warrior godfather

December 6, Chase Center.

It was 7:13 p.m., and it was less than 50 minutes before the start of the game. More than half of the auditorium was already filled. Excited to whisper.

The tense atmosphere of the finals enveloped the arena, and the noise was endless. The fresh air system in the arena was running at full capacity, exhausting all kinds of odors produced by tens of thousands of fans gathered together. spring.

At this time, the players of both sides are still making final pre-match preparations in the locker room, and the fans are still enthusiastic in the face of the empty stadium.

The Warriors are only one step away from the three-peat, and the creation of the dynasty is in sight. Ticket prices for this game have skyrocketed in the second-hand market, and the worst position is also $1500.

This is the result of the Warriors' crackdown on scalpers. These scalpers are like blood-sucking leeches.

There are also a lot of spectators watching the game, most of whom are from the United States and China.

The United States is the base of the NBA, and China is the most popular place for the NBA overseas. These two populous countries have also contributed one of the best viewership numbers to the NBA.

Especially after Zhang Yu went out of the circle last year, the Warriors attracted a lot of fans. This season's performance was exceptionally good and continued to attract fans, which made the Warriors' fans reach an astonishing number in China.

Other teams have also benefited from this. The promotion of the entire NBA in China is very fast, the number of gamers has increased significantly, and peripheral income has also increased a lot.

But this is just a small head. The genuine awareness of Chinese fans is still relatively weak, and they have not developed the habit of buying peripheral products to support the team. The NBA is developing rapidly in China, and the broadcaster Tencent has benefited the most.

Thanks to the blowout growth in the number of viewers, the number of members and advertising revenue of Tencent Sports have also increased significantly, and there is no need to accept embarrassing advertisements such as "famous sports protection brands".

With the continued promotion of the NBA in China, Tencent will gain more revenue. Compared with the broadcast fee of 5 million US dollars in 5 years, it can be said that it is profitable.

In the face of ever-increasing revenue and profits, Tencent is also bound to win the renewal of the broadcasting rights, and started to act early to pave the way for the renewal in two years.

However, Zhao Guochen, the person in charge of Tencent Sports, wondered that Mark Baum, the vice president of the NBA who is in charge of this aspect of affairs, lacked interest in this.

As a giant in the league, Mark Baum is in charge of various affairs of the NBA in Asia, and the cooperation with Tencent was very pleasant before.

But now, his attitude has suddenly changed, making people a little confused.

But Zhao Guochen just thought about it for a while, and didn't take it to heart.

In his view, this is just a normal business negotiation strategy of Mark Baum.

The NBA is developing so fast in China, so of course it has to be sold for a price. When the contract is about to expire, we can negotiate the next broadcast contract in order to maximize the benefits.

Tencent did not neglect Mark Baum's indifferent attitude, and has always maintained close contact with him.

Tencent is bound to win the broadcasting rights of the NBA. This is the core of its sports industry, and no one else can get involved.

But at the same time, other giants are also very keen on the huge traffic of the NBA in China. Alibaba, ByteDance, and Migu all took action and competed with Tencent for the NBA's broadcast rights.

When the finals were about to start, on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, a business war without gunpowder quietly started.

……

At 7:30, players from the two teams filed out from the player channel one after another and began to warm up.

A huge cheer broke out in the auditorium, welcoming the entry of the Warriors players.

Curry walked in the first place, stretched out his hands, and high-fived the fans on both sides of the aisle, and the Warriors players followed suit, and high-fived the fans, in exchange for more excited applause and cheers.

But Leonard, who was walking at the end of the team, kept his head down, distanced himself from his teammates in front of him, and ignored the fans on both sides to greet him, and slowly came to the court.

He didn't join in as the others started shooting warm-ups, but stood near the top of the arc, staring straight ahead.

"Hey! Kawhi, catch the ball! Stay focused!"

A call sounded in Leonard's ear, he raised his head subconsciously, and reached out to catch the basketball thrown by Curry.

Curry clapped his hands and said loudly:

"Man, get excited, we're going to the Finals!"

Leonard smiled reluctantly, nodded, dribbled the ball twice, made a shot, and hit the net with a three-pointer.

"Pretty!"

Curry gave Leonard a thumbs-up, picked up a basketball that flew to him, and passed it to Leonard, who glanced at the hoop and threw the ball.

After doing this several times, Curry devoted himself to his warm-up. Leonard stared blankly at Curry for a while, but stopped again.

