The NBA's Absolute Dominance

Chapter 44 Shocking Jersey Sales

November 4th marked the Hornets' media day for the new season.

There are no changes to the team's roster. Lorenzo Williams did not perform well in the preseason and did not receive a formal contract. He signed a short-term ten-day contract and could leave at any time.

Tang Bei rushed to headquarters and first collected his November salary, which was nearly $230,000.

He had already planned to keep $13 of the salary and send the remaining $10 home to repair his house.

"Don, I heard from Kendall that you used to box?" Larry Johnson suddenly asked before taking the photo.

"Not much training. Larry, I heard you're still boxing?" Tang Bei asked.

Larry Johnson said, "I've been boxing for Police Sports Boxing League for the past few years. It's a nonprofit organization with branches all over the country, but it's not professional boxing."

Tang Bei wanted to laugh. A basketball team with three players who had trained in boxing, and one of them even playing in amateur boxing matches—was this a boxing team?
“You two are similar in build, you could have a fight,” Kendallgier suddenly said.

The scene fell silent. The other players looked at Gill, thinking, "What's wrong with your eyes? Are Larry Johnson and Don similar in build?"
Larry Johnson seemed quite interested, eagerly asking, "Don, want to give it a try?"

He was very confident in his abilities; height and weight didn't mean anything, and Iron Michael was the best proof.

"How much do you weigh?" Tang Bei asked.

“250 pounds,” Larry Johnson said.

"Less than 114 kilograms..."

Tang Bei calculated that Larry Johnson was more than 20 kilograms lighter than him. Ignoring such a large difference in weight, could it be that Larry Johnson's boxing skills are very high?
However, Larry Johnson is indeed strong. He has the height of a guard but the weight of an inside player. He is all muscle and has great explosiveness. Otherwise, a power forward of his height would not have become the number one draft pick.

"What, are you scared?"

Seeing that Tang Bei did not answer, Larry Johnson asked impatiently.

"No, I'm afraid I'll beat you to death."

Having just arrived, Tang Bei didn't want to cause trouble, but he was annoyed by Larry Johnson's arrogant demeanor, so he spoke very honestly.

"Ha ha……"

The scene fell silent again for a moment, and then several players couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"Shet!"

Larry Johnson didn't think Tang Bei was joking. He was so angry that his face turned bloodshot, and he roared:

"Damn rookie, don't think you can win just because you're a bit better than me. Just you wait, I'll have to fight you sooner or later."

"Larry, I once killed a 300-pound pig with a few punches. I don't believe you're stronger than a pig," Tang Bei said sincerely.

"Humph!"

When Larry Johnson heard this rookie say that he was worse than a pig, he was so angry that he snorted and his face turned bigger.

Tang Bei said sincerely, "Larry, I really don't want to kill you. If you really want to, I'll give you a handicap."

"You bastard!"

Larry Johnson was so angry he was about to vomit blood.

Half an hour later, the media entered the press hall to take photos.

The management arranged for Larry Johnson to stand in the center, holding a basketball, with Kendall Gill on his left and Tang Bei on his right.

This arrangement shows that Larry Johnson is the core of the team's development, and the Hornets have invested the most in him; a contract worth hundreds of millions of dollars is enough to say it all.

"Crack, click, click..."

After the photo session, it was time for free interviews.

Larry Johnson was the most popular, had the most reporters interviewing him, and was surrounded by a crowd of people.

Tang Bei and Kendall Gill were similar, each having three or four reporters.

Zhang Heli first asked, "Tang Bei, what are your goals for the upcoming rookie season?"

Tang Bei thought for a moment and said, "Everyone tells me that it's hard for rookies to adapt to the NBA. Even Nike doesn't have high hopes for Shaq, and neither do I. Some media outlets have called me a bust, haha!"

He paused for a moment, organizing his thoughts before saying, "My goal for my rookie season is simple: I want to prove I'm not a bust and prove those who underestimated me and the media wrong with my performance."

Zhang Heli was somewhat surprised by Tang Bei's answer, because Chinese people generally don't express their true thoughts so directly.

A local media reporter then asked, "Tang, judging from your performance in the preseason and official training camp, your fundamentals and skills have improved, your mistakes, fouls, and violations are decreasing, and your shooting range is increasing."

This shows how hard you work; some people even saw you training at the hotel starting at 4 a.m., is that true?

Tang Bei said, "Basically, I see Charlotte at four in the morning every day, and she does three hours of morning training."

"Wow!"

This statement caused the reporter who heard it to gasp in surprise.

"Don: I can see what Charlotte looks like at four in the morning every day."

The next day, Tang Bei's words made headlines in the sports sections of many media outlets.

On this same day, Tang Bei's number 88 jersey was officially launched.

The Hornets' home jersey is predominantly purple, accented with gold and black, and features vertical stripes.

The away jersey is predominantly black, with white Hornets logo and numbers.

However, Charlotte is dominated by the NCAA, and NBA stars are no match there. Despite being the second overall pick, he was completely unknown and had no influence in Charlotte. His jersey sales were astonishing.

On the first day, only six items were sold, five of which were bought by his own people. On the second day, sales plummeted by 83.3%, averaging only one item sold per day. His jerseys were practically unwanted, which greatly disappointed him.

Larry Johnson certainly lives up to the Hornets' high expectations. He has great commercial potential, is a big name in the NCAA, and after entering the NBA as the number one draft pick, his jersey sales are booming. The total jersey sales of the entire team don't even match his individual sales.

