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Chapter 793 - 338. These people who don’t know how to appreciate.

Chapter 793: 338. These people who don’t know how to appreciate.

Zhang Yang and AJ completed their contract renewal, shaking the basketball world: The first billion-dollar endorsement in NBA history is born!

Media exclaim that this endorsement is too outrageous.

Previously, the largest single endorsement contract for an NBA player was the $93 million signed by James in the summer of 2003, with additional incentive clauses totaling $5 million, but it still didn’t cross a billion, and it was a 7-year endorsement, averaging exactly $14 million a year.

Taking into account incentive clauses like being selected for the All-Star team and the Best Lineup, Zhang Yang can earn $26.5 million per year, almost double James’ endorsement fee!

Although this endorsement is extremely outrageous, neither the media nor the fans are particularly surprised, they’re just amazed that Zhang Yang really secured an endorsement fee over $25 million.

Because this summer is the Beijing Olympics, both Hook and AJ had to resolve the renewal issue.

As early as last summer, whether Zhang Yang would renew or not had already been a hot topic of discussion among media and fans.

Zhang Yang’s endorsement signed in January 2006 was set to expire in December this year, Tellem had the foresight to sign a short contract with less money, and the endorsement agreement included a clause for early termination, with the termination time pinned to this month. If a renewal agreement wasn’t reached in advance, Zhang Yang could terminate the contract early after the season ended, but of course, he would also lose out, as he would be working for AJ for free during the first half of the year.

But he needn’t worry about this loss, if he couldn’t reach a deal with AJ, Adidas, Under Armour, Reebok... would fight to make it up for him.

After winning the championship in his sophomore year and becoming the youngest FMVP in history, Tellem proposed a price to AJ exceeding $20 million a year. While Hook and AJ hesitated, Adidas and Reebok both offered Tellem the price he wanted for Zhang Yang, and from that point, the initiative completely shifted towards Zhang Yang and Tellem.

James felt a huge crisis, and that’s why he’s been playing like crazy since the beginning of the season.

By January this year, after Zhang Yang topped the scoring charts, the well-funded Adidas offered a 4-year, $100 million deal. Reebok and Under Armour couldn’t catch up with this price, but ultimately, Hook and AJ chose to follow suit.

However, Hook wanted to save face and directly offered only $96 million for 4 years, as a show of intimidation against his competitors.

The extra amount was given in the form of bonuses, but an additional $6 million was spent on face savings.

Most media reports analyzed the reasons why Zhang Yang secured such a big contract and reported what kinds of endorsements various major shoe brands had previously offered him, which ultimately led to such a large endorsement for him.

But some media chose a more incisive angle—Is Zhang Yang’s commercial value the highest among NBA players?

This highly suggestive report successfully sparked intense arguments among fans of Zhang Yang, Yao Ming, James, Kobe, Iverson, McGrady, Garnett...

...

In the evening, Zhang Chen and Yang Jing hosted a dinner party to celebrate their son’s successful contract renewal.

In the morning, Tellem and the person in charge had a fierce argument but started calling each other brothers and drinking during the celebration dinner.

They had to put on a show for those who were at the negotiation table, after all. Tellem needed to show Zhang Yang how hard he worked to secure that additional $6 million, and the person in charge needed to show his leaders how hard he worked to keep Zhang Yang from the clutches of this "vampire" Tellem.

The person in charge finished his job, and the leaders sat at the celebration dinner for a while and then left. Tellem also received his $8.5 million commission check from Zhang’s father. No need to pretend to be at odds anymore, as they would need to cooperate in the future.

The agency agreement that Tellem originally signed with Zhang Yang had a 20% commission on endorsements, which was the market price. Before Zhang Yang signed his first sneaker endorsement, endorsement contracts were short-term deals of a few hundred thousand dollars, and back then, Tellem took 20%. However, once Zhang Yang signed a multi-million-dollar sneaker endorsement deal, the commission lowered to 15%.

When Felton got an average $5 million per year sneaker endorsement deal, his agent also reduced the commission rate, whereas Okafor was quite miserable with a $2 million endorsement fee and a 20% cut.

Before Zhang Yang secured the billion-dollar contract, Tellem wisely reduced the commission to 8%, which was even less than the 10% commission Bill Duffy took from Yao Ming.

Even with $8.5 million, it ranked among the top for a single endorsements’ agent commission in the NBA, and it was a 4-year short contract. If calculated on a yearly basis, his share of 8% had already set a record.

