The Road to Stardom: Start as a Slam Dunk Master.

Chapter 278 LeBron’s Determination

Under Armour's sales doubled from December to January, with monthly sales soaring from more than 12 million to 1 million. Not only were some of the previous inventory cleared, but also the factory's assembly line It is already at full power, but orders are still scheduled for three months later, and the market is in short supply.

Once the market is in short supply, all kinds of things will follow suit.

For example, many merchants or individuals who are hyping up sneakers have begun to stock up and increase prices. Lin Dong's same style of sneakers, originally priced at US$60 a pair, has increased to US$200 in private transactions.

And some sneakers specially sent to Seattle games to find Lin Dong's autograph were sold for more than $1000.

In addition, since the signing of the contract, Plank hired someone to design Lin Dong's new limited edition 'Dragon Model'. The pre-sale price was set at US$200. Less than half an hour after the pre-sale started on the Internet, it was already sold out. Sweep away.

Which U.S. Internet e-commerce company is the strongest? Of course, Seattle asked Amazon to strengthen it... Bezos has a good personal relationship with Sonics boss Schultz. Schultz and Lin Dong were on their honeymoon, so Plank also had a chance to go through the back door. In addition, Bezos is also now there. The e-commerce field is constantly trying new things, and the two parties hit it off and put at least 30% of Under Armour's inventory on Amazon for sale. This was a quite bold attempt for the traditional American manufacturing industry that had just entered the beginning of 2002.

Still, it works great.

The most difficult thing about the network of relationships is when building the first ladder. Once it is built, these smart businessmen know how to maintain it, so it is not something Lin Dong needs to worry about.

Compared with big brands such as Nike and Reebok, Under Armor's monthly sales of less than 2000 million are naturally not worth mentioning, but compared with Under Armor's monthly sales of only 800 million before the contract was signed, this endorsement The signing was just crazy money.

Senior executives from Nike, Reebok and other companies feel indescribably uncomfortable.

What's even more surprising is Yuya's father.

For example, you can go out to play at night, but you must take Yuya home before 12 o'clock, and pay attention to safety!

Mr. Arap meant the word 'be safe' very seriously.

This Asian has indeed broken the precedent of not being able to make money on rookie players...but this is just bullshit luck.

Now that the final round of preliminaries has just ended, St. Mary's High School is temporarily ranked third in Ohio with a record of 22 wins and 7 losses.

Senior officials from all parties have such sour thoughts in their hearts.

…………

On the evening of February 2th, St. Mary’s School in Akron, Ohio…

That’s it for now. When this wave of enthusiasm passes, Under Armor’s overall volume growth will be maintained at around 50% at most. Let’s try to hype something on the Internet later...

…………

As for weekends, or Valentine's Day in early February, Mr. Arap will go on a business trip very considerately, and will never call home at night to check on work.

Therefore, what kind of safety does this safety refer to? It depends on the beholder and the wise.

Lin Dong really benefited a lot from using Laura to advertise.

Anyway, there is only one word: freedom.

Coach Drew was in a pretty good mood when he came out of the office.

After hearing about Lin Dong's "declaration of love," Mr. Arap seemed to finally recognize his son-in-law. He had dinner with Lin Dong twice, and when chatting with Lin Dong, he was no longer as aggressive as when they first met in Seattle. Started to explain some obscure things.

The public security in Seattle is still very good. After all, whether it is Lakeside High School, Yuya's house, or some of the places Lin Dong often goes to, they are all wealthy areas. Most of them are white people and people from Longguo. The security force is sufficient, and there is nothing wrong with going out at night. Danger.

In this year's NSAA competition, although LeBron's absence caused St. Mary's High School to fall from the altar and not be as brilliant as last year's 27-game winning streak, after all, it was once a championship team and the foundation is still there. The new No. 3 position is under his training. Next, he already has a four-star level. In addition, the team system that originally supported LeBron also produced a good chemical reaction after being placed in the new No. 3 position, so the team's results are not bad.

