Legendary star

Chapter 98 Choice
"Greg, David's injury is not serious. The team doctor said that he needs to rest for about one week to ten days before he can continue to participate in the next game." room.

Although sweeping the Suns to advance, Popovich didn't have much joy. As the champion of last season, the Spurs' road to defending their title this season is not destined to be smooth.Although moved back to a home court by the Kings, the Lakers still firmly grasp the rhythm of the game. The Spurs will face the Los Angeles Lakers in the semifinals with a high probability. After May Jackson entered the Lakers this season, the Lakers played a league of 67 wins The best record, but the Lakers faced the Spurs this season with 1 win and 3 losses. The Spurs with Tim Duncan and David Robinson are the only two teams in the league that have an advantage in the interior when facing the Lakers. One team is the Trail Blazers with Jermaine O'Neal and 3 All-Star insiders.

The Lakers this season are a team with obvious advantages and disadvantages. With a big insider like O'Neal and two All-Star players, Glen Rice and Kobe Bryant, as long as they play normally, this trio A game of 3+ is easy and enjoyable, but the Lakers' scoring is too concentrated. Except for these three, none of the remaining Lakers players can average 70 points per game. This is also the biggest weakness of the Lakers.In several games with the Lakers this season, the inside combination of David Robinson and Tim Duncan has done a good job in limiting O'Neal's scoring efficiency. The Spurs' outside defense has also been greatly improved this season. Meng Xu is simply Glenn. Rice's nemesis, the All-Star outside line who averaged 10 points per game this season, did not score in double figures in 18 games against Meng Xu.

Because of this, in order to avoid their nemesis, the Blazers, in order to avoid their nemesis Trail Blazers, the Spurs deliberately released water in the final game of the season, and their ranking fell all the way to fourth in the West.

However, David Robinson's injury has added more uncertain factors to this round of the series. David Robinson will definitely not be able to play in the first two games against the Lakers. It is still unknown whether Tim Duncan can limit O'Neal alone. In this case, once the Lakers win two home games in a row, it will be very detrimental to the Spurs.

Another very important point is that the current state of the Spurs' game is not very good. In the series against the Suns, the Spurs' outside four irons once again proved their ability to strike iron. Except for Meng Xu's lack of desire to score, the number of shots In addition, Mario Eli, Sean Etrio, and Avery Johnson made a total of 86 of 23 shots in three games. The basket was almost deformed by them. If the Spurs' defense was still strong and Tim Duncan and David Robinson are 20+10 per game. It's really hard to say who will win.

The thought of Meng Xu made Popovich feel angry. Since the last game of the season, Meng Xu was criticized by Popovich for not being a team player because of too many 3-point shots. The number of shots dropped sharply, and the series with the Suns only took 3 shots in 14 games, scoring 3 points, 0 points, and 4 points in the 12 games.In Popovich's mind, Meng Xu's positioning and requirements are not only to complete the defensive tasks on the field, but also to contribute more than 10 points in a stable manner in each game.

Just as Popovich was racking his brains for the next round, Meng Xu, who returned home, also faced a difficult choice.

"Xiao Xu, this is a new contract from Nike and Adidas Reebok." Just after dinner, He Hui took out a stack of documents from the drawer and placed them in front of Meng Xu, who was eating an apple while watching TV. .

"Didn't Sister Hui say to hold them back for now?" Putting the unfinished apples on the coffee table, Meng Xu began to read the contents of the contract.

"This is the new contract provided by these three companies after you won the best defensive player. Compared with the previous contract, the content of the revised contract has changed a lot." He Hui brushed her hair, Then he said, "Reebok's contract amount is the highest and the contract period is the longest, 6 million in 3000 years. Adidas' contract is 4 million in 1500 years, and Nike's contract amount is the lowest in 3 years. 1000 million."

"Sister Hui, what do you think?" Hearing He Hui's words, Meng Xu directly put down the Nike contract he was browsing. The difference of 3 million US dollars in three years is not a small sum.

"Reebok's contract is the largest and the most sincere, but Reebok's strength is also the weakest, and Reebok currently has few players in the league who can take shots. Rice, who is in charge of basketball affairs at Reebok, The manager promises that as long as you sign with Reebok, they will make you a big brother of Reebok."

"Brother Yi? Do I have that strength and influence?" Meng Xu was quite skeptical about Reebok's promise.

"Xiao Xu, although your current strength is not yet at the level of an All-Star, everyone is very optimistic about your potential. As for your influence, Xiao Xu, don't ignore the tens of millions of domestic players behind you. Fans, as the first player to log into the NBA, you now have a great influence in China, and the president of the league, David Stern, has always wanted to implement his China strategy, and you are his China strategy very important part of it.”

"So sister Hui, are you leaning toward Reebok?" After all, compared to any company's influence, 2000 million real money is the most realistic.

"No." He Hui shook her head, "My personal preference is Mike."

"Why not Adi? In terms of strength, Adi is not much worse than Mike?" In terms of business acumen, Meng Xu is definitely not as good as He Hui, who graduated from Wake Forest Business School.

"Adi's main market is in Europe, and basketball accounts for only a small part of Adi's business distribution. In North America, Mike is the boss in terms of basketball. And the most important point is that Mike is the main sponsor of the NBA. The competition between Mike and Adidas in the global market is now at a fever pitch, but Adidas has never been able to shake Nike's status in the NBA. If you choose Adidas, you will be pushed to the front line of the war with Nike just like the seniors. If If you want to win more honors, I still suggest to choose Nike, after all, the league must consider the interests of sponsors in the selection of many awards."

"Well, according to sister Hui's meaning. It's just from the senior..." Meng Xu was still a little hesitant, but Meng Xu still trusted He Hui very much.Duncan is a star under Adidas, and Duncan introduced Adidas' contract from him. If he chooses Nike, Meng Xu is afraid that it will cause Duncan's displeasure. After all, Duncan is now the boss of the team and Meng Xu's senior. Relationships are also extraordinary.

"I don't think the seniors will blame you, and even if you want to sign a contract, you have to wait until the end of the season. As for the contract amount and additional terms, we can still fight for it."

"So when will I be able to have my own signature sneakers?" Meng Xu asked with a smile. In the current Spurs, Duncan and David Robinson both have their own signature sneakers. , Meng Xu was drooling.Meng Xu's shoe cabinet now also houses the signature sneakers of Jordan, Duncan and David Robinson.

"There will be soon."

(End of this chapter)