The Road to Stardom: Start as a Slam Dunk Master

Chapter 494 Under Armor’s Big Gamble

The Sonics, who had won 20 games in a row, also entered a stable period.

The sudden rise of Rukawa Kaede has greatly improved the Sonics' lineup.

He may not be as good as the five main players of the Sonics. Rukawa Kaede can't replace any of them.

Chandler and Sakuragi Hanamichi are not to be mentioned. They are the inner gates of the Sonics' defense and the core of the core.

Iguodala has roughly the same functionality as Rukawa Kaede. Rukawa Kaede's 3-pointer is slightly better than Iguodala, but Iguodala is stronger than Rukawa Kaede in defense, and his understanding of rotation defense is far better than his. He also has a more stable overall performance and no zone for the intense consumption of physical strength. That leads to Rukawa Kaede often being brave in the first quarter, declining in the second quarter, and starting to fall in the third quarter.

Not to mention Payton, his organizational ability and on-court mobility, as well as his role as the spiritual pillar of the team, are irreplaceable by Rukawa Kaede in any way.

Of course, there is also Lin Dong, who seems to have no need to analyze.

But this does not prevent Rukawa from becoming the most dazzling new star and surprise of the Supersonics this year. The position of the super sixth man can not only complete his defensive tasks in a short period of one or two quarters, but also can be used as a Supersonics change of formation no matter who is replaced by him in the main force. It may not be as stable as the basic lineup of the five main players, but each has its own strengths.

His personal data also exploded from 1.6 points per game before playing against the Lakers to a top blue-collar position of 10.8 points, 0.6 steals, 0.8 blocks and 1.2 assists per game, and his 3-point shooting rate is as high as 52.6%, ranking second in the league.

You know, this is still after Rukawa became famous in the game against the Lakers, and all teams began to consciously guard against his 3-pointers, not those open shots in garbage time.

In addition, the comprehensive maturity of Lin Dong and Sakuragi Hanamichi's abilities is also the foundation for the Supersonics to defeat anyone they meet now.

This has caused many former Sonics haters to start turning into fans. The Sonics are now in a great situation. Whether it is strength, results or current image, it even makes people feel that it is stronger than the previous two seasons...

During this period, before the 12th, there were no other major events in the team, but there were constant small things.

Akagi Haruko gave birth to a son, and Hanamichi named him Sakuragi Harucan. The word "Qing" refers to Haruko and also means sunny, and Chan is taken from the Japanese word for summer, "Cicada Shigure". Qingchan commemorates the summer when the two met and the beginning of their dream.

As a godfather, Lin Dong naturally had to prepare a generous gift, and the gifts from the team, from Coach Anxi, and from countless Japanese friends and fans have almost filled up the guest room of the Sakuragi family.

Of course, the coolest gifts are usually given by the most coquettish people.

A championship ring, the one that Jordan lost to Lin Dong, was originally given to Payton, but Payton actually took it out as a gift this time, and gave it in front of the media!

"My apprentice's son is my grandson, so of course I have to give him something meaningful!" Payton said in front of the camera: "Besides, that ring will just gather dust in my house, as for the championship ring, I can just wear my own!"

As he spoke, he stretched out his right hand, showing the three championship rings on his fingers, and explained with relish: "This is from the 2002 season, this is from the 2003 season, this is from the 2004 season..."

At this time, his little finger, ring finger and index finger were all pressed down, and he shook his thumb: "This year I will definitely I have to wear it on this finger, so we have to ask our boss to make a bigger ring. And when my thumb also wears a championship ring...”

He pressed his thumb down, leaving only a middle finger standing up and looking at the camera: "Then I can retire. Hi, Michael, are you watching TV?"

"He must be watching." He smiled and shook his bare middle finger: "Hey, I am destined to have one less than Michael. There is no way. I respect him so much!"

Michael Jordan, who was far away in Charlotte, was innocently caught in the crossfire. It is said that he was so angry that he smashed the cup.

Reporters and fans across the United States were collectively speechless. This bad guy has completely let himself go. His state has been declining every day in the past two seasons, but his acting skills are improving day by day. He has the potential to enter the entertainment industry after retirement. Even his apprentice's baby can be stolen by him...

At the same time, Sakuragi Hanamichi is not the only one who gave birth to a baby in the Supersonics.

Mitsui Shou, a shareholder of the team, also gave birth to a son. His wife is a Spanish, a model, a nutritionist for Mobis, and an orphan who grew up in a boarding house. Her name is Cecilia.

Just like most of the bloody plots of the domineering president falling in love with me, the poor girl worked in the team and had been in contact with the domineering president for a long time. After a bunch of ridiculous bloody plots, they fell in love due to misunderstandings, and finally got married after buying the ticket.

The two got their marriage certificate in Spain some time ago, but because Cecilia's belly was already very big at that time, they didn't arrange the wedding. This time, they took advantage of the baby's full moon and put the full moon wine and wedding together.

Mobis's performance in the Spanish league this season is still at the bottom. After all, the overall level of the Dragon Country and Japanese players is still too far behind. It will take more than one or two years to catch up, but fortunately, they can have wins and losses, and occasionally when they perform well, they can also cause trouble for some strong teams.

Although the overall poor results did not get much support from local fans, the two bosses who did not rely on this to make money felt at ease with the loss. The investment and salary increases that deserved were all focused on a training platform.

With Moebius on the right track, Lin Dong has not passed for two or three months, but since it is the full moon wine and wedding wine this time, it is natural to go.