If it weren't for the Ballmer family's daughter's business card and popularity, how could he have achieved this level with just a few words?

Although this doubling itself is due to the small size, considering the current undersupply market of Under Armour, it is difficult to say that if Nike signed Lin Dong, with the strength of Nike's production line and marketing capabilities, how much wealth would this sky-high wealth have? What kind of height can it reach.

However, this does not prevent the combination of Lin Dong and Under Armor from becoming a hotly talked about topic across the United States and a marketing legend that is being studied by various companies.

Not only was the advertising effect surprisingly good, far exceeding his expectations, but also, Laura finally stopped sending flowers to the Sonics Arena and stopped looking for trouble. It seemed that she had finally stopped.

Although it is not as good as when LeBron was still there, this result is acceptable to the school's senior management. The school's basketball team meeting just held has made it clear that the goal of the playoffs can only be guaranteed to be in the semi-finals. , then next year we will continue to build and cultivate this team with the current lineup.

As for LeBron who returns to the team... Frankly speaking, Coach Drew can hear what the school means. Although he works hard and his strength is indeed better than the new No. 3 position, but with the current performance at the bottom, the school I don’t want to get into his troubled waters anymore.

This is not only because the local fans have scolded LeBron too harshly and have a deep love and hatred for LeBron, but also because the father of the new No. 3 is after all a big shot in the local media industry. If LeBron is really allowed to play next year, If Brown comes back, steals his son's limelight, or even replaces his son in the starting lineup, he might find an opportunity to bring up the past in the media, causing people to dislike LeBron, and then turn his anger towards St. Mary's School again. .

To put it bluntly, the school was really afraid of the overwhelming scolding last year, and would rather not do it even if the grades were slightly worse.

During this period, LeBron was really working hard in Drew's eyes.

He practices hard every day, taking the trouble to practice the basic skills that he once dismissed.

LeBron is also the last one to leave the arena every day, and he fulfills the promise he made to everyone when he came back, cleaning the arena by himself.

He did everything he could, but so what?

No matter how hard you try, the school won't care.

Thinking of this, Coach Drew, who was already walking towards the parking lot, couldn't help but stop.

He hesitated for a moment, then turned around and walked towards the basketball stadium.

Sure enough, the lights in the arena were not out yet, and the sound of basketball hitting the ground could be heard inside.

It's LeBron.

Pretty standard basic ball handling drills. He bent down and dribbled the ball quickly with both hands. When he was slapped, the basketball bounced off the ground no more than 5 centimeters. The slap sound was so fast that you even felt that when he was controlling the ball, the basketball was almost stuck to the ground and not moving.

Three sets of one-handed pendulum dribbling with left and right hands, 3 sets of strong pendulum dribbling with both hands in place, 3 sets of fast hip dribbling with left and right hands in place, 3 sets of fast behind-the-back dribbling with both hands, and three sets of one-handed super low dribbling with left and right hands Dribbling under the crotch, 3 sets of dribbling around the figure of eight with hands ultra low under the crotch...

The banging noise in the arena never stopped.

When he makes a mistake or loses his rhythm, ball control has never been his strong point, but he immediately starts over.

Looking at this guy's efforts, and thinking about the decision just made by the school's senior management at the meeting, Coach Drew felt a little sad for LeBron.

He knows what LeBron is thinking. He wants to be on the team's bench next year and prove himself again on the court.

But unfortunately, the school will not give him this opportunity again.

This reminded Coach Drew of a sentence: God is not fair to men. There are some mistakes that men really cannot make even once, otherwise they will never be able to repay them in their entire lives.

"coach?"

LeBron saw Drew at the gate and stopped.

"Hi." Drew greeted him with a smile and walked into the arena: "You haven't gone home yet?"

"We haven't finished the ball-handling training yet."

Drew nodded, originally wanting to encourage LeBron, but thinking about what the school's senior officials had just said, it was really hard for him to pretend to be okay.

