Chapter 567 Lifetime Contract

Toronto Rainbow Stadium, which is also the home of the Raptors, will move to the newly built Airline Center Stadium next season.

Carter walked into the players' locker room with a gloomy face, sat on a chair, took off his shoes and threw them on the ground, complaining: These broken shoes are really uncomfortable to wear, I've had enough!

The shoes Carter threw aside were the Cell in basketball shoes provided by Puma.

In order to re-enter the field of basketball shoes, Puma did not hesitate to sign Vince Carter, hoping to use the fame of this star of hope to open up the basketball shoes market in the United States.

Carter is indeed very competitive, playing the best data of that rookie, the best rookie did not run, worthy of the title of the new generation of Jordan's successor.

However, the shoes provided by Puma are not good enough, and this pair of Cell in basketball shoes is really not good.

Puma has not made basketball shoes for a long time. Their design concept of basketball shoes is still in the 1970s and 1980s. The basketball shoes they designed are not fashionable at all, and they are also very bloated.

For a player like Carter, who has speed and bounce, playing in a pair of bloated shoes is not only uncomfortable, but also affects his performance.

The most important thing is that Puma's basketball shoes have no technological content, just a pair of ordinary basketball shoes.

Since the 1990s, the technological content of basketball shoes has become higher and higher. From the design aspect, it is ergonomic. The application of new technologies and new materials has also made the shoes more comfortable.

If nothing else, take shock absorption as an example, various sports brands have made great efforts. Nike has been tirelessly launching generations of air cushions, and Adidas has developed polymer materials, and even installed springs in sneakers.

Puma obviously didn't realize this, they still made traditional basketball shoes, no air cushion, no feeling of stepping on shit, or any remarkable advanced technology.

Probably because football shoes and running shoes have been in production for a long time, the designers of Puma are not very good at designing basketball shoes, so they can only deal with the concept of ten or twenty years ago.

Basketball shoes and football shoes are different. Basketball shoes focus on the feeling of the feet, while football shoes focus on the feeling of the feet, as well as football.

Basketball shoes are worn on the feet, the first is to feel very comfortable, and the second is to have a certain protective effect on the feet.

And football shoes need to be in contact with the ball when worn on the feet, so the most important thing is to facilitate the kicking of the ball. As for the comfort of the feet, that is not the primary consideration.

If you want to pursue the comfort of shoes and improve the protection effect of shoes, then the upper must be soft.

However, in order to improve the handling and accuracy of shooting and dribbling, the upper must be stiff.

If you want to have better cushioning and shock absorption, then the sole must be soft, and even a buffer zone, such as an air cushion, will be set.

If you want the shoes to have strong grip and fast acceleration, the soles must be hard, and you even need to use the nails on the forefoot to strengthen them.

Therefore, basketball shoes and football shoes are completely two extreme products. Basketball shoes are soft and have strong cushioning, while football shoes are hard and have strong grip.

If you use the concept of designing football shoes to design basketball shoes, the results can be imagined.

So Puma has launched a very failed basketball shoes.

Later generations of fans bought Puma's Cell in basketball shoes, almost all of them went for Carter's popularity, otherwise who would buy a pair of outdated basketball shoes.

The poor actual performance and poor comfort of the Puma basketball shoes made Carter intolerable, and the shoes were ugly, and Carter felt very shameful to wear them.

So Carter only wore dozens of Puma shoes, and then changed to other brands of shoes.

On the All-Star Weekend in 2000, Carter was selected as the ticket king and won the dunk contest. Although he had a contract with Puma, he was wearing the classic AND1 Tai Chi series. And they didn't ask AND1 for advertising fees. It can be seen that Puma's shoes are not very popular with Carter.

...

Carter threw the sneakers aside with an irritated expression. At this time, McGrady, who is Oudoudou, of course wanted to comfort Ounisan.

I saw Tracy McGrady came over and said, If you really don't like these shoes, just change another pair. I'll give you my shoes!

My stupid Oudoudou, our feet are not the same size! Carter thought to himself.

