Basketball: The Chosen Victim

Chapter 226 Invincible Elite Challenge

"You spent a million dollars trading up just to pick this guy?"

At the celebration party after the draft, the players were chatting excitedly, but Gilbert took Scott to reprimand him. The more he looked at Thomas Jr., the more he felt that he wasted money.

"Daniel, this guy does have two brushes. He is a rare instant combat power. Don't be fooled by his height. Moreover, we traded up, not only for him, but also for Jimmy..."

Scott explained to Gilbert with a wry smile.

However, Gilbert turned his head to look at the skinny Jimmy Butler at this time, and his brows frowned even deeper:

"This guy has nothing special about him except he looks like Jordan. You should follow what I said and find a big guy..."

Scott's face turned sullen, and Gilbert said that it was a pure layman challenging an expert to find fault:
"It's definitely a great value to be able to select a player like Butler with the 19th overall pick in the first round. He is a little thin now, but this is also the breaking point for him to realize his potential in the future. I bet you that after the contract period is over, we have to offer him a big contract. Moreover, we now have Jordan and Love, and there is no shortage of big men..."

However, this sentence deeply stimulated Gilbert:

"Hey? You guy... Did Jordan renew his contract? How much do we have to spend to renew Jordan's contract if you choose someone like this?"

Scott was taken aback, how much more would he spend to renew his contract with Jordan?

Jordan is not an insatiable person. As long as the price is parallel to or even slightly lower than the market price, there will be no problem for Jordan to renew his contract. But Gilbert obviously wants to use the draft to put pressure on Jordan to renew his contract with the team at a lower price...

Scott suddenly realized that generosity is just Gilbert's label, and one of the most important jobs of his general manager is to maintain the low-cost existence of this label...

Thinking about it carefully, Gilbert gifted Wu Di a million-dollar mansion. In fact, it was more of a gesture of valuing talents. Compared with the wealth effect Wu Di brought to Gilbert, it was just a drop in the bucket!
Scott suddenly felt like he was being taught a lesson by the capitalists. He thought that after becoming the general manager, he would hold all the power, but in fact, he had to compromise everywhere and bend down to ask for help. When he was only the head coach before, he was quite pure. There was only one goal, and that was to lead the team to win. Now it is much more complicated...

Seeing that Scott didn't answer, Gilbert guessed that he hadn't thought about it at all, so he gave Scott a hard look and said:
"Jordan's contract extension must be controlled within four years of 3200 million. This is very important, you have to grasp it!"

3200 million for four years, 800 million US dollars per year, 100 million US dollars per year higher than the previous offer from the Cavaliers. Although the free market has not yet started, according to reliable gossip, Jordan has received 4000 million offers from other teams for four years!

If this is the market situation, then if the Cavaliers want to renew their contract, they will have to pay at least 3600 million for four years. The 3200 million for four years given by Gilbert is almost impossible...

"Damn it, the mess Grant left, you want me to wipe his ass!"

Scott secretly spat in his heart, listening to Gilbert, if this matter can't be done, he, the interim general manager, won't be able to get a full-time job, what a fucking capitalist...

On the other side of the party, Wu Di was being paid respects by three Cavaliers rookies:
"Boss, it's hard for me to express in words how excited I am to play with you. Really, it's more exciting than being selected in the first round..."

Jimmy Butler said with admiration that he actually participated in the draft in his senior year. He is considered an older rookie, so he actually met Wu Di during the NCAA period. At that time, Wu Di was just a player who was sprayed as a statistic brush.
"It's unbelievable. One of these honors, scoring champion, MVP, and FMVP, is enough to brag about for a lifetime, and you actually got them all in your rookie season!"

Irving couldn't hide his excitement. In fact, he was selected as the No. [-] pick, which was somewhat due to luck. From the perspective of the university's personal data, Kemba Walker is much better than him, but his reputation is indeed greater.

On the one hand, he once participated in the Jordan Classic and was elected as the most valuable player. On the other hand, it came from his super domineering name, Kyrie.

In Christianity, Carey refers specifically to Jesus Christ, so Ou Shenxian is really not a nickname, but a free translation.

"Yeah, I heard that the brand has packed up your front door! How does it feel to load money in a truck?"

Little Thomas even brought out the stalk that cost him a lot in advance, so Wu Di quickly patted him on the shoulder and said that he would not mention it again in the future.

"Let's stop talking nonsense. The league may be suspended this offseason. As the boss of the team, I am obliged to play with you in advance! Know about my Invincible Elite Challenge. The three of you come to be mentors. Of course, it's not free, but it's not easy to get rewards!"

