mountain top

Chapter 55 The Destined Day (New book, please collect monthly tickets and recommend tickets!)

When the Demon Deacons returned from St. Louis with honors
On the pre-arranged bus parade route, all the players of the Demon Deacons straightened their chests subconsciously as they looked at the students and townspeople waving and cheering at them on both sides of the street.

But on the day of the cruise
Whenever he high-fived the pretty schoolgirls around him, Qin Yue always felt that a pair of murderous eyes were staring at him.

"I'm just expressing my joy to my supporters." Turning to look at Rachel who was standing behind him, Qin Yue said righteously.

But the next second, Rachel mercilessly tore off his mask, "Great Final Four MOP, since you are expressing joy to your supporters, why do you only high-five with those young and beautiful girls?"

Seeing this, Qin Yue said calmly: "You know, I am always good at discovering beautiful things, just like you are the only one in my eyes right now."

Hearing this, Rachel punched Qin Yue and suddenly whispered, "Lynn Merritt wants to meet you."

Qin Yue nodded and said, "I really need to meet this big shot who has been pushing me behind the scenes."

March Madness is over
Since Qin Yue and Paul have both announced that they will officially run for the draft this year, the NCAA's regulations on college players will naturally become invalid.

Of course, before embarking on hiring an agent, Qin Yue can still choose to stay in college and continue playing for another year.

but
Considering the eagerness of NBA teams to get him, Qin Yue would never choose to follow the example of his senior.

Qin Yue knew very well how difficult it was for those NBA teams that were determined to give up during the period from 1995 to 1997.

In short, that was a difficult period when half of the league was hoping that Duncan would quickly enter the NBA and stop torturing each other.

Moreover, compared to continuing to study basketball in college.
After tasting the championship and showing his potential as a team-building cornerstone to various NBA teams, Qin Yue now has an urgent need to enter the NBA to continue to improve himself.

Because in the visualization data of the [Mountaintop] system, there is such a prompt:
As the host's current ability value continues to increase, only higher-level competitions and training can help the host better realize his potential.

……

On the 14th, Qin Yue, who had gradually recovered from the joy of winning the championship, met the Nike executive who had been hiding behind the scenes to build momentum for him in a cafe in Winston-Salem.

Although this was the first official meeting with Qin Yue, Merritt had established cooperation with Qin Yue through Rachel, the "hidden line", as early as last year.

Therefore, at the beginning of the meeting, Merritt cut straight to the point without beating around the bush, "We hope you can become the spokesperson for Nike."

Since Qin Yue had not hired an agent at the moment, Merritt did not discuss too many specific details of the cooperation with Qin Yue in this meeting.

Instead, it directly showed Qin Yue the sincerity of Nike.

On the coffee table, a pair of red and white sample shoes with Chinese-style patterns on the edges caught Qin Yue's eyes the next moment.

This is the routine that Professor Vaccaro gave Merritt.

That is, when recruiting a money-making commodity like Qin Yue who is sure to make money, you must not paint a rosy picture for him, but directly put the real sincerity in front of him.

"I haven't thought of a name for this pair of shoes yet, but I believe it will definitely be a great help to you in the future." Merritt said to Qin Yue.

It is indeed a great help.

Qin Yue knew very well that at the end of his sophomore year, he was only a lottery pick in the draft predictions, but at the beginning of the 04/05 season, he became the player with the potential to be the No. pick in the eyes of the world.
Nike, which has been supporting him from behind, deserves great credit.

Through Rachel's "hidden line", Nike first let Ira Berko, a highly energetic New York Times reporter, create an image for itself as a prodigal son who has returned and has great potential yet to be tapped.

Then, as the season progressed, those news reports that praised him so much that he wanted to kick his big toe made Qin Yue gain a reputation that was no less than that of Duncan back then.

However, judging only from his performance on the field, Qin Yue is definitely worthy of the title of "quasi-top scorer".

But Nike, which has been pushing him behind the scenes, has greatly accelerated this process and enabled him to have commercial value comparable to those star players before entering the league.

Yes, a Chinese son who has extremely high commercial value before entering the league is the perfect partner in Nike's mind.

Especially after losing Yao Ming.

