Perhaps because of the shock of his girlfriend breaking up last night, Zhao Feiyang drank a lot and fell asleep in the hotel until noon the next day. When he finally woke up, he found that there were four or five missed calls from strangers on his phone!
"what's the situation?"
Zhao Feiyang didn't take it seriously at first and planned to wash up first. Unexpectedly, as soon as he got up, his phone rang again.
"Hello!"
Zhao Feiyang's voice was a little lazy.
"Hello, are you Mr. Zhao Feiyang?"
"It's me, who are you?"
"I am the Chinese scout for the Los Angeles Lakers. My name is David Stock. Do you have a chance to invite you to come out and meet me? I would like to discuss some basketball-related matters with you!"
When Zhao Feiyang heard what the other party said, he almost screamed with excitement. Fortunately, he tried his best to control his emotions.
"OK!"
"If it's convenient, let's meet at a private club in the northwest corner of the Mingzhu City Stadium at 6:10 tonight!"
"no problem."
drop.
When the other party hung up the phone, Zhao Feiyang danced excitedly and turned four or five somersaults on the bed excitedly.
"ah!"
"Niubi!"
"The Lakers asked me! Damn! I might sign with them!"
Zhao Feiyang completely shouted out.
However, his shout affected the young couple in the next room, and within a few seconds, the sound of the other party tapping on the wallboard was heard.
Zhao Feiyang quickly covered his mouth.
"Holy shit!"
"Does anyone do radio gymnastics in broad daylight?"
"This is too bad!"
"In broad daylight...it's simply indecent..."
"No, I want to criticize this sinful behavior..."
As Zhao Feiyang spoke, he put his ear to the wall. Feeling that he couldn't hear clearly, he also took out a cup and placed it on the wall.
However, after listening for more than a minute, Zhao Feiyang heard the movement on the other side.
What shocked him was that everything was not as he expected. There were only two voices in the whole movement.
First it was from a man: "Baby, the water temperature has been adjusted! Come on!"
Unexpectedly, the other one was also a man: "Husband, I'm here. Have you seen the soap? Hey... it fell to the ground. Husband, please don't move and I'll pick it up..."
WTF?
Zhao Feiyang looked frightened when he heard this. He was so frightened that he quickly dropped the water glass and went to wash his ears!
With the deterrence of the next door, Zhao Feiyang could wash up much faster than usual.
It was only three hours before 6:10 pm. Zhao Feiyang went to get a haircut, shave his beard, and tidy up before arriving at his destination on time.
When he entered the club box as instructed, there was not one person waiting for him, but three people.
"Who among you is David's scout?"
Zhao Feiyang was a little puzzled and asked.
David, who was sitting at the outermost position, stood up quickly, came up to shake hands with Zhao Feiyang, and then brought him to the other two people.
"Zhao, this is Mitch Kupchak, the general manager of the Lakers."
"This is Lakers legal staff Jeff Brown."
The two also took the initiative to shake hands with Zhao Feiyang.
Zhao Feiyang and everyone were dumbfounded.
"What's going on?"
"Why is the general manager here?"
At this time, Zhao Feiyang was still unclear about his situation. It was not until the two parties briefly understood each other and the Lakers handed a signing contract to Zhao Feiyang that Zhao Feiyang was finally convinced that he was not dreaming.
"The Lakers...are...going to...sign me?"
Zhao Feiyang couldn't believe it when he held the contract, and his hands even trembled because of it.
"That's right."
"The contract we are offering you is worth US$1 million. Although it is only for one year, we believe that it will be a life-saving straw for you now. We know that you have just been fired by the team, so this is for you. It is said that this is definitely an opportunity that will never come again in this life..."
Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak said it was crazy.
While he praised the Lakers as a super wealthy team and a favorite championship team, he also mentioned the influence of Kobe and the team in China; at the same time, he talked about Zhao Feiyang's career openly and secretly and belittled his own value.
Zhao Feiyang is not stupid either.
He knew very well that the other party was trying to trick him in this way, just to use this price to lock him in.
"Mr. Mickey, I would like to ask, is my contract a fully guaranteed contract? Are there any other additional terms?"
Zhao Feiyang interrupted Mitch Kupchak's narration.
The other party showed a look of astonishment, but quickly hid it, "We have a professional legal staff here, you can consult him on all the terms of the contract..."
Fortunately, Zhao Feiyang's English is not bad. After picking up the contract and studying it for a while, he finally discovered the problems above.
What the Lakers gave him was not a fully guaranteed contract, but a non-guaranteed contract. What's even worse is that the contract itself is only $500,000 guaranteed, and the remaining $500,000 is additional conditions, which means he must play. Specify the data, otherwise you won’t get the money.
When he asked Mitch Kupchak these questions again, the other party not only did not answer directly, but asked him, "Zhao, how many Chinese players do you think can enter the NBA?"
"You are already 29 years old. You'd better think carefully. This may be your last chance in this life... No team will give you an offer! No Chinese club will want an elderly player. , will other NBA clubs choose you?"