Tracy McGrady wears a size 16, which is an American size. If you change it to a standard size, it is a size 50. Carter wears a size 47. Tracy McGrady's shoes are definitely too big for Carter.

However, Carter still looked enviously at McGrady's shoes, which were the exclusive signature sneakers launched by Feiyue Company for McGrady.

As a second-year student and still playing on the bench, he has his own signature sneakers. Any player would envy this kind of treatment.

Tracy McGrady continued: Well, I'll ask the agent to contact the sponsor, send someone to measure the foot model with you, and then ask them to customize a few pairs of shoes for you.

Is that okay? How much do I need to pay them? Carter asked subconsciously.

For Americans, everything is considered a transaction, so you must negotiate the price before doing anything.

Tracy McGrady smiled and said, Don't worry, there is no need to spend money! I have a good relationship with the sponsors, and they will try their best to meet my requirements!

...

The shoes of the star players are customized by the sponsors according to the players' feet.

In fact, it is not necessary to customize the entire sneakers. Generally, only a pair of insoles is required. The sneakers are still the original normal size sneakers.

There are often stars in the NBA who will give their sneakers to fans after the game, but they will pull out the insoles.

This is not because the feet are too smelly, I am afraid that the original sneakers are too high to smoke the fans.

But because the insole is specially customized for its own name, and there are even some high-tech shock-absorbing materials in it, this pair of insoles is more expensive than the shoes.

A few days later, Carter put on a pair of McGrady generation shoes tailored for him.

As the spokesperson of Puma, but did not wear Puma shoes to play, Puma is naturally very unhappy, but this incident did not attract too many people's attention.

Because everyone knows that Carter and Tracy McGrady are cousins, and the two are almost inseparable, so Carter wears a pair of Tracy McGrady's signature sneakers, which is more like showing the feelings between brothers, which is a very positive thing.

And the generation of signature boots shoes that Feiyue Sports created for Tracy McGrady are indeed better than Puma's Cell in basketball shoes. Valley

James Bond was originally a fashion designer. The sneakers he designed, I dare not say anything else, must be very fashionable in appearance.

For a guy in his twenties like Carter, naturally he would not refuse a pair of stylish sneakers.

As for the technical content, although Feiyue's basketball shoes do not have the advanced black technology like Nike and Adi, they are quite satisfactory.

The second- and third-tier sports brands do not have the R\u0026D capabilities of the first-tier brands, so they basically use some relatively mature technologies, and pay some royalties if the big deal is not enough. The patent protection period of some sneaker technologies has expired, which even saves the patent fee.

...

James Bond reported Carter's situation to Li Weidong.

Vince Carter is very happy with the boots we have provided and he has been wearing them for several games. Carter is very popular in North America and he wears our boots and increases our brand awareness. . From the feedback from the market, since Carter put on Tracy McGrady One, the sales of Tracy McGrady One have increased a lot. James Bond said.

From the 1998 to 1999 season, due to the NBA lockout, this season was shrunk. Carter averaged 18.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.54 blocks per game, and the shooting rate was as high as 45%. For a rookie guard, this has been It's the top answer.

It is also because Carter's statistics are very good that his popularity in North America began to explode. Among young guards, there is a tendency to be on par with Iverson and Kobe.

The next season, Carter began to explode, averaging 25.7 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.34 steals and 1.12 blocks per game. All-star performance made him the All-Star vote king, the champion of the slam dunk contest, and let the young Carter cross the line. into the ranks of superstars.

A second-year student became the king of all-star votes, which shows his popularity.

More importantly, Carter led the Toronto Raptors to the playoffs, which made him more recognized by fans.

Before Carter's arrival, the Toronto Raptors were still a belly team, and after Carter's arrival, they led the team to the playoffs the following year.

In the NBA, there are some players with good data, but they can't lead the team to win, even many All-Star players are like this, so they are often dubbed as data brushes.

Some players have relatively average statistics, but they can always help the team win. Such players can earn high salaries, but their popularity may not be very high, because their help to the team is not fully reflected in personal statistics.

