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

Chapter 295 Wizards VS Supersonics

NBA officials had already reserved rooms for the two teams at the Xiyuan Hotel, which is the closest five-star hotel to Yanjing Stadium. But Schultz made a reservation at the Shangri-La Hotel two kilometers away. Several suites.

The game is at 2 pm on the 8nd. Coming a day early, both the Wizards and the SuperSonics have their own things to do.

Both parties have to attend some business events.

Last season, Yao almost single-handedly carried the Wizards through the playoffs and into the finals. This not only caused the Wizards' market value in the United States to skyrocket, but also made the Wizards become the most popular player today. The team favored by local brands in Dragon Kingdom and the most popular among fans, even the SuperSonics with Lin Dong, has to step aside.

After all, in terms of influence alone, the combination of Yao and Jordan is undoubtedly superior to Lin Dong and Payton.

Therefore, when I came here this time, there were at least two dozen brands of various types vying to invite Wizards to participate in the event. In the end, they were selective. In addition to Nike, which was endorsed by itself, there were some activities, there were also six companies including Li Ning and Sina that were working with Wizards. A commercial activity agreement was reached, one game a day, and another week or so after the game. The total commercial activity income is about 2000 million U.S. dollars. In addition to the share of the Wizards and Dayao, Jordan alone can get 700 million U.S. dollars. …

At this time, Jordan already had his own business empire, and 700 million US dollars was not much for him. He was even a little resistant at first and did not want to attend the event.

After all, since the playoffs, people in the US media have been teasing him with the phrase "Go home baby" at every turn, making it difficult for him to refute, and made him extremely embarrassed in front of the camera several times.

Frankly speaking, Yao Ming can lead the Wizards to the finals. Jordan quite recognizes this guy, but that is just recognition of his strength. When he always becomes the backdrop for others, the basketball god is very unhappy, and he also treats Yao Ming. Famous, I don't have a good impression of the Dragon Kingdom.

The Starbucks main store that opened in Yanjing International Trade Center just half a month ago asked Lin Dong, Payton and others who had just got off the plane to work as "waiters" for two hours. After the game, except for the International Trade Center Building, In addition to an event arranged here, there is also another branch in Lin'an City that I want to visit...

Although the SuperSonics are slightly less popular than the Wizards, they are actually quite popular. However, Schultz only took on two commercial activities.

no way.

This time when he came to the Dragon Kingdom exhibition game, Jordan estimated that these Dragon Kingdom people who like Yao Ming didn't know how to ridicule him. If Stern and Nike hadn't talked to him countless times, he wouldn't have wanted to come at all.

Then compare the various enthusiasm and pursuit of him by the parties here in Longguo, but they didn't mention the damn phrase "go home baby".

Although Lin Dong once won honors for Dragon Country in the World Youth Championship, Yao Ming in this era had already won the Asian Championships with the Dragon Country men's basketball team. The adult competition is undoubtedly more important than the youth competition. Influential, coupled with the fact that a single core reached the finals in the playoffs this time, although one is world-class and the other is Asian-class in terms of national honors, the influence of the two can at best offset each other, or even Lin Dong is still a little worse.

This operation undoubtedly increased Jordan's infinite weight in the hearts of Dragon Kingdom fans, so much so that in the past two days, the entire Yanjing was immersed in a kind of pursuit of the god of basketball, even completely overshadowing Dayao and Lin Dong. The limelight of a local player has also made fans' calls for the Wizards far outweighed the Sonics.

A huge gap seems to have changed many of the views of the No. 1 player in NBA history towards the Dragon Kingdom. When he participated in Li Ning's event on the afternoon of the 100st, he was very active in interacting with the fans. However, after receiving a message from a child suffering from leukemia, After the boy gave him a classic portrait of the former shot of the century, the basketball god was greatly moved. With a wave of his hand, he not only paid for all the boy's treatment expenses, but also donated all the US$ million earned from the commercial performance with Li Ning that day. Dragon Country Leukemia Foundation.

So... the entire Yanjing City completely became the home court of the Wizards.

And Jordan and Payton are better than their fan base, so is there any comparison?

To put it bluntly, in another world, the Flying Man did not like the Dragon Kingdom.

But this time it seems a little different...

After all, this is our own team, so we have to give our own brand a platform first... Spending millions on commercial activities is nothing, whether it’s to get Lin Dong or to build a team around him, isn’t it just for these few days? ?

During this time, the American media used the phrase "go home baby" to make all kinds of extreme mockery of Jordan. After all, Americans are tired of seeing all kinds of praise for Jordan. The American media is very clear about what fans like to see. It hurt Jordan.

But what surprised him was that after arriving here, no one, whether it was the fans of the Dragon Kingdom or the media reporters, mentioned this sentence. On the contrary, they were extremely enthusiastic and crazy about his arrival.

