Chapter 662 Signing The Flash

Latest website: Adidas North America headquarters, Sony Vaccaro sat in front of the phone with an anxious expression.

Finally, the phone rang, and Sonny Vaccaro immediately picked up the receiver.

How is Jay's situation? Vaccaro asked.

The situation is not optimistic. To be precise, it is very serious. The other party paused, and then said: The left knee ligament is ruptured, and the left leg has a severe injury to the triple-jump nerve.

What did the doctor say? How long does he need to recover before he can play? Vaccaro continued.

Playing on the court? His attending physician told me that this injury could be life-threatening, and at worst, amputation!

The other party sighed and continued: In his current condition, even if he recovers, there will inevitably be serious sequelae. He can walk like a normal person, thank God, it is almost impossible to play!

Hearing this news, Vaccaro's face suddenly turned ashen.

Last summer, Vaccaro was fooled by Li Weidong and spent 100 million US dollars to sign Jay Williams, the second place.

However, in the past year, Jay Williams' performance has not been satisfactory. In terms of data, he is completely sorry for his status as the No. 2 pick. This signing is obviously a loss.

But since everyone has signed, there is no regret medicine, Adidas can only give Jay Williams some patience, hoping that he can grow into a superstar in the future.

It is a pity that Jay Williams killed himself, hit a telephone pole with his motorcycle and was taken to the hospital. Now his career is over!

Adidas' 100 million US dollars can be considered a waste.

Of course, Adidas will not really lose so much money. This kind of endorsement contract is generally not guaranteed in full. If the spokesperson has an accident, you only need to pay the guaranteed amount.

And signing such a large contract, often buys an extra insurance, so Jay Williams' next endorsement fee will probably be borne by the insurance company, and Adidas' real monetary loss is not large.

But Adidas needs to find a new spokesperson with weight.

Vaccaro's eyes involuntarily fell on a magazine on the table, which was the most famous sports magazine Sports Illustrated in the United States.

On the cover of the magazine, there is a young man holding a basketball in his hand, staring sideways at the camera.

The cover character is a young LeBron James.

This guy has announced his participation in this year's draft! It seems that this year's No. 1 pick must be him. Vaccaro's eyes showed a ray of heat.

Have to call the German headquarters and have to sign LeBron James!

...

Nike executives also learned that Jay Williams was hospitalized with an injury.

Jay Williams' career has been scrapped! Dyson showed a surprised expression, and then said: Then Adidas has lost a lot! This is the spokesperson for them to spend 100 million signing!

The assistant also said from the side: In the past two years, Adidas has indeed been a little unfavorable. They lost their natural feet not long ago, and now they have lost a potential brand spokesperson!

Potential? Jay Williams' performance last season can't be said to have any potential. Dyson said with a long sigh, showing a melancholy expression: We are similar to Adidas, and we also signed a no-show. What a young man with potential.

The assistant knew that what Dyson said was Kwame Brown.

Kwame Brown, a man who was once favored by Jordan, has completely become a parallel champion. In his second season, Kwame Brown averaged only 7.4 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. This kind of data is hard to be placed on. High hopes. Nike's team has completely abandoned the spokesperson.

I just heard Dyson continue: Last year, Feiyue was the first sports brand to give Jay Williams a billion-dollar contract. I remember that at that time, they shouted the most fiercely, but turned their heads and turned their backs. Signed the Suns' Stoudemire.

Last season's Jay Williams' performance can only be regarded as quite satisfactory, at least not worthy of an endorsement contract of more than 100 million yuan, but Stoudemire won the best rookie, and his popularity is very high. From this aspect Look, Feiyue got it right again.

It now appears that Jay Williams is the smoke bomb released by the leap. Maybe Jay Williams' career scrapping is a good thing for Adidas. They can adjust their strategies as soon as possible and choose new spokespersons!

Having said this, Dyson's expression became serious: Not good, Adidas will definitely snatch LeBron James with us! We must hurry up and not let Adidas take the lead.

Sir, is that high school student really that important? the assistant couldn't help asking.

Dyson replied; Jordan retired again, this time he should not come back, so we need a second Jordan to stabilize the market, maybe this LeBron James is the second Jordan.

Of course, we can't just bet on James. I have been in contact with Kobe's agent recently, and the other party has let go and is willing to convince Kobe to switch to Nike.

It’s just that Kobe is getting a lifetime contract in Feiyue, so Kobe’s agent asked us to provide Kobe with a lifetime contract. I need to convince the board of directors. But I don't think it should be difficult to convince the board.

Malone and Payton have decided to join the Lakers, and it looks like the Lakers are already booked for next season's championship. As long as there are more championships, Kobe's worth will go up.

...

After nine o'clock in the evening, Li Weidong was on the phone with James Bond, who was far away in the United States.

So, sports brands in the United States are rushing to grab LeBron James? Li Weidong asked curiously.

Yes, there has never been a high school student who can get so much attention. It's really unbelievable. All I can say is that this guy is absolutely the best. I've watched so many drafts and there has never been a player. To have such a high popularity. James Bond replied.

In the summer of 2003, the most watched player in the United States was none other than LeBron James.

At that time, the covers of major sports magazines were occupied by James, and even Chinese basketball magazines also used James as the cover character.

This year was recognized as the big year of the draft, and there were many outstanding young athletes entering the draft, but when James announced his participation in the draft, the dust was settled.

In terms of popularity, James is not inferior to those college stars at all, or even more.

For example, American TV has never broadcast the national broadcast of the high school basketball league, but because of the existence of James, ESPN made an exception and woke up the national broadcast of the game against James.

In James' senior year of high school, he needed to find scalpers to buy tickets for his games. You must know that even in the NBA playoffs, buying tickets is not so difficult.