He turned his head to look at the sidelines. His uncle Dennis and his mother Robertson were sitting in the second row near the Warriors' bench. When they saw Leonard turn his head, they raised their hands and waved towards him. Dennis nodded lightly. Nodding, his eyes are very meaningful.

Leonard forced a smile, turned his head, picked up a basketball that flew over, and officially started the warm-up.

A few days ago, Dennis and Robertson came to the Bay Area to cheer for Leonard in the finals.

Last night, Dennis found Leonard, and the two chatted for a long time.

Dennis said straight to the point:

"Kawhi, last year in the finals, you failed to win fmvp. This time, it is your last chance in the Warriors. You must seize it."

Leonard was concentrating on preparing for the finals, but he didn't expect Dennis to say such a thing, frowning and saying:

"Uncle, I don't understand what you mean."

Dennis sneered:

"Up to now, I will not hide it from you. Last summer, I asked the Warriors to trade you out, but Ronan refused. He also said that even if you are allowed to sit on the bench for three years, he will never trade you. Get out, I just gave up on the idea."

When Leonard heard this, his face changed, and he asked in disbelief:
"Is that what the boss really said?"

At that time, Dennis persuaded him to go to another team, and Robertson also assisted him, so he reluctantly agreed, but he did not participate in it, and gave Dennis full responsibility for this matter.

Later, Dennis told him that the matter had failed, and Leonard didn't care, anyway, he didn't have a particularly strong desire to leave the Warriors.

But Dan Si never told him that Zhang Yu had actually said such a thing.

Dennis nodded:

"Of course! Will I still lie to you? You can ask your 'good boss', I don't think he will deny it. Kawhi, this is Ronan's attitude towards you, he can say such things Come out, what else is there to do in this wretched place? Leaving the Warriors as soon as possible is the right way!"

"But..." Leonard's eyes flashed a hint of hesitation, "The boss has always been good to me, and this season he gave me so many balls. My tactical status is even similar to that of Stephen, he said It should be just angry words, the boss wouldn't do that..."

Dennis hates iron but not steel:
"Would you rather trust an outsider than your uncle?"

"No, I didn't mean that..." Leonard hurriedly argued.

The role of Dennis in his heart is the same as that of his father. He will never go against Dennis' wishes, nor will he show any disrespect to him.

Dennis interrupted:

"Kawhi, you have to know that you are a superstar now, of course Ronan has to give you more ball possessions, otherwise would the Warriors have won 70 games so easily? He is not for you, but for the Warriors' record!"

"Last summer, you had a three-year contract with the Warriors. He threatened me with letting you sit on the bench. I had to compromise, but now, you have only two years left on your contract with the Warriors, and your importance to the Warriors has further increased. I'll force you again, Ronan can't afford to dnp your loss, so he can only obediently trade you out."

"And before that, all you need to do is grab an fmvp from Stephen, plus your performance in the regular season and playoffs, you will be a superstar at the level of Durant and James, and the whole league will grab it." I want you, why should the Warriors be the second star?"

"This, this is not good..." Leonard stammered.

Dennis said earnestly:

"Kawhi, think about it, everything I do is to make you a real superstar faster, this is your sixth NBA season, half of your career has passed, don't you think Will we waste two more years in the Warriors? Think about it, Ronan has said that, why should we be polite to him? Get this fmvp before leaving, it is the best counterattack against him!"

"Of course, I'm not asking you to compete with O'Neal in disciplines, which will affect your reputation, but as you said, Ronan gave you a lot of possessions, and you have enough strength. The Cavaliers are not your opponents at all. , If you take more shots, no one will say anything. With James’ current defense, you can completely blow him up, and then I can market you as the number one small forward!”

"The current fans only have fmvp in their eyes, and don't care about anything else. So what if Stephen attracts more defenses? Why don't you make a wedding dress for you!"

After Dennis finished speaking, he stood up, patted Leonard on the shoulder, and left his room, leaving Leonard sitting on a chair with an unsteady expression on his face.

……

Leonard recalled the conversation with Dennis last night. He was very confused. He didn't shoot the ball while holding it.

"Kawhi! Concentrate, don't think about things that have nothing to do with the game!"

Surprised, Leonard raised his head and found that Zhang Yu was standing on the sidelines, yelling at him with a serious expression and a slight reproach.

Leonard looked at Zhang Yu, and suddenly remembered his second season, when Zhang Yu let him play in the waste time to practice.

Whenever he made a mistake or hit too much iron, Zhang Yu would personally point out where he made a mistake after the game, and the expression on his face was exactly the same as now.

Leonard no longer struggled, nodded solemnly and said:
"Okay, boss, I'll focus on the game!"