The NBA's Absolute Dominance

Chapter 38 The Eastern King's Heart-Nourishing Pill

After the draft, Eric Fleischer threw a celebration party for Don Bei.

He kept his word and arranged for Tang Bei to work as a few young models who were new to the industry and wanted to earn extra money. They were all about 1.8 meters tall.

Tang Bei had never experienced such a scene before. The strong perfume and womanly scent made his face flush, and his hormones surged.

To bolster his courage, he drank at least a bottle of red wine, followed by more than a dozen other drinks, until he was half-drunk before returning to the hotel with several models.

"Tang, safety comes first."

Eric Fleischer escorted him back to his room, gave him some instructions afterward, and then stuffed a large bag of condoms into his hand.

Tang Bei finally woke up from his deep sleep at noon the next day.

The young models had long since disappeared, and the room was filled with a strong, pungent smell, so he quickly opened the window to ventilate the room.

A few minutes later, he lay in the bathtub and opened the control panel.

"Congratulations, host, on your successful draft. You have achieved a milestone in your basketball career and have obtained the treasure: 100 Dongwang Buxin Pills."

"The host has a large physique and engages in extremely strenuous exercise, which puts more than ten times the strain on the heart compared to the average person. As a result, the aging process is also much faster than that of an average person, and it is unlikely that the lifespan will exceed sixty years. Taking this heart-nourishing pill can strengthen the heart and slow down the aging process of the heart."

"Take one Dongwang Buxin Pill every day, half an hour to an hour before meals, and drink a small amount of water while taking it."

"I can only live to sixty? How can I only live to sixty? My great-grandmother lived to be a hundred before she died, so I should live to be a hundred too."

Upon seeing this content, Tang Bei's mouth dropped open, and he felt a sense of panic.

"Where's my medicine? Give me one right now."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a pigeon egg-sized object appeared in his mouth.

He quickly spat it out and saw that it was a purplish-red traditional Chinese medicine pill. As soon as he spat it out, a very strong medicinal aroma began to waft through the entire bathroom.

He quickly put it back in his mouth, his hands getting some of the medicine on them. Not wanting to waste it, he licked it a few times and chewed it a few more times. The pill melted quickly and tasted slightly bitter.

"What good are a hundred pills? I want to live to be a hundred years old, I need more heart-nourishing pills."

At that moment, he made up his mind to find a way to get more treasures.

The following day, many American media outlets began commenting on the NBA draft the previous night.

Due to deep-seated prejudice and discrimination, many mainstream media outlets believe that the Hornets failed in the draft and that Tang Bei's NBA career will not last more than three years, at most five years.

Renowned basketball commentator Mav Albert said on an NBA television program:
"China's Tang's talent is obvious to the naked eye, but that does not guarantee his success in the NBA, or even his survival in the NBA."

History has proven that the NBA has no shortage of talent; there are countless players whose talent is no less than Tang's. The average NBA player's career is only about four years, and many of them have already been eliminated from the league.

These news reports have had a significant negative impact on Tang Bei; at least until he proves himself, no sponsors will be interested in him.

Around noon, Larry Johnson, who was vacationing in Hawaii, gave an interview to the media.

"Larry, you already know the team's draft picks, right?"

"Yes, I didn't watch the live stream, but I heard that we selected a Chinese person."

Are you surprised?

“There are some, after all, before this, no Asians had played in the NBA, so I didn’t trust them much.”

Do you approve of the management's choices?

"Well, I don't know. I don't understand him. I just hope to get a good helper and hope he can be of some use."

That afternoon, Kendall Gill, the Hornets' leading scorer who was vacationing in New York, also gave an interview to the media, expressing his welcome to Tang Bei.

After the talent show, Xu Jicheng left the United States.

His work at CCTV was very busy, and his expenses in the United States were substantial; neither CCTV nor Xinhua News Agency paid him many US dollars. Tang Bei, on the other hand, flew to Charlotte with Tvertzke.

Even if he were a second-round pick, he might not get a contract, but he was the second overall pick in the first round, and Tvercz was eager to sign him to a contract immediately.

On the plane, Eric Fleischer said, "Don, did you know that Mark Davis, the CBA Cats and Birds' top scorer who played in the finals with you, was not selected?"