Lin Dong remembered that in the history of another world, Jordan had visited the Dragon Kingdom twice, but overall, Jordan did not have much favorable impressions of the Dragon Kingdom. This was because a domestic brand had been fighting with Jordan for nearly ten years. Litigation related.

On the one hand, it's because the Wizards have taken away several big resources, and on the other hand, Schultz has other plans.

In short, in just one afternoon, the young fans almost packed the China World Trade Center. The entire store achieved a revenue of 80 yuan in a single day. With various media reports, the name of Starbucks also appeared overnight. In a short time, it became popular throughout Yanjing and even the whole country. This laid an extremely good foundation for Schulz’s first step to enter the Longguo market. It also made him confident, and planned to take the second step at the same time in all major Longguo markets. The city has invested in at least 50-80 stores and is about to roll up its sleeves and go big.

There was a game at 2pm on the 8nd, but both teams were still attending the event in the morning.

Frankly speaking, the tight schedule made everyone feel a little tired, but overall, the state was relatively relaxed. It's just an exhibition game, more like an All-Star game. The attackers will try their best to perform all kinds of difficult tricks, and the defensive players will basically let it go a little tacitly. After all, winning or losing in this kind of game usually doesn't matter. , the important thing is to play well.

This is a show.

At least that's what Jordan thinks. Unfortunately, his opponents don't seem to think so...

——October 10nd evening, 2 o'clock.

The Yanjing Stadium was already buzzing with people. The host introduced the players from both sides under the flashing lights, constantly raising the atmosphere. The cheers of Jordan, which overshadowed the local players, also made the God of Basketball His vanity was greatly satisfied.

The Wizards' starting lineup includes point guard Tyronn Lue, shooting guard Michael Jordan, center Yao Ming, the power forward is Jared Jeffress, the rookie the Wizards just selected this year, and the small forward is the Wizards who just used Hamilton from the Pistons. In exchange, Jerry Stackhouse averaged 29.8 points per game.

Hamilton's exchange for Stackhouse is an acceptable result for most Wizards fans. It can be regarded as a trade reinforcement for both parties. Choose the one that is more suitable for your team. After all, compared to 84 kg and there is a certain conflict with Jordan's position For Hamilton, what the current Wizards need more is a stable striker.

The SuperSonics' starting five, point guard Gary Payton, shooting guard Brent Barry, small forward Lin Dong, and power forward did not use the main starting Vin Baker, but replaced him with Hanamichi Sakuragi. Center Tyson Chandler.

Amid cheers from the entire stadium, both sides quickly stood on the court.

Chandler was still a little nervous about Yao, who had led his team to a stunning playoff victory in last year's rookie season and had beaten him in the ADDI training camp. Coupled with his absolute disadvantage in height and wingspan, he was beaten by Yao. He patted lightly in the direction of Jordan, and the crowd cheered again.

Jordan did not choose a fast break, holding the ball steadily through the midfield. Facing his old friend Gary Payton, who came up to defend, he knew that this old friend was not the same just by looking at the opponent's defensive actions and the intensity he could feel. There is no intention to fight hard.

An emergency stop jumper after a breakthrough change of direction, he steadily scored the first mid-range shot and took the lead in this exhibition game.

"Hey, man, didn't you wake up last night?" Jordan smiled and said to Payton: "Look at your lax defense, do you want to go back and take a nap before coming back?"

"I just don't want to steal the limelight." Gary Payton said: "Twenty percent of my skills are useless. I just give you two points."

"Hahahaha! It seems that you have finally learned to respect the gods on the court?" Jordan was very satisfied with the opponent's answer: "Even if it is an exhibition game, you should still show 12% of your skills and see if you can create something for your gods. A little trouble."

"What are you thinking about?" Gary Payton laughed loudly: "I'm afraid that I will steal the limelight from my Lin Dong. What's the matter with you? The old man can just go play golf and stay away!"

Jordan was startled, and then he saw the NBA rookie who had just entered the league standing up against Stackhouse's defense outside the 3-point line.

Swish!
The basketball jumps through a perfect arc in the air and then hits the net hollowly.

2:3, SuperSonics lead!
Payton proudly said to Jordan: "Exhibition game? I will knock you off the altar today! The future belongs to our family Lin Dong!"

Jordan is no stranger to Payton's trash talk.

"Tch..." He curled his lips and glanced in Lin Dong's direction: "Did you take the wrong medicine? Is that the rookie?"

"Go home baby?" Payton smiled and said the only thing that could hurt the old gangster.

The old gangster's face was indeed slightly stiff, but he soon licked the corners of his mouth.

The world is really going downhill... It's just such a sentence. As a result, cats and dogs now dare to jump out and provoke me.

God's dignity can only be maintained through victory.

The basketball god smiled.

Exhibition match? No matter what the competition is, no one can speak nonsense in front of him!
A flash of light flashed from Jordan's eyes: "We'll see!"

The show is about to begin!
(End of this chapter)