"Li Wei?"
Mahos stood at the co-driver’s door, a red satchel over his shoulder, waiting for Li Wei to open the door, only to find that Li Wei was on the phone.
Li Wei gestured towards the phone, mouthing the words, "Agent."
Then, Li Wei took out the keys from his pocket and tossed them to Mahos, heading towards the co-driver’s seat while Mahos made his way around to the driver’s seat.
Li Wei and Mahos, both rookies and neighbors, led very regular lives, with the sa biological clocks, the sa work content, and helped each other. They were both adjusting to the professional playing field.
Li Wei was a starter, but his understanding of football was only superficial; Mahos was a substitute, but quarterbacks needed to learn a mountain of material.
Therefore, apart from regular training, the two would also study tactics together. Mahos helped Li Wei gain a deeper understanding of football, while Li Wei helped Mahos analyze the team’s tactics in a comprehensive, three-dinsional way.
Back and forth, now the two simply went to training together and then returned ho together, alternating between Li Wei’s car one week and Mahos’ the next, taking turns driving, keeping a regular routine during the season.
In fact, not just Li Wei and Mahos, but other rookie players also made weekly trips to Li Wei’s place for tactical study sessions, Hunter included.
Mahos still rembered the bewildered expression on Hunter’s face when Li Wei initially invited him to the rookie strategy sessions.
In Li Wei’s view, although they were competitors, everything was out in the open, fair and square, face-to-face combat. He disdained and had no need for underhanded moves; competition was also a form of motivation.
In just half a year, the progress among the rookies was indeed visible to the naked eye.
Even though Mahos was still a substitute, because of Li Wei, he participated actively in every ga, slowly transitioning into the identity of a quarterback, standing behind Smith, and seriously learning at Li Wei’s side, truly feeling the confrontation and strategizing of the professional playing field.
Now, the rookie strategy sessions had also made a na for themselves within the Kansas City Chiefs. So second-year players and free agents who joined during the offseason expressed interest today and if the timing was right, planned to see what these sessions were all about next ti.
The season had just begun, and everything was positive.
This scene didn’t surprise Mahos, who expertly opened the car door as if it were his own and then opened the co-driver’s door for Li Wei.
"LeBron?"
"Yes, there was indeed such a call. Should I know this LeBron?"
Upon hearing Li Wei’s words, Mahos, sitting in the driver’s seat, burst into laughter, imdiately recalling the mockery that had taken place in the locker room.
Li Wei shrugged lightly to show his innocence.
"But how did you know? They couldn’t be so important big shot, could they?"
Donald: …
Donald had grown accustod to such interactions, "Just the current NBA star, no big deal. You don’t have to pay special attention."
Li Wei was bold, and Donald was sharp yet understated. Their back-and-forth conversation was unnervingly calm.
LeBron: ???
Truth be told, Donald was indeed composed.
Just earlier, LeBron had gone through hoops to get Donald’s number—Li Wei’s agent, launching into a tirade out of nowhere, leaving Donald totally baffled and in disarray on the phone.
Although he didn’t understand what had happened, Donald stood his ground and defused the bomb within a few words, not only placating LeBron but also conceiving a brand-new marketing plan for the future.
After resolving the crisis, Donald wasn’t in a hurry—
He had called Li Wei, no answer. Without insisting further, he switched to work mode and quickly made other calls to set things in motion.
By the ti Li Wei called back, Donald had everything arranged.
"He hopes to get to know you."
"I think this is a good thing, clearly, he also realizes your market value, so, I accepted on your behalf. Next week in Los Angeles, he will go to the ga on-site, and afterwards, you’ll have dinner together."
Just a dinner, Li Wei didn’t think it was a big deal.
"Okay."
He agreed crisply, Li Wei’s real focus wasn’t there.
"So, he really is an NBA superstar?"
Donald, "Commonly known as The Emperor."
Li Wei slightly lifted his jaw, "If he’s the Emperor, what about Michael Jordan then?"
Donald: ...
In "The Bible", there’s a figure known as "King Jas", thus during LeBron Jas’s high school fa, reporters started calling him "king".
The term "The Little Emperor" was a special nickna from the Hua Xia Continent because people generally believed that Jordan was the true king of basketball, so they naturally added a prefix that signifies descendant to LeBron’s nickna.
However, Li Wei was only joking and didn’t expect Donald to respond, "I’m curious though, isn’t the NBA in season? He seems pretty free, I thought the NBA had more than eighty gas a season, much busier than us."
Clearly, that was still teasing.
Donald automatically filtered it out and answered seriously, "The season hasn’t started yet, their preseason starts in two weeks."
"I guess LeBron’s trip to Los Angeles is probably to negotiate privately with a free agent, hoping to transfer them to Cleveland, but they need to hide this, so they’re using you as a smoke screen." Discover exclusive tales on empire
Li Wei suddenly understood, "A show. Indeed, it couldn’t be Hollywood."
But Li Wei wasn’t surprised, "You agreed to it, does that an we’re also scheming sothing?"
Donald was a fox.
If one were to assu he was a good person based on his honest and sincere appearance, they might be in for a loss.
Since Donald had seen through LeBron’s diversion and still agreed to it, it ant Donald also had his own plans in mind.
Donald wasn’t surprised by Li Wei’s sharpness, and he gave the answer directly.
"Nike."
In 2015, after a twelve-year long partnership with LeBron, Nike provided him with a lifeti contract worth one billion US dollars, becoming the second pinnacle in Nike’s comrcial history after Michael Jordan.
The reason was simple; LeBron’s signature shoes and jerseys could bring in six hundred million dollars in revenue for Nike every year, making him the undisputed top active player.
So, Nike showed enough sincerity.
Nike’s cooperation with LeBron beca another successful case of competitive sports expanding into the comrcial realm, creating a new business empire.
On one hand, LeBron was trying to use Li Wei as a decoy, just for the sake of free market negotiations.
On the other hand, Donald was ready to use LeBron to increase Li Wei’s market awareness and popularity values, what he was really seeking were tangible comrcial contracts.
It had to be said, Donald was the true master.
Li Wei imdiately grasped the key point, "Are you saying, Nike has offered a contract?"
Donald nodded, "Not just Nike, Adidas and Under Armour have also each provided a contract."
Turns out, the bombshell was here.
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