On the 30th, the Los Angeles Daily published a front-page article about Zhou Quan, carefully analyzing the pros and cons of Zhou Quan staying in Detroit.
The article also analyzed the interests of the Pistons, specifically pointing out that if the Pistons continue to maintain the current lineup, it will be difficult to renew Zhou Quan's contract next year. By then, the team is likely to face the dilemma of Zhou Quan entering the free market, and this holiday season The season is the best time for the Pistons to make transactions.
In short, it directly pointed out that Zhou Quan's continued stay in Detroit, while ignoring the Pistons fans, was no longer in the interest of everyone, not even the interests of the Pistons owner.
The conclusion is that Zhou Quan's departure from Detroit and the East is the general trend, and for him personally, it is a last resort.
At noon that day, Roger Philippe accepted an interview with Los Angeles TV in Detroit and said: "So far, Iron Fist has no plans to leave the Pistons. He has just experienced a 102-game season and is very tired and has no energy to deal with it. Current issues.”
In the afternoon, Zhou Quan, who was resting at home, received a call from Philip, saying that an executive from Xiangcheng ATV had contacted him and wanted to visit him. He was very surprised. What did this TV station want from him?
ATV has been having a headache these days because Liu Fangping, the reporter they sent to cover the NBA, was arrested by the Detroit police and has not been released yet.
The reason for being arrested was actually an attempt to attack NBA superstar Zhou Quan. Isn't this ridiculous? They, ATV, are not terrorists. Are they crazy? How could they attack Zhou Quan? Interviewing Zhou Quan is pretty much the same.
ATV hired an American lawyer for Liu Fangping. The lawyer contacted the British Embassy, but to no avail. The British said that Liu Fangping was not British and that the matter had nothing to do with the United Kingdom. They also contacted the Detroit police, who said they were investigating the matter.
ATV had no choice but to send an executive to the United States. Now Liu Fangping was released on bail with a heavy sum of money, but he could not leave Detroit. With no other choice, they had to contact the Chinese Embassy.
The embassy had no choice, because Xiangcheng had not returned yet, so they had to ask ATV to find Zhou Quan for help and gave them the contact information of Zhou Quan's agent.
"Did they say anything?" he asked.
"Oh, Zhou, you forgot, on the day of the championship, during midfield, there was a Chinese reporter in the player tunnel who wanted to interview you. It was that reporter. He was thought to have the intention of attacking you, so he was controlled by security personnel. Then he was handed over to the police... He is currently out on bail," Philip said.
Zhou Quan laughed and said, "Roger, go handle it and explain to the management and the police that this is a misunderstanding. As for the visit, forget it, it's just a misunderstanding. There is no need to meet."
"OK."
Philip was in the hotel, making phone calls with some sponsors to discuss some contract details. What he needed most at the moment was to deal with Zhou Quan's transaction, so these sponsorship contracts could only be discussed on the phone first and then in person.
In a hotel in Detroit, Liu Fangping was already restless after receiving the news that Zhou Quan refused to meet. The executive sent by ATV, Senior Vice President Xu Xiaoming, was also very anxious.
Xu Xiaoming did not need to deal with this matter, but now the competition between ATV and TVB is too fierce, and this matter has been taken advantage of by TVB. In the past few days, the media in Hong Kong have been discussing the ATV reporter's attack on NBA superstar Iron Fist, which caused ATV to He was very passive and the ratings were affected, so he sent a general over to ask him to solve the problem as soon as possible.
But the purpose of visiting Zhou Quan was not achieved. He really didn't know what to do. He had no connections in the United States.
But half an hour later, the Detroit police suddenly contacted them and informed them that the investigation against Liu Fangping was over and he could leave Detroit.
Liu Fangping and Xu Xiaoming felt that it was too sudden. They didn't know what to do just now. Is this the end of the matter?
"Liu Fangping, be careful what you say in the future. This is the United States, not Hong Kong." Xu Xiaoming warned with a sigh of relief.
"I see."
Liu Fangping said dejectedly: "I didn't expect that Zhou Quan to have such a big influence here. I just said that he was a big name..."
He knew that his future in ATV was over. He had not interviewed any heavyweight stars in the NBA, and he was even arrested by the police. With things like this, he was afraid that he would be fired if he returned.