Historically, in order to make up for the consequences of losing Yao Ming.
When working with NBA stars of the same period, Nike almost always attached an agreement requiring them to promote their products in the Chinese market.

For example, LeBron James, who was signed by Nike at a sky-high price in that three-way battle, accepted the agreement when he signed with Nike. (Note ①)

"I like this pair of sneakers very much, but right now, I still need a reliable agent. Do you have any good suggestions for this?" Qin Yue asked Merritt that day.

Hearing this, Merritt wanted to recommend Aaron Goodwin, who has always maintained a good cooperation with Nike, to Qin Yue.
But after recalling James' recent complaints about Goodwin's excessive control over him.
Merritt, knowing that Qin Yue had already begun planning for his future through the people around him during his junior year, immediately thought of another outstanding agent.

"How about Jeff Schwartz? He just recently went out on his own and started a company called Excel Sports."

Jeff Schwartz?
Maybe he is not famous yet.

But Qin Yue knew that in another fifteen years, he would become the most powerful agent in the entire NBA.

As an agent with excellent eloquence and great ability to help players market their own image, Schwartz's future classic achievements include marketing Anthony Bennett as the No. 2020 pick and making all NBA management believe that James Wiseman is the only choice for the No. pick in the draft.
Indeed, those NBA general managers who were once stunned by Schwartz's coaxing wanted to skin him alive afterwards.

But for the players
Talented people like Schwartz are definitely rare mentors and helpful friends.

Moreover, although many teams hate Schwartz's mouth that is good at misleading people, they still have to be grateful to him.

For example, in the future, after the Lakers and Westbrook had irreconcilable differences, Westbrook escaped from Los Angeles through Schwartz's operation.

Moreover, after learning that Westbrook at that time was more eager for honor than salary, Schwartz never asked for too much money from the teams that wanted to get him.

“I give my customers what they want.

If they want a big contract, I will fight for it for them. If they want to compete for the championship with a minimum salary, I will definitely help them contact the teams that can compete for the championship as soon as possible. "

In this life, Qin Yue does plan to build his own team in the NBA in the future.

But right now, both Rachel and Evans need time to grow.

So, shortly after Merritt introduced Schwartz, the agent, to Qin Yue, he immediately decided to interview Schwartz.

Although Schwartz was not as well-known as he would be in the future, he was no novice as he had been working as a sports agent since 1992.

He has always had a good relationship with Merritt and has already accumulated a certain amount of connections in the circle.

"If I sign a contract with you, what can you give me?"

"I can't take care of your food, clothing, housing and transportation like those players' butlers. But when you need me, I will always stand behind you."

After that, Schwartz handed his past successful cases directly to Qin Yue.

"There are many NBA teams that want me to accept their tryouts. What do you think about this?"

"Reject, reject everything." "Why?"

"Because we only try out for the team that gets the No. 1 pick."

It has to be said that Schwartz did leave a very good impression on Qin Yue in this interview.

Throughout the interview, Schwartz's logic was clear and he never made exaggerated claims.

In addition, judging from the existing successful cases he demonstrated, he has established good cooperative relationships with many media outlets.

For Qin Yue, who is about to enter the NBA, a commercial league, this is definitely a plus.

So, after asking Schwartz about his future business plans,
Qin Yue successfully reached a cooperation with Schwartz.

The two signed a four-year contract.

Among them, Schwartz will receive 4% of Qin Yue's player contract as remuneration.

As for commercial endorsements, Schwartz will take 10% of Qin Yue's commercial contract as remuneration.

Overall, this is a fair and equitable contract in which the players and agents are currently on equal footing.

Although Schwartz will extract the highest percentage (4%) of Qin Yue's player contract according to NBA regulations, in fact, in terms of Qin Yue's current commercial value,
His commercial contracts are obviously the biggest part.

Under industry rules, Schwartz could have asked for the highest 20% compensation for commercial contracts.

But Schwartz, who does not accept rewards without merit, believes that
Because the commercial value Qin Yue has generated so far has nothing to do with him, and this is the first time the two of them have worked together, he does not want to leave the impression of a vampire on Qin Yue.

"In the future, if I succeed in increasing your commercial value, I will definitely ask for higher commercial compensation when we cooperate next time, but that is definitely not now." Schwartz said after signing a series of agreements with Qin Yue and obtaining relevant authorization licenses from Qin Yue.