The most crucial point—come 2012, Zhang Yang would again face a contract renewal, and by then he would only be 24!

Moreover, Zhang Yang was due to renew with the Bobcats this summer or the next, and the 5% commission on salary was a fixed rate determined by league negotiations between the Players’ Union and the Agents Association. Unlike endorsement fees, whereby the signing agent gets the commission, salary is deducted every biweekly payday based on who the agent is, because this money pays for the agent’s handling of the player’s daily chores.

Being a qualified "vampire", Tellem knew he had to suck a big portion greedily and also understood the importance of a steady stream.

Tellem had a lot on his mind, and Zhang Yang’s parents had a lot on their minds as well. On Zhang Yang’s side, after completing the sneaker endorsement renewal, he didn’t care about this matter anymore.

He was more interested in the design of the ’Zhang Yang Gen 2 Olympic Edition’ proposed by AJ and was constantly exchanging ideas with his chief designer during the celebration dinner.

When Zhang Yang mentioned he wanted to install a strobe light around the air cushion, so that it would flash while he was mid-air performing a dunk, the designer wanted to flip the table and leave...

Seeing the designer’s reaction, Zhang Yang was very disappointed, thinking no one understands the allure of strobe lights to men. These matters would be better discussed with the Stone Buddha in the future.

Following the lack of recognition for his design concepts, Zhang Yang went home early to sleep. Early the next morning, he took the private jet arranged by AJ and flew to New Orleans.

Arriving at the New Orleans hotel, he took a break around noon and began business activities in the afternoon. The two days before the All-Star weekend were all about sneaker endorsement work.

The release and promotion of the Zhang Yang Gen 2, teasers of special editions, fan meet-and-greets, visiting rebuilt schools to comfort students, and more.

Due to security issues in New Orleans, Zhang Yang’s work experience this time was very unique. Previously, for each commercial event, the organizers would always hire bodyguards, but the number of bodyguards this time was extraordinarily large—he enjoyed the peculiar feeling of being surrounded by forty to fifty bodyguards at each event location...

...

It’s February 17th, barely past 11 at noon, Zhang Yang and his parents arrived at an estate in the New Orleans Garden District.

Looking at a large ’2’ to the left of the iron gate and a ’3’ to the right, Zhang Yang remarked, "This gate, truly flashy, indeed fitting for Boss Qiao. Maybe he forged it himself, right?"

Zhang Chen asked, "He forged it with his own hands? What’s the significance?"

Zhang Chen couldn’t understand these things, but Yang Jing, who frequently visits forums at home and abroad, immediately caught on, saying with a smile, "Domestic fans call a missed shot ’iron’, Jordan is the NBA’s greatest scorer in history and also among those with the most missed shots."

Zhang Yang laughed, "He happened to have missed 12,345 shots. I suspect he did it on purpose and stopped shooting once he reached that number."

Zhang Chen was speechless: "..."

Zhang’s Dad wondered: Should I also surf the web more often? It feels like there’s a generational gap between me and this mother-son duo.

Little Wukong noted: Remember, a missed shot is called ’iron’.

Today, it’s Jordan’s 45th birthday. With two All-Star starters on his team, he’s having the birthday party here in New Orleans to celebrate.

Zhang Yang and his parents naturally received an invitation.

After wrapping up two morning appearances, Zhang Yang, along with his parents, drove here.

The sneaker endorsement work concluded yesterday afternoon. Today and tomorrow, he still had work, but it’s all about making appearances and greeting fans.

He has dozens of endorsements of varying sizes, but during the All-Star weekend, fewer than ten require any work from him, which is for a different rate.

Of course, those endorsed brands can utilize him for promotions during the All-Star weekend as well.

After some small talk, Zhang Chen stepped on the gas, driving into the estate. In front of the garden, they handed over the car keys to the valet and tipped, before the family of four was escorted to the banquet hall by a Filipino maid.

Jordan, who was chatting with guests, enthusiastically approached Zhang Yang’s family, accepting gifts and hugging them in gratitude.

Jordan playfully remarked to Zhang Yang, "A billion dollars, you’re ruthless, getting so much money from my brand."

Zhang Yang smiled and replied, "Aren’t you happier seeing me get a billion? You don’t have to pay for it, but you get a cut from every shoe I help sell. Last year, the money you received probably exceeds this amount."

Jordan laughed, "You’re right, hahaha..."