At this time, Phillip called again and asked: "Mr. Xu, I just contacted the police, have you received the news?"
"Thank you Mr. Philip for your help..."
Xu Xiaoming said happily: "The police just informed us that the matter is over."
"That's good. This is what Iron Fist told me to do. I'm just following it."
"Please express my gratitude to Iron Fist on my behalf, and hope to have the opportunity to visit him."
"Iron Fist has just finished the finals and participated in two days of celebrations. He is very tired. He is currently resting and does not want to be disturbed. However, he will go to Xiangcheng this month to participate in some business activities. If your TV station can pay attention to it, I will Thank you so much."
"Really? That's great, Mr. Philip. I will report this to the top management of ATV. If possible, Mr. Philip, I still hope to visit Iron Fist first and express our gratitude in person."
"Okay, I'll contact him again."
"Thanks."
Zhou Quan received a call from Phillip and didn't want to meet him at first because it was really unnecessary. However, Phillip wanted him to meet because he was going to Xiangcheng for business activities. ATV was one of the two major TV stations in Xiangcheng. The trip to Xiangcheng was beneficial, so he agreed.
At four o'clock in the afternoon, he received Xu Xiaoming, who was accompanied by Philip, at home.
When he saw Xu Xiaoming, his eyes widened and he blurted out: "A one-armed old man?"
Xu Xiaoming was startled, then laughed, stretched out his hands and said: "Hello, Iron Fist, I am Xu Xiaoming. I am very happy to meet you. I didn't expect you to like the drama Huo Yuanjia. What an honor!"
Zhou Quan said excitedly: "I didn't expect that the executive from ATV would be you. If I had known I would have gone to visit you. I was only ten years old when I followed Fearless. Thirteen years have passed in a blink of an eye. Now that I think about it, , I can also sing a few lines of "The Great Wall will never fall down..."
Xu Xiaoming is a patriotic Xiangcheng native. The two met very happily. Zhou Quan invited him to dinner in the evening and arranged to meet in Xiangcheng.
…
That night, the NBA held the 1993 draft.
The Magic selected Chris Webber with the No. 1 pick, but then traded it to the Golden State Warriors for Anfernee Hardaway, who was selected No. 2 by the Warriors.
The Magic originally hoped to trade the weekly rights, but were unable to do so, so they chose Hardaway, a very famous college sports star in the United States, to match O'Neal with an outside player.
The Pistons traded both the first and second rounds this year to the Heat in exchange for Rony Seikaly, so this year's draft is just a bystander.
The Heat used their first-round pick No. 9 to select Alan Houston.
Zhou Quan doesn't care about the draft. Philip has made an appointment for him to meet with the Pistons management tomorrow afternoon. Owner Bill Davidson will also participate in the meeting.
The next day, on the morning of July 1st, Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars, and Rodman came to Zhou Quan's home.
"Iron Fist, do you really want to leave?" the assassin said sadly.
He has now forgotten the conflict he had with Zhou Quan. Eliminating the Bulls in the second round of the Eastern Conference and winning the championship means a lot to him. Originally, because he was swept by the Bulls in the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals, his historical status has dropped significantly, but now His status is back. As a historical point guard who has won three championships and is the core of two of them, he has regained his due historical status, and even a higher historical status, and all of this is because of Zhou Quan.
Zhou Quan said frankly: "You are also aware of Detroit's problems now. The ball market here can no longer support our pursuit of the championship.
Moreover, the league and all sponsors wanted me to leave the Eastern Conference. Even Mr. Bill Davidson had this attitude, otherwise he would not arrange a meeting between me and Mr. Stern after winning the championship.
So, guys, you don't want me to sign a low-money contract with the Pistons next year, do you? That's not fair to me. "
The assassin and Joe Dumas looked at each other and nodded helplessly.
But they quickly lost these emotions, because they have already won three championships. To be honest, even the Assassins are very satisfied, and their pursuit of honor is gone.
Moreover, the assassin himself has not yet decided whether to retire. If his subsequent recovery is not satisfactory, he is likely to choose to retire.
Rodman smiled nonchalantly and said, "That's just right. If you leave, Iron Fist, maybe the team will be willing to give me a big contract."