Wu Di laughed and said that this summer ushered in the fourth NBA lockout, and it will last until December 12th. This will cause the regular season of the new season to start one and a half months later than last year, and the league's schedule will also be compressed from 8 regular season games to 82 games.

The three of them nodded and readily agreed. Although they had no idea about the lockout, even Irving, the most famous, hadn't signed with Nike yet, so Wu Di, the team leader, invited them to participate in his own elite competition. Naturally, they had to show face.

"Okay! Today is June 6th, I will give you a month of carnival time, and in Los Angeles one month later, I will wait for you at the Venice Beach Stadium!"

Wu Di smiled, and at the same time pushed out the little assistant that Under Armour had provided him, and asked him to use it to arrange the schedules of several people.

Similar to the Jordan Classic, the skill training camp organized by Nike for James, and the Adidas Cup organized by Adidas for Ross, Wu Di's Invincible Elite Challenge is sponsored by Under Armour, and it is aimed at elite college players, top high school players and other non-professional players. It is specially set up to expand Wu Di's influence in the basketball world.

The first year of the challenge was held in Los Angeles.

The reason for choosing Los Angeles is that Venice Beach is a streetball mecca as famous as Rock Park in the United States. On the other hand, Los Angeles is also home to Hollywood.

When this challenge becomes influential, Wu Di can bring the challenge back to Huaxia, engage in village BA, trigger the catfish effect, and revitalize Huaxia basketball.

According to the endorsement contract, the funding for the challenge is sponsored by Under Armour, which is $100 million per year.

However, Los Angeles is an international metropolis after all, and the cost is very high. Like the Venice Beach Stadium, it costs 3000 US dollars to book a day. Therefore, according to Wu Di's plan to make a big game, the 100 million US dollars is not enough.

The rental of the venue, the security of the participants, food and accommodation, transportation, and health insurance will cost about 120 million US dollars, as well as participation bonuses, personnel salaries, etc., and the funding gap is about 150 million US dollars.

Fortunately, with Wu Di's manager Ariana around, the most worrying thing is sponsor resources.

Arena contacted Pepsi, and the other party was willing to sponsor 100 million US dollars, and additionally be responsible for the coordination of venue resources. At the same time, Wu Di also established a bridge with Fox Sports through Hornacek, hoping to get more sponsorships in the form of selling exclusive broadcasting rights.

However, Wu Di's asking price is not low, and it is 100 million US dollars, which makes the Fox Sports executives hesitate.

Unlike Pepsi, Fox has to pay for the golden flow resources of the summer file for this program, so the hidden cost is not low.

Although Wu Di is currently a hot basketball supernova, this Elite Challenge is held for the first time after all, and the effect is unknown. It is somewhat risky to gamble with 100 million dollars. Moreover, Wu Di's so-called "exclusive" broadcast rights are not so "exclusive", and he has to endure Instagram's follow-up reports on the Internet.

But soon, Fox Sports agreed to join!
Because on June 6, the NBA labor-management negotiations officially broke down, and on July 30, the NBA officially "closed". During this period, the management cannot conduct transactions or sign players.
On July 7, the summer league ended, and the three rookies completely entered the vacation state.

Therefore, on July 7, Fox Sports' special program, "Invincible Elite Challenge" was officially launched!
At the beginning of the program, the young and beautiful host Hornacek introduced the rules of the challenge competition system.

For some reason, since the end of the Eastern Conference finals, Hornacek's figure has become more exquisite, and his smile has become more feminine, which made the LSPs in front of the TV angry.

"The competition is divided into three stages. In the first stage, Under Armour's professional scouting team conducts auditions in Cleveland, Houston, New York, and Los Angeles, and selects 100 qualified contestants to advance to the second stage preliminary round!"

"The second stage is led by Wu Di, Kyrie Irving, Jimmy Butler, and Isaiah Thomas. The four-member mentor team will conduct four-week training and guidance, and will be scored based on the training performance of 100 contestants. Finally, 4 A-level players, 8 B-level players, and 16 C-level players will be selected. A total of 28 finalists, and the remaining 72 people will be eliminated!"

"In the third stage, the 28 finalists will be divided into four teams according to their mentors. To ensure fairness and justice, each team will consist of 1 A-level player, 2 B-level players, and 4 C-level players! The four teams will conduct a two-week closed training. After the closed training is over, there will be an elimination round. The champion will receive a reward of 15 dollars, the runner-up will receive a reward of 10 dollars, the third place will receive a reward of 5 dollars, and No. 4 will have no reward..."

After Hornacek introduced the rules of the competition system, it was time for several mentors to make their debut.

The first to appear was Irving, the 2011 NBA No. [-] pick.