"LeBron..." Drew finally said: "Let's go home."

LeBron was stunned.

"There was a meeting at the school just now. I think your name may not appear even on next year's substitute list." Drew patted him on the shoulder: "You are a student taught by me. I don't want to Sora gives you an impossible hope... just transfer to another school."

Transfer school?

LeBron didn't say anything. He knew that after today's preliminaries, the school's senior officials talked to Drew about the future of the basketball team. He should have decided to give up on himself completely.

But given his family conditions and his current reputation in Ohio, isn't it just a matter of saying that he wants to go to school in another city?

He didn't say anything, silently picked up the basketball on the ground and continued to practice ball control.

"Hey, kid, listen to me." Coach Drew frowned: "I won't hurt you. You don't quite know what you are facing now. The school doesn't give you a platform to show off. Even if the training is good, What’s the point of working hard?”

"Maybe you are thinking that you can sign up for the NBA draft yourself, but don't forget that due to the long-term lack of high-level competition and confrontation training, even if you sign up for next year's draft, you won't be able to perform very well. , there are only a few days of training time in the NBA training camp, and you have to go straight to the battlefield. Your opponents are improving. Coupled with the current attitude of the media and fans towards you, those NBA teams may not necessarily sign you. your."

"Now that the school doesn't give you a chance to prove yourself again, your path to basketball at St. Mary's High School is already blocked!"

"Coach." LeBron's ball-handling movements didn't stop at all, and there was no expression on his face. He seemed completely unmoved by Drew's words: "I still have 12 sets of ball-handling training left. You go home. I After training, I will clean and lock the arena before leaving."

"I know some things about your family." Drew frowned and said: "If you think it will be troublesome to transfer to another school, then with your talent, I suggest that it is also a good choice for you to switch to football. I know..."

"I'm not going anywhere." LeBron continued to control the ball. He found that before, he had to concentrate completely to make no mistakes. Now he has magically entered a state where he can even talk while distracted. Having managed the situation with ease, he smiled at Coach Drew and said, "Thank you."

Walk? Why leave?

Looking at Coach Drew's back shaking his head and leaving, what flashed in LeBron's eyes was not the gratitude when saying thank you, but a fierce look.

The coach doesn't like him.

But, haha, who cares?

From hiding in the computer room after the World Championships to not being able to face the Walkers after returning to China, he fled back to his mother's house.

But in that 'home', he sometimes had to squat at the door of the house. Finally, he watched the man who threw the money on his disheveled mother come out of the room and patted his head like a dog. She also called him 'son of a big star' with obvious mockery...

He hadn't experienced this in years.

His cowardice, his escape, and his retreat after losing the game are perfectly integrated with this scene.

And his pride and shame finally burst out at that moment.

He beat the guy who was quite powerful in the slums so hard that his nose was bruised and his face was swollen.

If his mother hadn’t called Coach Walker in time, if Coach Walker hadn’t brought Arthur, if his mother hadn’t knelt down in front of Arthur and begged him for mercy, LeBron didn’t know if he would have survived that day. Surrounded by dozens of people, walked out of Walnut Tree Street alive.

But from that moment on, LeBron suddenly felt a sense of clarity.

He knew that he didn't want to escape anymore, and there was no place for him to escape!

The school doesn't give you a chance? Then go directly to the draft.

At least there are gyms and basketballs here for him to practice. If there are no high-level games to maintain a competitive state, then use a hundred times a thousand times of training to polish yourself enough to crush everyone in the most ordinary state, including the destined one. The enemy Lin Dong!

If you can't do it, die!

Snapped!

After completing the last set of ball-handling training, he slapped the basketball hard, with blood in his eyes, and then coldly walked over and closed the door with a bang.

Then practice 50 sets of ball control and 500 shots.

Whether it's the school, coaches, fans, Nike executives, or the Asian devil!

This time, no one can stand in front of him.

Not anyone!

(End of this chapter)