The so-called popular right and wrong, the personal data is good, but the team does not win, it is inevitable to be sprayed by fans in various ways. In this case, the better the personal data, the faster the black fans will grow.

That's why so many stars came together later, the purpose was to pursue a championship to prove themselves.

A player like Carter who can lead the team to achieve results in the second year, and his personal data is very good, naturally his popularity has skyrocketed.

If it wasn't for Kobe's three-peat and Iverson's single-core lead to the finals, Carter's popularity would definitely overshadow Kobe and Iverson.

My impression is that Carter's sneakers have always sold well! Even if Puma designed such a bad shoe for him, some people would buy it.

Thinking of this, Li Weidong said, Now Carter is dissatisfied with Puma, and he is also satisfied with our shoes. Is it possible for us to dig Carter from Puma to be our spokesperson?

It's more difficult. James Bond continued without hesitation; Puma gave Carter a five-year, $25 million contract, an average of $5 million a year. We don't have that much budget.

How much money can we take out? Li Weidong asked.

We can come up with 2.5 million at most a year. If I were Carter, how could I give up the 5 million and choose 2.5 million! James Bond replied.

Is it impossible to launch a personal signature sneaker? Li Weidong asked.

James Bond thought for a while and said, Although the signature sneakers are a bonus item, they are not worth the $2.5 million per year! What's more, with Carter's current strength and popularity, it will be a matter of time before he launches his own signature sneakers. .

Then give him a lifetime contract! Li Weidong said.

You mean lifetime contract? James Bond was full of surprise.

Yes, a lifetime contract, I think this temptation should be worth 2.5 million US dollars a year! Li Weidong said.

In the NBA, there are five people who have obtained lifetime contracts. The first one, of course, is Jordan, who not only got a lifetime contract from Nike, but also an exclusive brand AIR Jordan.

Before the 21st century, Jordan was the only one who got a lifetime contract.

The other four are Adidas signing Tracy McGrady, Reebok signing Iverson, Nike signing James, and Li Ning signing Wade. Even Kobe didn't get a lifetime contract.

Kobe didn't get a lifetime contract for two main reasons.

The first is that Kobe's shoe sales are not as good as Nike expected. Since the sexual assault scandal, Kobe has a lot of black fans, and the better Kobe plays on the court, the more black fans.

A single game of 81 points, or 35.4 points per game, was probably the fastest-growing year for Kobe's black fans. That year's Kobe was sprayed into the NBA's No. 1 data brush. This also affected Kobe's sneaker sales.

So Nike has been hesitant to give Kobe a lifetime contract.

The second reason is that Kobe has his own business map.

When the Lakers won the championship again in 2009, Bryant definitely deserved a lifetime contract.

However, at this time, Kobe has built a huge business map. At this time, Kobe has the ability to operate by himself, and it is impossible to sign with Nike for life.

This is something that no other star who has signed a lifetime contract has. Even the old man Jordan established his own business kingdom later. When he signed with Nike, he was just a simple player.

When it comes to lifetime contracts, Li Weidong also thinks of Kobe.

This guy Kobe has always been arrogant. Adidas gave Tracy McGrady a lifetime contract, but it didn't give Kobe a lifetime contract, which became the fuse for him to leave Adidas.

If I gave Carter a lifetime contract this time, Kobe Bryant would definitely be jealous again. I still have a good bowl of water!

Thinking of this, Li Weidong said, You can contact Kobe again and tell him that if he wants to sign a lifetime contract, we are always welcome!

Is Kobe going to give him a lifetime contract? James Bond paused, then asked; What about Tracy McGrady?

If Tracy McGrady, let's wait for a year! Wait for his statistics to get better, and then talk to him about the lifetime contract. Li Weidong said.

Odoudou McGrady had to wait until after his transfer to the Magic before he started to perform superbly. Now Odoudou is serving as a substitute for Ounisan, averaging less than 10 points per game, which is indeed not worthy of a lifetime contract.