and went away to face the Houston Rockets on the 5th. From a theoretical perspective, this is entirely feasible.
"But..." Curry began to look Luke up and down, and said meaningfully, "Can you make it to the Super Bowl? Otherwise, Ayesha and I booked flights and hotels early, but you are still the same as last year. When the time comes, will you reimburse me for the trip expenses?"
"Okay, I'll reimburse you, and you can take Ayesha and Riley there with you. If I don't make it to the Super Bowl, you can treat it as a vacation. How about it?" Lu Ke agreed calmly.
Curry pouted and complained, "Who wants to go to New Orleans for vacation in February? And I'm in the middle of the season and can't drink casually. That's the most boring place." This year's Super Bowl will be in New Orleans. The Saints' home stadium was held at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. "So, you'd better appear on the Super Bowl showdown stage. I've been looking forward to it for a long time."
"I'll try and see." Lu Ke's understatement was so understated that Curry rolled his eyes. Then Lu Ke himself laughed, "Maybe, next May, I just went to Oracle Arena to watch your championship journey? We all need to work hard."
Curry also laughed wantonly.
"Come on, let's pick out our championship-winning boots now!" Curry opened his arms and placed his exclusive sneaker design in front of Lu Ke, saying proudly.
This is the design drawing of Curry's sneakers. Lu Ke flipped through it carefully. He couldn't tell a reason. This was not his specialty or strength. He could only say it from a layman's perspective: good-looking or bad-looking, that's all. , but he couldn’t tell a specific reason for how to make it look good.
Sure enough, every other line is like a mountain.
"I personally prefer some simple designs. These shoes look too fancy, almost like knocking over the paint tray. I think the simple style of Adidas in the past two years is good; Nike's is relatively boring. , the classic model seems to be ready to go all the way, but when they designed the star series, they were still good." Lu Ke discussed sentence after sentence, anyway, it was just meaningless and nutritious words from some laymen.
"If it were me, I wouldn't choose Nike." Curry said without warning.
Lu Ke was stunned for a moment and thought about it seriously, "Oh, by the way, before you signed with Under Armor, you were a Nike player, right?" Curry shrugged and agreed, "Then... what happened next What?"
It goes without saying that Nike and Adidas are the two major mountains in the entire sports field. It is a rare opportunity for any player to join these two major brands.
According to relevant reports within the league, Nike has signed 68 of the total number of NBA players. If Jordan Brand is also included, then this number is 74; and according to a Forbes report, in the past 2012, Nike’s share of the basketball shoe market Reached 955.
Such is their absolute dominance.
"I have been with Nike for several years, starting when I was in college. It was a strange process, as if I was abandoned by the company step by step." Curry also had a confused expression on his face. None of them were professionals. For those who We can only understand the concept and philosophy of the brand. "I have a habit of keeping the sneakers from the most special games in my career, just like you exchange helmets with the opposing quarterback. This is my way of understanding the game." A way to commemorate. The ones currently on display in my shoe cabinet are all Nikes.”
"During the offseason that year, we were supposed to be negotiating about contract renewal, but the whole negotiation process was very unpleasant. None of their senior figures showed up, and then they mentioned my name wrongly at the meeting - Stephon. Instead of Stephen, my dad was very unhappy, such a low-level mistake should not have happened; and that was not the worst, then Kevin Durant's name appeared on the slide..."
Curry immediately saw Lu Ke's dumbfounded and ridiculous expression, and he laughed himself, "Yes, it's so incredible. I can't believe my eyes."
For a company of Nike's level, such low-level mistakes are absolutely not allowed. This is a fatal injury to any player.
“I don’t know what happened, but after that, my dad lost faith in Nike and then, through his teammates, met Chris Stone and first learned about Under Armor. At that time, Under Armor was still a No one knows the name, their main area is in the football market, but even with rookie players, they are willing to go all out, and obviously Chris has been paying attention to me since I came into the league in 2009."
"Later, I met with Under Armor and I asked them what they could do for me. You know, at that time I was just a little player who couldn't play on the main team, but Chris said they were willing to pay for me. Series of sneakers.”
As he spoke, Curry saw Lu Ke's uncontrollable expression. He shrugged easily and raised his eyebrows, "Yeah, I know, this series of sneakers seems to be the standard equipment for superstars. When every brand wants to sign a player, this is their trump card. Just like today’s special event!”
Now Curry has long been relieved, so he can joke without any burden, but at the moment when it happened, his mood can only be said to be terrible. Lu Ke couldn't help but think of the time when they first met, from the first Under Armor commercial shooting to the injuries in the offseason. That period of time was so long and so dark for Curry.
After the little joke, Curry continued, "At that time, I didn't agree immediately. I still thought about it for a long time. I can't remember the details. Three months? Four months? But they He always remained patient, didn’t press for me to make a decision, but was sincere enough to convince me, and then, it happened.”
Although Curry's description is vague and he doesn't know much about Nike's internal decision-making, the truth seems unable to piece together a complete picture, but an outline can still be glimpsed.
Even without Curry's reminder, Lu Ke clearly knows that the resources of each brand are relatively limited. Top brands such as Nike and Adidas have more abundant resources, and they need to allocate resources to more superstars. The mix needs to be redistributed - top players, first team players, second team players, hierarchy is crucial.
This is a very simple truth, just like the star strategy of Pepsi-Cola and Coca-Cola. In the final analysis, some people still have to stand in the middle and some people stand at the end.
However, in the past, it was all just looking at flowers in the fog, as a bystander, just talking about it; now, through Curry and Lu Ke himself, things have become clear bit by bit, and I can feel it personally. The complexity and warmth.
Especially in competitive sports, sponsorship and endorsements are extremely cruel. It is not easy to win big contracts with Nike and Adidas. Countless top NBA superstars only have sneaker contracts with small brands.
After the story was told, the atmosphere paused for a moment, and then Curry showed a big smile and spread his hands, like the host of a TV shopping channel, "How is it, am I working hard enough in my explanation? Like this Does it look more like a brand spokesperson?”
It was a rare sight of Curry playing tricks, and Lu Ke also laughed, "Tell me the truth, did Under Armor write you a check?"
Originally, Lu Ke was just joking, but Curry nodded matter-of-factly, "Yes, and the amount of the check is not small. They want me to keep you. I have tried my best just now. Phew, I tried my best. As a Being a spokesperson is really not that easy.”
Lu Ke carefully looked at Curry's eyes, and then realized that this was a joke. Naturally, Under Armor would not open the skylight and say something so straightforwardly, but the implications of their actions couldn't be more obvious, and Curry has already seen the intention of today's meeting.
Lu Ke didn't say anything more, but snapped his fingers, "Then let's enjoy our rights. Since it is our series of sneakers, we should plan carefully. I decided to choose a pair of cool shoes. Sneakers, when anyone wears them, they light up the whole place and blind other people's eyes."
"Come on, tell me what's on your mind."
"I thought, how about diamonds? Put the whole sneaker full of diamonds, and then every time you take a step, a diamond falls out, and the whole neighborhood goes crazy."
"I'm pretty sure that if you can't get out of the street at the door, you'll probably be robbed. Otherwise, how about it being made of gold? I think this seems more reliable."
"Do you think you are building sneakers for weight training? Then on the field, you take off your sneakers and you are instantly as light as a bird, right?"
