Chapter 984
Your King Zhang has arrived!
"What benefits can this alliance possibly offer you?" Stern said irritably. "How about you take my place?"
"I helped you, and you're trying to shift the blame to me? I'm not doing this thankless, exhausting, and barely profitable chore." Lin Tian looked at Stern and said, "I've only ever seen someone as shameless as you."
"Tell me, what benefits do you want?" Stern was too lazy to argue with Lin Tian. After all, he was getting old and had to take responsibility for his blood pressure. "Let's talk about it."
After letting out a long sigh, Stern said, "For example, if the league adds a new team, I'll give you priority to join, or if someone sells a team, I'll help you lower the price, no problem."
"You can't give me the benefits I want." Lin Tian waved his hand dismissively at Stern's offers, indicating that he didn't need them: "I don't want any of what you're offering."
"So, can we even talk or not?" Stern was getting impatient. If it's okay, it's okay; if it's not, it's not. Why are you teasing this old man like me? It's not like we're strangers. Why are you playing games with me?
We've known each other for almost 20 years, why are you wasting your time talking nonsense here?
“If you want to work your way up in Hollywood after you retire,” Bass suddenly said, “I remember about 10 years ago, Jerry and the others promised to make a Star Wars spin-off trilogy with you as the protagonist? I can try to help you get in touch with them. I can be sure it will be pretty much no problem.”
"At least the first one is fine."
Bass is still very careful in his speech.
With George Lucas's support, the Star Wars franchise, and the huge success of Lin Tian's previous film, securing investment to produce a Star Wars spin-off wouldn't be difficult at all.
However, if the first film is a huge financial loss, the Hollywood moguls, known for their realism, probably won't give Lin Tian a second chance to make a sequel.
"If I wanted to, it wouldn't make much difference whether you guys were there or not," Lin Tian shrugged. "These conditions simply can't convince me."
"Then what do you want!" Stern was unusually irritable tonight. It wasn't that he disliked Lin Tian, but he would inexplicably get angry every time he chatted with Lin Tian.
This guy is infuriating.
"Do you still love basketball? Do you still want to continue playing on the court?" Seeing that bribery wasn't working, Bass quickly changed tactics and started playing the emotional card.
"Don't you really miss that feeling? Being the center of attention, being the focus of the world, having countless people cheer for you, and the feeling of winning time and time again."
"Lin, this league needs you, we need you back. The Lakers haven't won a championship in a long time, and we need you to lead us to win another championship!"
"Beyond the Celtics! I'm sure you and I both hate those damn Bostonians!"
"Lin, let's work together to create a brand new legend, a legend that belongs to you! A legend that belongs to us."
"Come on, Jerry, you might fool Shaq with that, but I'm not buying it!" Lin Tian still squinted and casually waved his hand.
"So what exactly do you want? Or rather, do you have any plans to make a comeback?" Stern was acting like a completely irritable old man, his entire body radiating impatience.
Unfortunately, the old man is really overwhelmed lately. The relationship between the owner and the players is getting worse and worse, and the atmosphere is getting more and more chaotic. It looks like the new season will be suspended again, which will be a huge stain on Stern's career.
The old man even announced his retirement last year, saying that he would definitely leave the league after a maximum of 5 years. If there is a lockout when he is about to retire, he will really lose face.
That's why he went to great lengths to find solutions, even resorting to such obviously irregular behavior as contacting Lin Tian and Bass privately.
It was because he saw Lin Tian resign from the Bobcats and felt that Lin Tian definitely couldn't leave basketball. If he wanted to make a comeback, given Lin Tian's personality, Los Angeles would definitely be his best choice. That's why he waited for Lin Tian at the airport after learning his flight number.
He was anxious.
If Lin Tian's approach doesn't work, he'll have to find another way. Time is of the essence, and he simply doesn't have the time to play games with Lin Tian like the story of the Three Visits to the Thatched Cottage or the slow, persistent pleading.
"Don't be in such a hurry." Lin Tian was clearly enjoying the pleasure of bullying the old man, and still had that irritating look on his face as he said, "I didn't say it was impossible."
"Then what do you want?"
"Do I have to want anything?" Lin Tian looked at the two of them and shook his head. "You two have been businessmen for too long, so you think everyone is an old fox like you. You think everyone only cares about profit and value, and that everyone has a price."
"Okay, even if everyone has a price, you still need to find the right direction, right? You're not treating me like a player anymore, you're treating me like a customer."
"Okay, even if you consider me a customer, shouldn't you make your customer profile more precise, align the granularity between you and me, and then you can empower your product and deliver a precise set of combined punches to persuade me?"
"During our discussion, you need to continuously iterate and optimize, and maintain keen insight in order to successfully impress me. You need to cultivate deeply, understand? Cultivate deeply! You need to refine the product details and create the ultimate user experience."