Zhou Quan laughed and said, "It's possible, but coach Chuck Daly may also choose to leave."
"Really?" Rodman was surprised.
"It's possible." Joe Dumas nodded.
Rodman felt a little disappointed. Iron Fist left. If Father Chuck left again, he felt that being with the Pistons would be meaningless.
The assassin said to Zhou Quan at this time: "Iron Fist, which Western Conference team are you going to go to? The Lakers have always wanted to trade you, are you going to the Lakers?"
Zhou Quan shook his head and said, "That's a matter for the management, I can't decide."
The assassin shook his head and said: "No, no, Iron Fist, you made a mistake. It's not that you want to leave the Pistons, it's that they want you to leave, so you will have a great say in the transaction. Is your broker Don’t people know this?”
Zhou Quan smiled and said, "He did mention it."
"That's right. If he doesn't have this understanding, he is incompetent. You can consider changing to another agent." The assassin smiled.
Zhou Quan smiled and said: "Actually, I don't want to go to the Lakers. Now my sense of the Lakers is not very good."
"But Los Angeles can increase your business value." the assassin reminded.
Zhou Quan shook his head and said: "I am not an American, and my commercial value in the United States is limited. After winning the championship, my agent received sponsorship contracts from some international brands. I think I can turn my business development direction to the international market in the future."
"But only international metropolises can get you more attention and more exposure, and only big teams can get more national live broadcasts. Think about it, how many national live broadcasts do we have this season?" Joe Dumas said.
Zhou Quan nodded and said: "There are other international cities in the West, such as San Francisco, Seattle, Houston, and Portland. However, I have no specific intentions, including Los Angeles. It depends on how the management trades. Of course, being traded to the Lakers is the same." If it’s acceptable, I won’t refuse the Lakers.”
"So you won't interfere too much in this transaction?" the assassin asked in surprise.
Zhou Quan nodded and said: "I did very well in the Pistons. I won the championship here. It can be said that I became famous here. I hope that through the transaction, I can leave something to the Pistons. As for the future..."
When he said this, he said enthusiastically: "The unpredictable future is more attractive."
But having said that, the future team will definitely promise him a big contract. Even Stern tempted him with a billion-dollar contract, and he has no reason to give up.
…
At two o'clock in the afternoon, Zhou Quan and Roger Philippe came to a business hotel to hold talks with the boss Bill Davidson and a group of management.
This meeting was not arranged at the headquarters, but was temporarily held in a hotel because there were angry fans outside the headquarters for fear of causing trouble.
Yesterday's Los Angeles media reports made the Pistons management a little embarrassed, as was Davidson, and some fans were also angered.
Fortunately, the Pistons have won three championships, and Detroiters know that the football market is not good. They don't support the team much financially, so most fans can still look at Zhou Quan's problem with a rational attitude.
However, there are also some extreme Pistons fans who are unhappy with Zhou Quan, believing that he chose to leave Detroit for a big contract.
Anyway, they said whatever they wanted, but neither the management nor Zhou Quan paid attention to these public opinions.
No reporters were notified of this meeting, no media were present, and the meeting ended after only half an hour.
The main decision between the two parties is that the Pistons need to respect Zhou Quan's wishes and conduct transactions accordingly.
Zhou Quan then quietly left Detroit and flew to Los Angeles.
Arriving in Los Angeles at 10 pm, Christina came to pick her up and checked into the hotel she had booked.
On the morning of the 2nd, the Pistons officially announced that due to operational pressure, the team would trade Zhou Quan.
Although it is almost a fact that Zhou Quan will leave the Pistons, when the news was officially announced, it still caused shock.
The Pistons have made it clear that they will only send Zhou Quan to the Western Conference, and they hope that the trading chips will be future draft picks or young potential players in the rookie contract period.
The Western Conference teams were excited, and the general managers or owners of many Western Conference teams immediately began to contact the Pistons management and Zhou Quan's agent.
Everyone in the industry knows that Zhou Quan has a great say in this transaction. They hope to use Zhou Quan to put pressure on the Pistons and strive to take advantage of the transaction.
However, some teams did not contact Zhou Quan and his agent and directly sent quotations to the Pistons.
(End of chapter)