The camera cuts to the sunny Pacific Coast Highway in California. With the roar of the engine that makes the blood spurt, a black Lamborghini convertible just released drives by.

The camera switches again, and the driver of the Lamborghini is Irving. He wears sunglasses and coolly says to the camera:

"Every change of direction is a challenge and enjoyment. Only basketball can bring you such a feeling! The Invincible Elite Challenge will make you the most dazzling existence in the NBA!"

The camera turned again, and the night in Los Angeles was full of temptations. Jimmy Butler refused the invitation of his friend Harpy, put on the training equipment, put the training bag into the front trunk of the red Ferrari 458, and said to the camera:

"If you can survive the loneliness that no one cares about, you are worthy of poetry and distant places! I'm waiting for you in the Invincible Elite Challenge!"

The camera turned again, a Porsche 911 was galloping on the track at a certain racing track, leaving behind a silver phantom, the camera zoomed in, and Thomas Jr. said to the camera:

"God can't defeat me, only I can defeat me! Come to the Invincible Elite Challenge to challenge Invincible!"

With that said, Thomas Jr. turned the steering wheel, drove the car off the track, and headed into the distance.

Finally, the camera converged, and the three cars also converged on the airport apron. Wu Di, wearing sunglasses, stepped off the private plane with the logos of Under Armor and Invincible branded on it.

Wu Di sat on Thomas Jr.'s silver Porsche 911, lowered his sunglasses and joked:

"You want to challenge me?"

Little Thomas was stunned instantly:

"Boss, I was wrong!"

Suddenly there was a burst of laughter, and the four drove to the Venice Beach Stadium, the base camp of the challenge.

The stadium has been refurbished and painted with Pepsi and Invincible Chinese characters.

The court is surrounded by delicate white sandy beaches, dotted with tall palm trees, and in the distance is the endless blue Pacific Ocean. Just playing here while listening to the sound of the waves is already the dream of countless basketball dogs. Not to mention, there are quite a lot of beauties in bikinis here.

Wu Di is very satisfied with his site selection.

Because of Wu Di's well-known name, generous bonuses, and the possibility of being broadcast live in the United States, the Invincible Elite Challenge has attracted many players with great potential, which can be described as star-studded.

Wu Di took a rough look at the past and found future All-Star players such as "cousin" Damian Lillard, "Bitter Mamba" Victor Oladipo, and Dreaming Green.

Even "Thick Eyebrow" Anthony Davis, who was going to participate in Lao Zhan's skill training camp, also came. The thick eyebrow betrayed on the spot. I don't know how Nike and Lao Zhan will feel.

During the four weeks of training, Thomas Jr. was in charge of basic skills training, Jimmy Butler was in charge of physical training, Irving was in charge of skill training, Wu Di was in charge of shooting training, and there were weekly player review sessions and bullfighting parties.

Management master Stephen Covey once said that the best way to learn is to teach others. As the best players in the basketball field, the four of them obviously understand this truth well.

Coupled with some well-arranged character interviews and a weekly bullfighting party, the ratings of the Fox Sports program are completely exploded, almost catching up with the MLB (Major League Baseball) which is currently on the air at the same time!
Therefore, the program "Invincible Elite Challenge" has completely established its reputation, completely comparing the Jordan Classic, Nike Skills Training Camp, and Adidas Cup held at the same time.

Fox Sports is also very stupid. Seeing that the ratings have exploded, they directly added a budget of 100 million US dollars and temporarily asked to extend the show for an extra month. Wu Di naturally refused. He now has tens of millions of cash and tens of millions of stocks. What is the difference of 100 million US dollars?

However, when Fox Sports increased the additional budget to $300 million, Wu Di still agreed, not for anything else, but to pay more bonuses for the children, and to reimburse the cost of the three supercars by the way.

Wu Di also recruited teammates Love and Parker as mentors, and recruited an additional 50 players.

Evan Turner, a good brother from college, couldn't participate because he had a contract with Li Ning, and his greedy eyes were almost green.

In Wu Di's circle of friends, other stars are either not big enough, or they are carrying contracts with other brands. Only Love and Parker are suitable and good, and the fat water does not flow to outsiders.

Little Jordan also clamored to participate, and Wu Di arranged for him the role of a spiritual consultant.

This guy has a high emotional intelligence, and he is also Wu Di's hardcore, so it is suitable to help Wu Di win over this group of future stars.

The contestants were even more delighted!
Most of them are poor students. To participate in this elite game, they will stay in four-star hotels, surrounded by like-minded basketball fans, and top NBA players will train for free, and they will be treated like superstars. They are even happier than winning the lottery!
(End of this chapter)