The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!
Chapter 522 - 224: Redemption City_3

Chapter 522: Chapter 224: Redemption City_3

Of course, Su Wan’s influence was limited to Indiana.

After all, he had only played for Cleveland and Bolis up to that point.

But for Su Wan, these actions were part of his own plan, and so the mayor’s gratitude was worthless to him.

"Just for this?" Su Wan asked with an unchanged expression.

"Not..." The mayor glanced at Herbert and then said, "Here’s the thing, we’re planning to develop an entire commercial street next to the arena and name it Su Wan Street. This project will be led by our government, with additional funding from Herbert. We estimate it can provide a few thousand jobs. And we will transfer 30% of the equity in this commercial street to you unconditionally!"

Su Wan wasn’t thrilled: "What do I need to do?"

There’s an adage that goes, "The more free something is, the more expensive it is."

What he didn’t expect was...

"At the entrance of the commercial street, we will build a statue of you, so we will need you to come for the ribbon-cutting ceremony."

"That simple?"

"Just that simple!"

Su Wan couldn’t quite believe it and looked over at Herbert.

Herbert said, "I thought you would negotiate some terms with me before re-signing, and then decide whether to stay based on that. But I didn’t expect you to sign directly with Larry Bird. Consider this my compensation to you. The annual profit might only amount to a few million, but as long as the arena is there, the commercial street will also stay, and you’ll earn that much every year! And believe me, this is not the end! Thank you for being willing to stay with the Pacers!"

Su Wan chuckled.

Actually, before re-signing, he had considered discussing some terms with Herbert.

But in the end, he did not do that.

Jordan didn’t come to him; Nike had offered it proactively.

Larry Bird came to the Pacers as head coach and general manager, not because Su Wan asked for it, but because Herbert had repeatedly invited him.

Su Wan had always felt that...

What others willingly offered carried more face than what one demanded.

He didn’t ask for a position on the team, but now he was the king of the Pacers.

He hadn’t asked for insider knowledge on trades, but Larry Bird would consult with him beforehand.

Including when the Simon Group faced a financial crisis, Herbert had laid it out for him from the start.

Su Wan felt his status had reached a point where everything the Pacers could satisfy, they did.

As for what he believed he still deserved...

If Herbert didn’t come through, then those would all go down in Su Wan’s little notebook, to be settled later.

Some things were quite simple.

For instance, in just the time it took to have lunch, Su Wan had obtained 30% equity in a soon-to-be-developed commercial street.

And he didn’t even need to do much.

Just cut the ribbon.

Current media guidance was the same, just there to make everything run its natural course.

The Pacers always had salary issues.

They even struggled to maintain a championship lineup.

Under these circumstances, conscientious Pacers fans would, in two years’ time, naturally chant from the sidelines, "Su, you’ve done enough for the Pacers, it’s time for you to shine elsewhere!"

And if such fans didn’t emerge, Su Wan would make sure they did.

These were the things noted in his little notebook.

You couldn’t call Su Wan hypocritical.

Because Su Wan truly did such things.

If anything...

"Playing like Liu Bei!"

After that, he went to the airport and took a flight back to his home country.

Sometimes, you just have to believe that everything is fate!

was the beginning of the United States’ financial crisis but also marked the rise of the Huaxia dragon.

That year’s Olympics had quite turned into a "clash of nations"!

Eager to show their best on home turf and not disappoint the folks back home, the Huaxia Men’s Basketball Team had been in various training camps for over a year.

Now Su Wan and Yao were joining the team 40 days in advance, entering into training camp.

Currently, there were a total of four Huaxia players in the NBA:

Su Wan, Yao Ming, Sun Yue, and Yi Jianlian.

Among them, Su Wan and Yao Ming were League superstars.

Yi Jianlian also had stable playing time. Even if he faltered during the playoffs, he had made significant progress.

He and Sun Yue had joined the team early.

They came on board in May.

Sun Yue’s performance was clearly not as good as Yi Jianlian’s.

Yi Jianlian had almost dominated the entire paint.

Wang Zhizhi, who used to be able to handle him, now found him a real headache.

Especially Yi Jianlian’s "Second Attack" ability and his strong inside play were things the original Yi Jianlian lacked.

It seems joining a more energetic team had indeed helped him grow faster than staying in Milwaukee, a place where birds didn’t poop.

The one worry was Yi Jianlian’s injury resistance.

With his fiercer playing style and tougher approach, he was more prone to injuries.

Yi Jianlian should be what you’d call a classic "bully of the weak"!

He clearly had the physicality to play in the NBA, but his body couldn’t handle that level of intensity, and injuries came all too easily.

Su Wan vividly remembered that one of Yi Jianlian’s NBA injuries had been so silly—he’d twisted his little finger too hard during a dunk.

And such injuries weren’t once, but several times...

The frequent injuries were one of many reasons why Yi Jianlian hadn’t made it big.

It wasn’t career-ending injuries, but constant ankle twists and finger injuries.

Just as he started to find form, he’d be put on "day-to-day" list.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.