Although he knew that the other party was PUA, Zhao Feiyang still had to choose to agree.
Now, he does not have the qualifications to bargain, but as long as he can perform with the Lakers, he can use the Lakers as a springboard to pursue a larger market and gain more opportunities in the future.
"good."
"I'll sign."
"But I have one request, that is, a press conference must be held for me. I want all Chinese people to know that I have signed a contract with the Lakers!"
Mitch Kupchak finally had a smile on his face.
"certainly."
"These are easy to handle!"
——
Sharks Club training base.
The early morning sun was very warm, so the team put the training ground outside specifically for this purpose. After the morning training, the players also walked towards the cafeteria one after another.
Li Wei has been in a pretty good mood since Zhao Feiyang left. He used to dislike the lack of luxurious food in the cafeteria and never went there. Today, he rarely went in with his teammates.
A group of players sat down next to each other and brought their respective plates to their positions according to the standards prepared by the team in advance.
"Hey! This food is not bad!"
"There are chicken legs, ribs, and shrimp..."
"You underestimate this cafeteria!"
Li Wei was smiling and ready to start cooking.
The same goes for other teammates. Everyone was chatting and eating.
However, just when they had just taken two bites, a news message suddenly appeared on the electronic screen playing news in the middle of the cafeteria.
"Okay, this is CCTV's midday news! I just received news from Mingzhu City that Zhao Feiyang, a former Chinese CBA professional player, has officially signed with the Los Angeles Lakers at 9:30 Yanjing time this morning!"
"The specific picture will be sent back from the front later..."
As soon as the news came out, the whole cafeteria did not explode immediately, but there was a moment of dead silence.
None of the players spoke, and everyone just stood there stunned. The better players could still use chopsticks to take two mouthfuls of rice, but the worst players, like Li Wei, threw the rice into their mouths but couldn't swallow it. They looked stupid with their mouths open. Let the rice grains fall out of your mouth.
"Am I deaf?"
"Mad is kidding me!"
"Zhao Feiyang signed with the Lakers?"
Li Wei was undoubtedly the most excited.
He had just thought of a way to fire Zhao Feiyang, whom he hated, but he didn't expect that the other party would turn around and sign with the NBA Lakers.
No matter how powerful he is in the CBA, he can't interfere in the Lakers' decisions at all.
"is fake!"
"Absolutely fake!"
Li Wei didn't believe in evil, so he stood up and walked to the electronic screen.
Other teammates were also a little surprised. They were also puzzled by this situation. They all stood up and stood behind Li Wei, staring at the picture on the electronic screen in silence.
At this moment, the TV station happened to be connected to the scene. Therefore, under the witness of all the Pearl City Sharks, the signing scene of Zhao Feiyang and Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak appeared on the electronic screen. .
"We are excited to sign Zhao!"
"He is a passionate young man!"
"Maybe age has a limit, but love is unlimited... His performance is worthy of us..."
In the picture, Mitch Kupchak is praising on one side, while Zhao Feiyang is holding the jersey on the other side and letting the media take pictures.
When countless flashlights left their mark on his body, the reporter handed the interview microphone to his hand.
"Feiyang, as far as we know, you were just laid off by the team... Does that matter have anything to do with your signing with the Lakers?"
"what do you want to say?"
Zhao Feiyang took the microphone, looked directly at the camera, and answered calmly and unhurriedly, "I was indeed fired by the Sharks a few days ago! The team thought that I was old and suffered injuries, and they planned to abandon a player who was Their players who made a difference..."
"OK! I have nothing to say! Only strength speaks for itself on the court!"
"The Lakers will have a warm-up match with the Sharks next. I don't want to say anything too polite or play word games with you...I am a very pure person, so I will only say one thing: Labor and management will blow it up. Sharks!”
“Someone’s clean ass is waiting for me!”
As soon as these words were said in a domineering manner, the media on the scene took pictures one after another, preparing to make big news.
Even Mitch Kupchak didn't expect Zhao Feiyang to be so direct.
"Isn't this kid a thorn in the side?"
"If that's the case, wouldn't the Lakers have another difficult guy to deal with?"
At the same time, Li Wei, who was watching the news outside the electronic screen, finally exploded. At first, he was so proud that he tried to calm down, sat back on his chair and took two bites of the food.
But the food that seemed very delicious a few minutes ago now feels like chewing wax when you put it in your mouth.
"What bullshit food!"
"Made feeds the pigs and they don't even eat them! Blanch them!"
"I bought a watch last year... What do you think you are, other than to be a water dispenser keeper? What's so great about it? I can press you to the ground and rub you with one hand... ..."
Not only did Li Wei curse, some players who had a bad relationship with Zhao Feiyang also began to jeer.
They usually didn't deal with him, but now the other party not only didn't lose his job, but also signed a contract with the NBA, completely leaving them behind. This simply made the jealousy in their hearts burn like crazy.
