From sparring to superstar

Chapter 96. 94. You Underestimated Your Quotes
"Agent?" Li Ao was stunned for a moment, and then shouted: "If you want to see me, you can call me directly! Even if I turn off my mobile phone for training in the afternoon, you can still go to the office of the dean of the School of Computer Science. Didn't I leave my contact information?" Note?"

"Leo!"

With a soft drink, Vivienne finally stopped Li Ao's rampage.

She was really afraid that Li Ao couldn't help but beat him up. It was nothing before, but now that Li Ao is a public figure, there will be more troubles, even though she was also shocked and angry.

After pulling the handbrake, Vivian got out of the car, looked at the middle-aged man in his 40s, and asked gently: "Sir, is it because I'm not in the office that you haven't been able to contact us?" ?”

The man said awkwardly: "No, I called Leo before, but he refused to meet with me. I didn't want to give up. I heard that he was training here, so I came here to wait for him. I stopped him when I saw him sitting in the car. You guys, I want to fight again."

Middle-aged people actively looking for work?
The impatience in Li Ao's heart was much less, and he asked: "Are you an independent agent? Sorry, although I don't think all independent workers are incompetent, but I still hope to go to a brokerage company with a complete working team."

"No, no, I'm not an independent agent..." As he spoke, the man took out his business card and handed it to Li Ao.

Li Ao took it over to take a look... His arm was pulled, he bent down and moved his head closer to the head of the auntie next to him, and watched together.

Vivian took a look and knew why Li Ao refused.

Big company, properly big company.

IMG Entertainment Group, a prestigious and large brokerage company.

During this period of time, not only sports agencies but also entertainment companies wanted to sign Li Ao...

Li Ao remembered that he seemed to have received a call from someone from this company.

He complained: "Uncle, although I am handsome, I don't want to be in the entertainment industry."

He didn't expect that he just complained, and the other party reacted fiercely like being trampled on chicken feet: "Uncle? I'm only 30 years old! Not much older than you!"

Vivian + Li Ao: Σ(☉▽☉"a!!!

The two moved in unison and looked up and down at this man who had gone through a lot of vicissitudes. He was only 30 years old?
Li Ao complained again: "You look like this, can you blame me for being recognized as the wrong age?"

The man had the urge to throw his sleeves and leave, but he held back, changed the subject forcibly, and asked, "Can I spare you a little time? Our company is not only an entertainment agency, but also a professional sports department. In terms of players fighting for more interests, we have an advantage that other brokerage companies do not have..."

This time Li Ao was more patient and listened to the other party.

For no other reason, the other party looked too miserable, and he couldn't bear to interrupt.

If you want to refuse, wait for the other party to finish speaking first... Hey, wait.

He picked up the business card and looked at the name again... Jeff Schwartz?
Is that Schwartz?
After the other party finished speaking, Vivienne was ready to get in the car and drive away. Unexpectedly, Li Ao said: "I'm a little interested, let's chat for a while, have you had dinner yet?"

...

A few minutes later, the three came to a coffee shop.

Li Ao didn't talk about the agent right away, but asked a lot about the other party.

He didn't know if this Schwartz was the Schwartz in his impression who climbed to the top ten of the Forbes global sports agent list. If he misidentified the wrong person and finally joined an entertainment company, it would be a lot of fun.

The chatterbox attribute worked at this time, and he got a lot of useful information during the conversation.

Jeff Schwartz, born in 69 and only a few months before he turned 31, graduated from the Law Department of the University of Chicago, and later went to Temple University to complete his master's and doctoral studies. He became a doctor of law at the age of 26. Got an iron job in Washington.

However, he resigned after working as a court paperwork for half a year. With less money and more work, he was unwilling to endure it.

After resigning, IMG took a fancy to him. Because of his enthusiasm for sports since he was a child, he joined the sports department of IMG Entertainment. He was originally asked to be the deputy director of the legal team of the sports department, but after working for two years, he was fed up Sitting in the office every day, I took the initiative to demote my job and salary to apply for a broker position...

When Li Ao inquired about the other party's details, he asked the assistant auntie to contact Liam to check, and the feedback was that it was true that Schwartz resigned after half a year of education and working in the federal court, and the photos are here, It was this anxious face.

I didn’t find out about joining IMG later on. Liam just asked the company’s legal counsel. Because of Schwartz’s outstanding university experience, he was able to get immediate information feedback, but he was not afraid that the other party was lying. If he really signed the contract, he must go The other company, the people from Liam's side will take it with them, so they don't worry about being cheated.

After giving an overview of his own situation, Schwartz began to tell Li Ao his career plan for Li Ao.

When it came to work, Schwartz was not so cramped anymore. He took out a stack of materials and talked eloquently.

