In 1996, Zhang Mingji, who graduated from a prestigious school in Chicago, met Yao Ming, who was only 16 years old at the time, by chance.
How accidental?
Zhang Mingji is the boyfriend of Yao Ming's cousin's female classmate.
After a conversation between the two, Zhang Mingji and Yao Ming both believed that the other had similar interests. Zhang Mingji, then 24 years old, decided to give up the high-paying job he had signed and became the agent of 16-year-old Yao Ming.
Under Zhang Mingji's management, he successfully built Yao Ming's "Team Yao". Yao Ming's career is also developing better and better. Not only has he grown up in the CBA, he has become a CBA superstar.
You can imagine how difficult it would be to lure Yao Ming away from Zhang Mingji.
Because anyone who is not blind can see how bright Yao Ming's future is.
This is also the reason why Yao Ming has been silent.
Originally, for Lu Yu, the best way would be to deal with Zhang Mingji first, and then go back and deal with Yao Ming. This would make the difficulty much lower, especially since Zhang Mingji graduated from a prestigious school in Chicago, and Lu Yu is a star in Chicago.
The more common topics between two people, the easier it should be to win.
But Lu Yu didn't do this.
Firstly, he was too busy to return to China and had no time to contact Zhang Mingji. Secondly, compared to Zhang Mingji, Yao Ming, who is also a player, was easier to contact.
Didn’t we just watch a football match today and sit at a table to eat?
But the difficulty is how to persuade Yao Ming.
Seeing that Lu Yu was straight to the point, Yao Ming did not beat around the bush and directly explained his current situation, especially the relationship between him and Zhang Mingji. His words were quite certain that he was unlikely to change agents.
"It doesn't matter, I didn't ask you to change your agent."
Lu Yu smiled and said: "Actually, you will face many difficulties when you go to the NBA, such as language, habits, understanding of the NBA teams, and the game with the team management.
It will all affect your development in the NBA."
The following Yi Jianlian is not clear yet, but he clearly knows that in terms of language and habits, if it were not for Lu Yu's help, it would be difficult for him to survive in the NCAA in the United States.
Let alone the NBA in the future.
Yao Ming shook his head: "I am already learning English. If I am not used to it in the past, I will try to adapt to it. As for the other things, I think I can stick to it."
If he hadn't heard Lu Yu's views on Chinese basketball on the court, he wouldn't have wanted to continue the conversation.
He admired Lu Yu's remarks and also admired Lu Yu's achievements in the NBA, but that didn't mean he would choose to betray Zhang Mingji and choose Lu Yu's agency.
Lu Yu smiled: "I don't think this is difficult for you. I remember that your parents are also basketball players. The retirement salary should not be high now, but do you know how much you need to pay if you want to join the NBA?
Will the fee be cut off?”
Yao Ming was stunned for a moment, he hadn't considered this issue yet.
Because his idea was to help the Sharks win the championship, the Sharks should let him go. He never thought there would be a buyout fee.
Lu Yu continued: "Let me give you an analogy. Pau Gasol of the Grizzlies joined the NBA and paid a buyout fee of US$1.65 million. In fact, his buyout fee was US$2 million. The NBA stipulates that the team is The player's buyout fee did not exceed 350,000, so he paid the remainder."
Yao Ming was stunned, two million dollars?
This is simply an astronomical figure for him.
In fact, in Lu Yu's previous life, Yao Ming's buyout fee was more than 2 million US dollars. At first, the Sharks asked for 30 million dollars. Yao Ming was forced to have no choice but to forcefully tell the media that he would not let him go. I will retire. talk.
Of course, the Sharks club couldn't afford the responsibility of forcing Yao Ming to retire, so they had to renegotiate the terms with the help of the general manager, and finally reached a flexible contract with no less than 8 million to 15 million.
Yao Ming's mother held an unsealed agreement at the press conference and said with uncertainty: "I am very happy to see the result today..."
But anyone with a discerning eye could see that she was not happy at all.
Because just taking care of the club has already exhausted them mentally and physically, and then there is still the basketball center waiting for them to go through.
When Francis won the No. 1 pick with an 8% probability, the Rockets management flew to China with a letter written by the former American leader and asked the Basketball Management Center if he could be released. Xin Lancheng, the director of the Basketball Management Center at the time, He only said one sentence from beginning to end, "Unless you can write a guarantee, I will never let him go."
Seeing that the draft was approaching, Yao Ming could only make a personal guarantee to the Basketball Management Center.
The Olympics, World Championships, Asian Games, and Asian Championships are all there when called upon. This means that in addition to the long 82 regular season and playoff games in the NBA each season, Yao Ming will travel with the national team every summer.
There was no chance to recuperate at all.
This also paved the way for him to retire due to injury during the peak period of his career.
This involves three things that Lu Yu doesn't want to see.
First, Yao Ming's buyout fee is too high. Although Yao Ming is asked to pay it in installments, even if Yao Ming can still be selected as the No. 1 pick, his rookie contract will be the same as in his previous life, only 4 years and 18.02 million US dollars.
Excluding the messy taxes, Yao Ming is equivalent to working for the Sharks men's basketball team for 4 years.
Second, in addition to working for the Sharks for free for four years, Yao Ming also has to have the Basketball Management Center and the club take a cut of his annual salary. This is simply robbery.
In fact, it is not just Yao Ming who takes a commission from his income, nor is it just the Basketball Association. Other sports departments also take a commission from the income of the athletes they train.
After Liu Xiang became famous, he earned a total of 535 million yuan in 11 years. However, he could only receive half of it because according to the policies of the State Sports General Administration, the Chinese Athletics Association had full authority to manage Liu Xiang's commercial development. Half of his income It must be turned over to the Chinese Athletics Association and the local sports bureau.