Tang Bei wired $100,000 home. This time, he didn't use the post office, as that was too slow. After being introduced by John Liu, he chose Western Union.

This is a professional international money transfer company with agents all over the world. The money arrives in just a few minutes, which is very convenient.

Western Union's agent in Tianjing is the Agricultural Bank of China, and he has already had his father open an account at the Agricultural Bank of China in Tianjing.

After making the remittance, he called home and gave them the surveillance camera number. His family could then withdraw the money from the Agricultural Bank of China by showing him his ID card and the surveillance camera number.

It's a little after 9 a.m. in the US, which is about 10 p.m. in China.

Normally, the Tang family would have been asleep by now, but they had just spent a thousand yuan on a 14-inch color TV, and it was currently showing a variety show, with the family engrossed in watching Feng Gong and Niu Qun's crosstalk performance. "The phone is ringing, it must be my eldest brother."

Upon hearing the phone ring, an excited Tang Ning rushed over immediately.

"How come someone born in the Year of the Pig runs faster than a dog?" Tang Yu, who was lagging behind, said irritably.

Tang Ning grabbed the microphone and held it to his ear, shouting, "Hello, is this my eldest brother? I'm the fourth brother, I have something to say to you..."

"Fourth brother, why aren't you asleep yet?"

Tang Bei quickly interrupted the fourth brother, otherwise the little girl would have kept talking.

Tang Ning completely ignored Tang Bei's words and continued, "Big brother, we just bought a TV at home, a big color TV, it's so cool, hehe..."

"How big is it?" Tang Bei asked excitedly.

"Big brother, 14 inches." The third brother, Tang Yu, leaned closer to the microphone and replied after hearing this.

"Why didn't you buy a bigger one? Aren't there 21-inch models available in China now?" Tang Bei asked.

"Boss, a 21-inch domestic model costs over three thousand yuan, that's too expensive."

Lin Lan took over the microphone and said, "A 14-inch one will do. Your dad said a black and white one would be fine, but I decided to buy a color one."

Tang Bei didn't say anything more. He'd just buy a bigger one when he went home next year.

He said, "Mom, I just wired $100,000 home. It should have arrived by now. Have Dad take his ID to the Agricultural Bank of China in Tianjing to withdraw the money."

"How much?" Lin Lan thought she had misheard and quickly asked.

"One hundred thousand US dollars is roughly equivalent to over 570,000 yuan," Tang Bei said.

"More than 570,000?"

Lin Lan was stunned. With so much money, she could really build ten two-story villas.

"More than 570,000?"

The rest of the Tang family were also bewildered.

"Mom, let's use this money to repair the house. There are many people in our family, so let's ask the village to approve more land for the foundation," Tang Bei said.

"It shouldn't cost more than 500,000, right? A two-story house can be built for tens of thousands of yuan." Lin Lan said hurriedly.

"Mom, let's get the land approved by the village first. We can build the house when I come home next year," Tang Bei said.

"Okay, we'll talk about it when you get back," Lin Lan said quickly.

Tang Bei added, "Mom, let's improve our living conditions at home, eat better, and buy a washing machine and refrigerator, so you can have an easier time."

"Good good."

This is the eldest son's filial piety. Although she was reluctant, now that her son has made a lot of money, Lin Lan certainly wouldn't refuse.

“Grandpa and Grandma are getting old, so don’t let them do the work in the fields. You and Dad should also do less work and just grow some food for our own consumption.”

“Your grandparents definitely won’t let them do farm work anymore, but your dad and I are only in our early forties. What kind of talk is it if we just stay at home all day?”

"Can you do less?"

"Okay, okay."

Lin Lan was so relieved that tears welled up in her eyes, and her grandparents beside her were also wiping their eyes.
"Okay, Mom, I'll talk to my second and third sons."

"Alright, second and third brothers, have a good talk with your eldest brother."

"Eh."

Tang Yu quickly took the microphone, and Tang Bin also leaned closer.

Tang Ning protested, screaming, "Big brother, what about me?"

"Don't cause trouble, your eldest brother must have something important to say to your second brother and third sister."

Lin Lan forcibly dragged Tang Ning away, making the little girl so angry that her mouth could hold an oil bottle.

"Second brother?"

"Hey, over here, bro."

“You can ask Mom for money to learn to drive; it’s a skill. I’m planning to buy a small car for home, and when I come home next year, you can drive to Beijing to pick me up.”

"drive?"

Tang Bin immediately became excited, and his face turned red.

"The third one?"

"Big brother, I'm here."

Tang Bei asked, "What are your plans?"

Tang Yu bit her lip and said, "Big brother, we won't be farming as much land at home anymore. I plan to go out and work."

"Working?"

Tang Bei didn't have any good ideas either.

The second and third children's grades are average, so going back to school is not an option. Perhaps we should arrange for them to do some small business in the future.

He said, "How about this, third brother, you and second brother discuss it and go to Tianjing or Beijing to start a small business, open a shop or something. I'll provide the capital for you."

"Doing business?"

Tang Yu's mind is a bit confused. All she knows how to do is dig in the dirt. How could she possibly know how to do any business?
"If you want to learn to drive, learn with the second brother," Tang Bei added.

"Big brother, I can learn it too?" Tang Yu was taken aback.

"Why not? If it really doesn't work out, you can drive a taxi. I'll buy you a car," Tang Bei said.

"oh oh."

(End of this chapter)