Everyone from the team was also going, as well as Mitsui's friends. As a result, it was revealed that the 'third child' - Mito Yohei's American daughter-in-law was also pregnant. She had met everyone at the wedding the night before. After drinking, I felt sick to my stomach when I got back. I ran to the hospital overnight for a checkup and found out I was pregnant. They were so frightened that they were worried about the impact of drinking on the child.

So I hurriedly underwent abortion and recuperation.

Mito Yohei's current massage parlor has become popular in Seattle, and he has opened a third branch. Basically, Mito Yohei used his own savings to invest in the subsequent branches. Lin Dong and Mitsui originally invested in the capital. Just to help him, with the two people's worth, naturally they don't value that little money, but for Mito Yohei, three massage parlors have already made him into the ranks of millionaires, allowing his wife to choose to raise a baby in Spain nearby. The tires are just sprinkled with water.

Fortunately, nothing went wrong in the end, it just shocked everyone into a cold sweat.

Coupled with the team's 20-game winning streak, it can be said to be a series of happy events.

On the 12th, two special guests came to Lin Dong's house.

The first person to come was Plank, the president of Under Armor.

As early as the middle of last month, Plank had already met with Lin Dong and talked about re-endorsing Under Armour.

Since Under Armor fell into the hands of Nike, it has shrunk its market and factories in the past two years, and closed a large number of flagship stores and specialty stores that it originally built. It has already developed to the size of the national market, and has also shrunk back to Maryland. State, returning to the old path and returning to the youth market of high school and college.

After two years of steady development, Under Armour finally got through the collapse period after the collapse, and regained a foothold in Maryland. Its annual sales have also expanded from more than 12 million when it first collapsed to 30 million now. scale.

After all, he had almost landed on the top of the mountain. It was impossible for Plank not to long for the scenery at the top of the mountain. However, the tragic defeat two years ago was still fresh in his memory, and he did not dare to go too far.

Plank initially made his fortune through Lin Dong's endorsements. Plank is already very familiar with the routine of using star commercial endorsements to expand brand influence. Therefore, he has actually been paying attention to the NBA in the past two years, trying to find a reliable one. He is a new endorsement, so he has always been very familiar with the trends of the NBA. He often keeps in touch with Lin Dong on the phone, and even walks around when he is free during the holidays.

And with his eyes, he can naturally see the discord between Lin Dong and Nike from various clues.

But for Lin Dong to give up hundreds of millions of Nike endorsement fees a year and come to endorse his small workshop with annual sales of only 30 million, Plank himself knew that it was almost impossible.

However, seeing that the contract between Nike and Lin Dong was about to expire, he was still a little itchy after all. Plank mentioned this matter to Lin Dong on the phone with the attitude of giving it a try or even joking, but Lin Dong didn't expect it. He actually agreed directly... Of course, there were conditions.

First, he doesn’t want endorsement fees, but he wants 49% of Under Armour’s equity.

Plank has absolutely no objection to this. Under Armor has been delisted since the war two years ago. Now there is no so-called stock price at all. He is the owner of 100% of the company's shares.

Judging from the current scale of the company, the market value is only about 100 million at most, which is equivalent to signing Lin Dong, the hottest superstar in the world, for a price of about 50 million U.S. dollars, and it is almost a buyout... And Owning 51% of the shares, I am still the largest controller of the company. This is simply something I would never dream of!

Secondly, he had to personally design the shape of the sneakers, and the company's R\u0026D department could only cooperate with him and was not allowed to raise objections, because he did not have that much time to explain slowly.

Frankly speaking, Plank doubted this. No matter how good Lin Dong is in playing basketball, it does not mean that he has professional aesthetic and design capabilities. I am afraid this guy can't even draw, right?

but……

Even if Plank doesn't believe in Lin Dong's design ability, he still has to believe in Lin Dong's reputation. He believes that even if Lin Dong designs a pair of shoes that look like shit, as long as they are endorsed by him and the gimmick is designed by him, they will still become Hot item!

promise! Must agree! Not to mention asking for the design rights, even if Lin Dong asked for his ancestors, he could bring the urn from the cemetery!

Third, expand the scale.

Lin Dong wants a production line that can withstand annual sales of at least 300-500 million, and plans to expand to 1 billion within a year.

You know, it took several years for Under Armor to grow from a small workshop with sales of 10 million to a scale of 300-500 million in annual sales, and this was even when the market was going smoothly at the time. But now Just do it on this scale? Even if you are Lin Dong, you are not exaggerating.

But that's what Lin Dong said, and his tone was unquestionable, leaving no room for negotiation.

What's the point of playing it safe and not playing tricks with you? Why is it that if the sales volume is only 30 million now, if the production line is expanded like this, if the sales cannot keep up by then, it will bankrupt him in minutes...

There is no such thing as a heartbeat.

No money? It doesn’t matter if you don’t have money, we can help you find investments. All you have to do is be brave and put your company on the line.

Of course, if you don’t dare, just pretend I didn’t say it.

Plank only pondered for five seconds at the dinner table.

This is undoubtedly a huge gamble. Once the bet loses, what will be lost is no longer just money, but the entire brand of Under Armor, which Plank regards as a child, and there will be absolutely no chance of turning around again.

If this was the condition Nike offered him, Plank would definitely reject it without even thinking about it.

But since this is the condition proposed by Lin Dong...Plank believes in Lin Dong's character, regardless of his purpose of doing this, but comparing what Lin Dong is about to give up to do this and what he is about to give up to do this, In terms of wealth, the company he bet on is negligible.

Life or death, it’s all a matter of struggle!

And I came here today just for these two things.

One is to look at Lin Dong's so-called design, and the other is to look at the investors Lin Dong found for him.