Such a player will naturally be snapped up by sports brands.

Due to the NCAA regulations of the American College League, commercial endorsement of players, these sports brands did not contact James until James announced that he would skip college and directly participate in the NBA draft.

No one thinks that James, the future number one player in the league, will become the most commercially valuable player in the NBA.

But as a sports brand, the cost-effectiveness of signing James is not high.

The Heat's Big Three era was probably the most popular era for James. At that time, Kobe's generation of stars had gradually aged, and Curry's generation of stars had not yet grown up. It was the period when James was killing the Quartet.

At that time, the annual sales of James' sneakers was about 300 million US dollars, and according to the published financial report, Nike's net profit was about 12% to 14%, and 300 million US dollars was a net profit of 40 million US dollars.

And Nike's endorsement fee to James is 20 million per year, which is equal to half of the money Nike makes, and half of it is distributed to James.

From the perspective of the enterprise, if the spokesperson takes half of the profit, it must be a blood loss. After all, enterprises have to pay the cost of operation and bear the risks of operation.

Therefore, signing James is actually not cost-effective, and the biggest benefit is only to enhance the overall brand awareness.

In terms of commercial value, James is far inferior to Jordan. After all, Jordan has his own exclusive brand, which is unmatched by James.

During the Heat era, James was able to sell $300 million in sneakers a year, while at the same time, Nike's Jordan series sold three billion a year. There is a tenfold gap between the two.

Nowadays, major sports brands in the United States are vying for James, and James' worth is constantly rising. There is no need for Li Weidong to join in the fun and spend more money.

So Li Weidong said: LeBron James is the man of the heavens after all, if we show no interest, it would be abnormal. Well, let's send someone to contact him and talk to him about the price. , I guess we can't afford the price LeBron gave.

I see, LeBron is just a pretense, do we have other goals? James Bond asked immediately.

Dwyane Wade, we can give him a long-term contract. Li Weidong said.

I thought you would choose Carmelo Anthony! James Bond said.

Anthony's reputation is not small, right? Signing him will cost a lot of money, and the price/performance ratio is not high. Compared with Anthony, I am more optimistic about Wade's growth. Li Weidong replied.

Among the 2003 rookies, in addition to James, the most famous is Anthony. If James does not run, the title of No. 1 pick will definitely fall to Anthony's head.

In the end, Anthony fell in the third overall, mainly for two reasons. One is that the Pistons, who hold the second overall pick, already have Prince, and the positions of Anthony and Prince overlap.

The second reason is that the talented Serbian player Milicic performed very well in the trial training and moved almost every team. The Pistons just lacked an insider, so they chose Milicic.

At that time, Milicic was regarded as an enhanced version of Nowitzki, and Milicic was a few months younger than James, and was naturally considered to have unlimited potential.

But the Pistons' head coach didn't like to use rookies, and the Pistons traded for Rasheed Wallace mid-season, which ended up leaving Milicic on the bench most of the time.

The two Wallaces of the Pistons are All-Star insiders. Naturally, there is no chance for Milicic to play. This second place is considered to be abolished by the Pistons.

But the Pistons counterattacked and won the championship in 2004. With this championship guaranteed, basically no one in later generations said that the Pistons missed Anthony.

With the James project, Wade in college, although also has some fame, but far less than Anthony.

The original ESPN draft pick for Wade was only the 13th pick. The Grizzlies, who had the 13th pick at the time, also said they would select Wade.

As a result, during the rookie trial, Heat general manager Pat Riley went to inspect Kaman and accidentally saw Wade.

At that time, the Heat lacked a big man, so they went to investigate Kaman. In the end, Pat Riley saw the hero with a keen eye, defied all opinions, and chose Wade in the fifth overall pick.

It was also thanks to the fact that the Heat did not choose Kaman at that time, that Pat Riley would introduce O'Neal and bring a championship to the Heat.

Later, because Wade was in the Heat, he finally succeeded in persuading James and Bosh to form the Heat's Big Three.

Among the players in the class of 2003, James is the well-deserved boss, and the second child is naturally Wade. In Wade's best two years, his popularity even overshadowed James.

And Wade's endorsement fee is much lower than James. Wade's first shoe contract, signed with Converse, was only $400,000 a year. During this contract, Wade also won his first championship, and Converse made a fortune.

In 2009, Wade signed with Nike's Jordan Brand, and the endorsement fee was only $5 million. For Wade, who was at his peak, it was a cabbage price.

After that, it is well known to Chinese fans. Li Ning and Wade signed a 10-year, $60 million contract, which was later converted to a lifetime contract.

Looking for Wade to endorse, with high popularity and low fees, it is obviously a very cost-effective deal.

After finalizing the signing of Wade, James Bond continued: One more thing, I recently received a gossip that Nike is in frequent contact with Kobe's agent. It is said that the agent has begun to persuade Kobe to switch to Nike.

Is Nike also willing to give Kobe a lifetime contract? Li Weidong asked.

If Nike really wants to dig Kobe, then the conditions given will definitely not be better than ours. UU reading www.uukanshu.com should also have a lifetime contract! James Bond said.

Li Weidong looked at the calendar at hand, and then continued: Don't worry, wait a minute, maybe after Nike signs LeBron, the funds will be more tight, and finally give up Kobe!

Nike will be short of funds? They can make billions of dollars a year! James Bond looked at his watch inexplicably, and then said in his heart: In China at night, is the boss sleepy and his mind is not clear!

...

Warm summer.

A hotel in Eagle County, Colorado.

The waitress at the front desk picked up the phone and dialed the police number.

I want to call the police. I was sexually assaulted. Kobe did it. That NBA star Kobe Bryant!

The Kobe Eagle County incident broke out.