"Ronnie was my close comrade-in-arms during college. Next, I plan to arrange for him to study with you and be responsible for taking care of my affairs during NBA games. What do you think about this?" Qin Yue said to Schwartz.

Hearing this, Schwartz smiled and said: "This is a good thing, you have such foresight, which fully proves that you are ready to enter the NBA.

After you are selected, in addition to studying with me, I will also help your friend apply for a player liaison officer position in your team.

That way, when you're playing or traveling, he can help you plan everything in advance."

Unlike Goodwin, who always dislikes people around stars
Schwartz is well aware that as the times change, every NBA star needs to have a few people around him whom he absolutely trusts.

Since Evans is someone Qin Yue trusts, Schwartz will naturally find a way to help Qin Yue train Evans.

"Will you also arrange for someone you trust as your press liaison officer?"

"I already have a candidate for the press liaison officer, but she won't graduate until next year."

"Then before she graduates, I will select a reliable assistant from my company to help you deal with the media."

Since the Internet has become a bridgehead for NBA stars to promote themselves, even though Qin Yue trusts Schwartz's marketing skills, he still needs Rachel, who has a close relationship with him, to check it.

This summer, Qin Yue plans to let Rachel continue to intern at Nike headquarters.

After all, when it comes to promoting and building sports and images, Nike headquarters is the best university.

Just this day
After Rachel saw the press liaison officer Schwartz arranged for Qin Yue, she was stunned while she was still thinking about how to teach Qin Yue in the evening.

The beautiful lady with Slavic ancestry, who looked very similar to Marina Alexandrova, the actress in "Catherine the Great" in Qin Yue's memory, had a pair of "peaks" on her chest that Rachel could not cover no matter how hard she tried.

Schwartz, who always keeps his word, did arrange a very "reliable" assistant for Qin Yue.

In response, the jealous Rachel sighed and said, "This is the most complete defeat I've ever experienced."

Hearing this, Qin Yue smiled and said, “who said you lost? How do you know that I only like big ones and not cute ones?”

Seeing this, Rachel blinked her big eyes and asked, "Really?"

"Really." At this moment, Qin Yue said without changing his expression.

……

After confirming the agent, Schwartz will be responsible for negotiating the details of Qin Yue’s cooperation with Nike.

As for tryouts?

Before the results of the draw ceremony on May 5 were announced, Schwartz had officially announced that Qin Yue would not participate in this year's joint tryout and would not accept individual tryouts from each team.

At this moment, Qin Yue does not need the physical test data and game performance in the joint tryout to clear his name.

Historically, many future No. 1 picks have made the same choice.

For example, Victor Wenbanyama, who was very famous before Qin Yue traveled through time.

Of course, compared to Ben Simmons, who was so arrogant that he even refused all team trials before the draft.
After the results of the lottery ceremony are announced, Schwartz still hopes that Qin Yue will accept the tryout invitation from the team that holds the No. 1 pick as per convention.

In short, Qin Yue's current reputation and popularity determine that it will be him who will interview the team that draws the No. 1 pick, rather than that team interviewing him.

5 month 25 day.

ESPN had been marketing the fateful day for nearly a month.

On this day, the teams that had a chance to draw the No. 1 pick were all quietly waiting for the moment when the answer would be revealed.

Qin Yue, Rachel and Evans were also eating hot pot while waiting for the team that would draw the No. 1 pick.

Before the lottery ceremony began, Evans asked curiously, "Which team do you hope will win the No. 1 pick?"

Hearing this, after scanning the teams that might win the top pick, Qin Yue replied: "If I say that none of these teams are my favorite, would you believe me?"

Evans nodded and said, "Of course I believe it, but this is the NBA players have no choice, or you can't decide which team you play for in the early stage of your career."

Qin Yue, who could not deny this, groaned and said, "So, let's see which team will be the lucky one and take away my first blood in the NBA."

……

Note 1: The information that James is responsible for helping Nike promote its products in China in his contract comes from several biographies of James, relevant news reports about Nike, and "LeBron James' Business Empire" by Brian Windhorst.

PS: I’m begging for collection, monthly tickets, and recommendation tickets for my new book!

(End of this chapter)