Li Ao listened very carefully, although he felt that the other party seemed to underestimate him... But if he said too exaggeratedly, he would feel that the other party was exaggerated, which would give him a more pragmatic feeling.

Career planning is something that will definitely change with the progress of your career. This matter is not that important.

Now there is only one question before Li Ao—is it worth the risk for the other party to be a recruit manager?
He wants to sign a mature and experienced agent to help him deal with chores outside the court, lest he be disturbed by off-court factors and affect him to do what he likes.

After thinking for a while, he made up his mind.

Everyone is so young, give it a go!

Even if you choose the wrong agent this time, wouldn't it be enough to change it?
Unlike people in the entertainment industry, their athletes have absolute dominance in their agent contracts. The direct point is that they can terminate the contract at any time if they want.

After Schwartz finished his plan, he looked at Li Ao cautiously with his over-mature face.

Li Ao made a decision: "I am very interested in cooperating with you. Do you have time tomorrow? If possible, we would like to visit your company tomorrow and discuss this matter in detail."

Schwartz, who was already mentally prepared to be rejected, said excitedly: "Really? God bless, Leo, I will definitely not let you down!"

The two made an appointment, and Li Ao suddenly thought of something and asked, "Jeff, am I the first player you signed?"

Schwartz: "Uh..."

Li Ao: "..."

No need to listen to the answer, why do you suddenly feel like you have stepped on a pit?
...

The next day, Saturday, Li Ao took the legal counsel of Liam's investment bank to IMG Entertainment's North American headquarters in Los Angeles for inspection.

Li Ao checked the information of this company last night. It is still a multinational company. Its main business is concentrated in Europe and North America, and it also has business in Asia and South America. However, it cannot handle local companies, so its funds and contacts are concentrated in Europe and North America.

After arriving at the IMG North American headquarters, the legal counsel went on a field trip and found that although Schwartz was a novice agent, he had been working for two years. Temporary calling, but for a novice broker, it is already a very rare treatment. Other novice brokers are doing odd jobs under the hands of veteran brokers, or become independent brokers to feed the whole company. .

In the end, Li Ao signed an agent contract with Jeff Schwartz.

As expected of an investment bank's legal counsel, Schwartz's bottom line of authority was mentioned in every aspect.

There is no way to do this in terms of commission. Big companies, unless they make a big contribution, are standard equipment.

The main thing is the division of responsibilities, which is basically how Schwartz’s illegal operations are. Li Ao basically has no restrictions on him unless it is something that should be handed over to the agent but skips the agent because of interest issues. .

In other words, if he regrets the contract right after signing it, he can terminate the contract on the spot.

After the signing was completed, Li Ao left. Schwartz was still busy with the signing celebration. The two made an appointment to do it together after they were selected to sign the contract.

The reason... Both of them are poor ghosts.

Walking out of the building of IMG's North American headquarters, Li Ao was still in pain, and became the first rookie under the hands of a novice manager...

Thinking about it better, becoming the first player in the hands of an agent who will become a big hit in the future, maybe he will also get the title of a thousand-mile horse.

With an agent, he doesn't want to worry about things like the draft.

So whoever said it well, employing people is not suspicious and others are not.

He believes that even Schwartz, who is still a novice, can handle this ability well.

He put all his attention on the next exam preparation and training, leisurely waiting for the arrival of the draft trial training.

He was full of expectations for Schwartz, but he didn't expect that Schwartz gave him a 'surprise' a few days later.

...

It's September 5st.

After more than a month of hard work, Li Ao's three-point development has finally made substantial progress—the three-point evaluation has reached a passing level of 60!
It was more difficult than he expected!
The main reason is that he uses the NBA's three-point line distance for development.

In order to help him develop NBA-level three-pointers, Xavier Johnson deliberately covered the original three-point line in the small training ground with stickers, and put tape on the position of the NBA-standard three-point line.

Compared with the [-]-point line specifications of the NCAA and FIBA, the NBA three-point line is farther away, and there is also a more difficult place to practice-every position outside the three-point line has a different distance from the basket!
The three-point line of the NCAA and FIBA ​​has the same distance from each point to the basket, similar to the shape of a protractor.

For the NBA's three-point line, the two wings are parallel to the sideline, a distance of 5.8 meters from the bottom line, and then from these two points to the distance of 7.25 meters from the front of the basket, three points draw an arc.

As Xavier Johnson said, Li Ao is 'taking advantage' at this time.

He has only played for a few months, and has almost never developed a three-pointer, so he does not need to make additional adaptations.

Relying on his excellent shooting talent and 240% training efficiency, after spending more than a month, he finally reached a passing level, that is, he can see the shots well in training, and he can shoot if he has to shoot in the game.

However, his three-point evaluation is slightly different from the evaluation of mid-range shots and layups.