Tang Bei was taken aback. That guy was very strong in the CBA, but he didn't even make it to the second round of the NBA draft.
Charlotte is located in the southeastern United States and currently has a population of 500,000. If the suburbs are included, the population is even larger, making it a considerable population in the United States.

The city's economic pillar is the financial industry, and the headquarters of the world's largest American bank is located here.

However, the city looks somewhat like a rural area, with only a few high-rise buildings in the city center and facilities such as hospitals and schools in the suburbs.

The Hornets' home arena, Charlotte Arena, is not in downtown Charlotte, but on Paul Barker Avenue, which is some distance from the heart of downtown.

The Hornets' headquarters and training facility are not far from Charlotte Arena, located on the outskirts of the city, and have their own seven-story headquarters building.

Tang Bei landed at 3 p.m. and Tvortsko arranged a hotel for him first.

While Tang Bei was resting, Eric Fleischer did not rest. Instead, he went to the Hornets' headquarters to begin contract negotiations with Tvertzke.

The NBA rules are not yet perfect, and there are not many restrictions on rookie contracts. They can sign for as many years as they want. Although there is a salary cap, there is no luxury tax yet, so there is no limit to the contract amount. As long as there is cap space, the owner can give as much as they are willing to give.

The Hornets drafted Larry Johnson with the number one pick last year and offered him a 12-year, $110 million super rookie contract. It was the first $100 million contract that made all the players in the league envious, which shows that owner Jordan Shinn is very generous.

However, the Hornets offered Larry Johnson a super rookie contract for many reasons, and it wasn't solely because of his talent and ability.

Larry Johnson was very influential during his time in the NCAA and had great commercial potential. The Hornets, who had just joined the NBA, needed his influence and commercial potential, which is why they offered him a super contract.

Tang Bei lacked Larry Johnson's influence and business potential, so Tvertzke offered a carefully considered contract of 3000 million over 7 years.

This contract is also very good, with an average annual salary of 428 million, a starting salary of 250 million, and a final salary of 850 million.

In the 1991/92 season, the league's salary cap was only $12.5 million. Jordan's annual salary last season was only $325 million, Pippen's was only $277 million, and Larry Johnson, who signed a contract worth over $100 million, only had a starting salary of $196 million, which was not as high as Tang Bei's starting salary.

But Eric Fleischer was not satisfied. He believed that Tang Bei's talent was far superior to Larry Johnson's, so why should he only get such a contract?

After thinking for a moment, he picked up a pen, made some corrections, and then handed it back to Tvortsk.

He voluntarily reduced his annual salary but shortened the contract period because he also wanted Tang Bei to play for a team in a big city.

Putting the economy aside, Charlotte is located in North Carolina, where the basketball atmosphere is great, but it is mainly NCAA, and the NBA does not receive as much attention as the NCAA.

Tvercz took a look and saw that it was 4 years for $1500 million, with an average annual salary of $375 million, and the last year was a player option.

At this point, Eric Fleischer said, "Mr. Tvercz, you already have a player worth hundreds of millions of dollars, and you will probably make him the core of the team, so the contract you give to Tang is far less than his."

At this point, he changed the subject, saying, "But I think Don is stronger than Larry Johnson, has more potential, and is more worthy of development."

Therefore, a four-year contract is the most suitable. After four years, Tang will enter his mature phase, and so will Larry Johnson. You can then make a new choice.

He paused there, then said in a rather firm tone, "If you continue to choose Larry Johnson, I will leave with Don."

Tvercz's expression darkened, and he said thoughtfully, "Mr. Fleischer, the team needs more long-term security."

Fleischer said: "Team protection is indeed important, but it cannot be built on the detriment of Don's interests, that's for sure."

"Four years is long enough, or you could offer an even longer contract, but $30 million is far from sufficient."

Tvercz fell silent, cursing his agent's greed in his heart while pondering what to do.

But he was very clear that a bigger contract was impossible because the team no longer had any salary cap space to give Tang.

After some back and forth, both sides compromised and reached a preliminary agreement.

It remains a 4-year contract, with a starting salary of $250 million and an annual salary increase of 30%, meaning a fixed increase of $75 each year. The following year it would be $325 million, the third year $400 million, the fourth year $475 million, for a total of $1450 million. The final year is a team option.

(End of this chapter)