Another internationally renowned tennis star, Li Na, before her solo career, she could only receive 35% of her total income. After her solo career, the portion she turned over was much less. After deducting the portion paid in and the agent’s commission, she could still earn Get 50% of the income.
In fact, Wang Zhizhi will also take a commission.
This is where Lu Yu will next play for Wang Zhizhi and the Basketball Association.
In his previous life, Yi Jianlian was interviewed by an American reporter. When asked whether his salary would be taken by the Chinese Basketball Association, Yi Jianlian was speechless because he knew this was a trap by the American media and his answer could easily be exaggerated.
Fortunately, today's Yi Jianlian, like Lu Yu, has jumped over the system and found another way.
Third, there is the issue of competition in the offseason.
Firstly, the offseason games will increase Yao Ming's burden and cause Yao Ming to retire early due to injury. Secondly, the "leave" route that Lu Yu and Wang Zhizhi finally took cannot be blocked by Yao Ming.
This is also the reason why Lu Yu must sign Yao Ming.
"I can help you pay the buyout fee, and it will not be deducted from your commission. I believe I can earn this money back from your commission." Lu Yu said calmly.
"If you can make money back, I can do the same."
Yao Ming gritted his teeth: "No matter what, I can't let Brother Zhang down. He has helped me a lot. If I choose to sign with you at this time, all his years of hard work will be in vain."
Zhang Mingji gave up a high-paying job in the United States for Yao Ming, for which Yao Ming has always been grateful.
Lu Yu smiled and said: "It seems that from the beginning to the end, I never asked you to change your agent, right?"
Yao Ming was stunned: "Not changing agents?"
"Yes, I run a brokerage company, and the brokerage company definitely needs agents. It's enough for Zhang Mingji to join my company. Of course, if one day you become full-fledged, you can operate it independently. The premise is that you let me take my job."
The buyout fee invested is earned back.”
Lu Yu will not limit how Yao Ming develops in the future.
What he has to do is to prevent Yao Ming from agreeing to so many conditions from the Basketball Management Center and blocking the way for other players in the future, including himself and Wang Zhizhi.
"It's not just Dayao. If you enter the NBA in the future, I can also provide the same service." Lu Yu said to Zhu Fangyu and Wang Shipeng with a smile.
Zhu Fangyu and Wang Shipeng were stunned for a moment, and then said in surprise: "Then we have to thank you first."
"We are all brothers, why are you so polite?" Lu Yu said with a smile.
Over there, Yao Ming was still deep in thought, and the balance in his mind had already tilted, but he was decisive and quickly made a decision.
"Can I call Brother Zhang over to discuss it together?"
About twenty minutes later, Zhang Mingji hurried over. After seeing everyone, he didn't speak. He just listened quietly to Yao Ming repeating the conditions offered by Lu Yu.
After listening, Zhang Mingji looked at Lu Yu in surprise.
Because the conditions offered by Lu Yu were so good that he thought it was impossible.
"I take the liberty of asking, why did you do this?" Zhang Mingji pushed up his glasses. Under the thick lenses was a pair of puzzled eyes.
Lu Yu thought for a while, looked at them in the room, and was about to answer.
At this time, Yi Jianlian, who had been eating with his head down, said in a muffled voice: "Actually, I also asked Brother Lu the same question..."
Yao Ming and Zhang Mingji looked over curiously.
Yi Jianlian thought for a while and said seriously: "I asked Brother Lu why you want to help me, help me integrate into American life, help me train with the team, help me enter Gonzaga... He told me that he is not helping me.
, he just wants to help Chinese basketball find a way out."
"I don't know if I will be the future of Chinese basketball. I can only try my best to be an excellent player. This is why I keep training. I don't want to live up to Brother Lu's expectations."
After saying that, Yi Jianlian lowered his head and continued eating.
Lu Yu was quite emotional: "Actually, I have answered the same question more than once, and I have also answered it to Wang Zhizhi. When I helped Wang Zhizhi come up with ideas to avoid the accountability of the basketball player, Wang Zhizhi also asked such a question.
"
"My answer is: China is so big and can produce a few players who have entered the NBA. Only when we become truly strong can we push Chinese basketball to a new level."
"If all our players succumb to the club and the basketball management center, in the future of Chinese basketball, how many will be able to enter the NBA, and how many will be able to truly let the world see the rise of Chinese basketball in the World Series?
!”
"Perhaps the rise of our generation cannot change the trajectory of history. Then what we have to do is to create our own basketball era when we are at our peak!"
Lu Yu's voice was very calm when he said these words, not impassioned or blaming Fang Qiu, but everyone heard a force from his voice.
Yao Ming was no longer silent. He looked up at Lu Yu, as if he saw a beam of light.
"Brother Zhang..."
Zhang Mingji nodded and interrupted Yao Ming: "I know what you are thinking. I have no problem. I will go to the United States to report to Lu Yu's agency in a while."
"Thank you, Brother Zhang." Yao Ming said gratefully.
Lu Yu also stood up: "Thank you too."
He knows that signing Yao Ming is tantamount to picking the fruit that Zhang Mingji has cultivated for several years, but he has to do it, not only to make money, but also for this summer's World Championships, and for two years later.
the Athens Olympics, and even the Olympics held at home six years later.
The results of the Chinese men's basketball team cannot be just the top eight.
With him, Wang Zhizhi, Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian, Zhu Fangyu and Wang Shipeng, even if it is a medal, we have to fight for it.
This is what Lu Yu thinks.
What he wants is not just that he can rely on the help of breathing techniques to achieve higher personal honors, he wants the entire Chinese basketball to be able to stand in the world of basketball.
Three years, five years, even ten years...
At least, they can still be at their peak for another ten years.