Behind the three-point rating 60, 'NBA' is marked in brackets.

He tentatively believes that even in the NBA, where the foundation of various ability indicators is higher, his three-point evaluation will not change.

He was actually somewhat dissatisfied with this speed of progress.

It's almost June, the Eastern and Western finals are in full swing, and the draft trials of each team will soon start one after another, as well as the Chicago joint trial on June 6.

He hopes to show stronger strength and strive to be selected in a higher draft.

That's money!
One pick higher, hundreds of thousands more in four years, and ten picks higher, several million more in four years.

But in Xavier Johnson's view, Li Ao's three-point improvement speed should not be too outrageous.

For most of the talented players he knows, it takes a summer to practice from zero to Li Ao's level.

It is said that Li Ao "takes advantage of not needing additional adaptation", but in fact it is Li Ao's difficulty in developing three-pointers, which is much higher than other college students' development of NCAA-standard three-pointers.

After the training, Li Ao took a shower, came out through the long and narrow gym, and saw that the cleaning of the venue was cleaning the end of the main training ground.

The Trojans team has passed the meeting of talented high school students every day, and now it is the trial training session, so his training ground has been changed to a small training ground.

Last weekend, when he was training during the day, there were still high school students coming to watch.

The training time here has been shortened every day, and the feeling of nostalgia has come.

After leaving the training ground, he was about to take the bus back to his apartment when his cell phone rang.

He took out a cell phone in the shape of Hello Kitty, it was a call from his manager.

After connecting and speaking a few words, he turned a corner, went down to the first floor, and came to the parking lot. Schwartz was already waiting for him outside the passageway, and beside him was a car that looked a little old.

Li Ao didn't dislike it either. He sat in the co-pilot, fastened his seat belt, and asked, "Jeff, what do you want me to do at this time? You can't come here on purpose to take me home, right?"

Schwartz took out a piece of paper from his briefcase, handed it to Li Ao, and said: "I have contacted various teams in the past few days, inquired about some news through the company's old agent, and made a trial training plan. Take a look first."

Speaking of which, Schwartz started the engine and sent Li Ao home.

Li Ao looked at the trial training plan in his hand, and his eyes widened.

"Jeff, are we so confident? We don't go to the trial training unless the first-round pick is decided, and the non-lotter picks don't participate in the second trial? That's not what you said that day!"

"Leo, you and I underestimated your market too much. David Stern personally responded to your participation in the draft. This is not a common thing. Do you know that after the company learned that I signed you, the North American sports The vice president of the agency department came to talk to me about you. He and I both thought that David Stern took a fancy to the background of your flower-growing players. There may be teams that don’t have that vision, but there are always The team can see the potential of your commercial market." Schwartz's tone at the moment, just like when he explained his career plan to Li Ao before, revealed confidence.

"Uh...that's why I think I can make it to the first round."

"No! This is just the foundation. I dare to do such a trial training plan. It is mainly because of your basketball talent. The feedback I got is that many teams are interested in you because of your performance this season. This trial training plan is just a plan. When we actually select the trial team, our requirements will only be higher."

Li Ao closed his eyes and thought, the car was silent, Schwartz did not disturb him, and drove quietly.

Schwartz is well aware that this is a difficult choice.

Putting forward higher requirements means losing some opportunities for teams to choose him. If the high pick is not won, he may fall to the second round.

After a while, Li Ao opened his eyes and said with a smile: "Jeff, since you have so much confidence in me, and I also have confidence in your judgment, I will do as you say!"

Schwartz's "old face" also showed a smile, and replied: "I will definitely sell you to a team that satisfies us all. You are my first 'commodity'... By the way, I turned over a few years ago. When I was on the draft list, I saw a player who was a florist was selected by the Mavericks, his name was Wang, do you know him?"

Wang Zhizhi?Li Ao shook his head: "I haven't played basketball for less than a year, and I don't know many people. Do you want to sign him? I can't help you, but I know our domestic reporters, who have a high status. He should have How to get in touch, I'll ask him first."

"Thank you very much. There is one more thing. I went to the Toyota Center just now, so I was able to drop by to take you home. The logo man asked me to meet and wanted to make an appointment to give you a trial training alone."

Li Ao was puzzled and said, "The Lakers rank first with 67 wins this season, and they only have the 29th overall pick. Isn't it within our consideration?"

"If they have plans to draft you, it is not difficult for them to trade a higher draft pick. They now have many high-quality players, Fisher, Fox, Rice, Lu, Green... If they win the championship, The trade value of these high-quality players will be higher.

I didn't agree to the logo guy immediately because they already had O'Neal and Bryant. If you go to the Lakers, it's hard to guarantee the right to shoot.

But I didn't say no to him, I don't know if you particularly want to stay in L.A...."

……

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(End of this chapter)