"At the same time, we must also pay attention to cross-industry integration, broaden our business scope, brainstorm to break through the boundaries of thinking, and achieve diversified development. In this process, we must maintain innovative thinking, dare to keep trying and making mistakes, and be courageous in order to succeed, understand?"
"What nonsense are you spouting?" Stern's eyes widened in disbelief. After Lin Tian finished speaking, he cursed, "Can't you speak human language?"
“I think Lin meant that we underestimated him. We thought he was a profit-driven, arrogant, and self-serving businessman, but Lin is not like that.”
Bass reacted a little faster than Stern. He smiled and said, "But actually, Lin is not like that at all. He is a pure person. He is a guy who fights for his ideals, has lofty life goals, will never compromise with reality and interests, and has a great personality and noble ideals."
"Is that right?"
“I think you’re insulting me.” Lin Tian shrugged. “But Jerry is right. I am indeed that kind of person. When I do things, I only look at principles and never consider any interests.”
Stern's lips moved slightly, clearly indicating he was about to swear, but the old man didn't actually say it. Instead, he said, "So, if you don't like a city, you won't go no matter how much money you're offered."
"Yes! Like Minnesota, Milwaukee, but I hate the cold, so I wouldn't consider places like that."
"What if they offered you 5000 million a year..."
"I am willing to sacrifice a little bit of my comfort and personal preferences for the fans of these two cities. Compared with the millions of fans in a city, my personal preferences are nothing! I will bring them glory."
Lin Tian's shameless words made Stern laugh in anger, and he cursed, "Fine, fine, you bastard, you've been playing me from the beginning, haven't you? So you decided to come back a long time ago and were willing to play for the Lakers. This trip of ours was a complete waste."
“That’s definitely not it,” Lin Tian said. “I saved money on gas for going home, didn’t I? Oh, not really. Charlize and the others drove back. So you guys really came for nothing.”
“Fuck!” Stern couldn’t help but swear again.
But at least he achieved his goal this time: Lin Tian was persuaded. Well, that's not entirely accurate; Lin Tian himself was willing to return to the Alliance, but regardless, Lin Tian is back! Stern now has a huge bargaining chip in the negotiations!
The reason why the labor and management sides cannot reach an agreement is because of the uneven distribution of benefits. Now that Lin Tian has returned, he has brought huge benefits to the entire alliance.
During Lin Tian's retirement tour that year, the viewership, attendance, ticket premium, and attention for each of his games were all incredibly high.
A simple and basic example is that when Lin Tian was in charge, the league's salary cap increased by about 10% every year since the beginning of the new century. However, after Lin Tian left, the rate of increase in the league's salary cap plummeted to 7%.
These three points represent Lin Tian's influence.
Three points may not seem like much, but if you understand how the salary cap is set, you'll realize just how terrifying Lin Tian's influence is.
The annual salary cap is set at 48% of the league's total revenue from the previous season, then divided by 30 to get the final salary cap for each season.
For example, if the salary cap for a team is currently around $6500 million per season, then the league's total annual revenue is approximately $40 billion.
If we calculate it this way, Lin Tian brings the league more than $1.2 million in direct benefits every year!
This is just the direct income. The various potential peripheral incomes, the additional income from the stadium, and the prices that broadcasters, partners, and advertisers negotiate with the league when Lin Tian is involved are all closely related to him!
The money Lin Tian earned for the league in a year was almost more than the total annual expenditure of two mid-tier teams.
The return of such a person represents a huge profit for the entire alliance.
Furthermore, Stern was certain that the league's partners, from broadcasters like ESPN and TNT to those who advertise courtside, sponsor arenas, partner with teams, and work with the league, would put pressure on both the players and management once they learned that Lin Tian would be returning.
Stop the indefinite shutdown, reach an agreement quickly, and bring Lin Tian back!
That way they can earn more money.
The profits this guy brings are definitely enough for the entire alliance to make a fortune.
On the other hand, there are countless people in the league who want Lin Tian to return, who yearn to fight Lin Tian, and who want to kill Lin Tian to prove themselves. How should I put it? He is one of the few people in the league who can be both extremely annoying and extremely likable at the same time.
Both labor and management will welcome Lin Tian's return. Now, Stern's task is to gather everyone together and tell them: Lin is coming back; you'd better watch out!
Not to mention, Lin Tian is going to Los Angeles this time!
The second largest supermarket in the United States after New York City.
Even though the Lakers are not as valuable as the Knicks, the Lakers brand is no less impressive, and may even be more well-known!
This is why Stern personally went to the trouble of recruiting Lin Tian in violation of regulations.
He was quite certain that the labor and management sides, who were originally unwilling to compromise or back down and were determined to fight for their own meager interests, would definitely be willing to make concessions for Lin Tian's return for various reasons.
Benefit!
Lin Tian represents the ultimate in profit!
Having achieved his ultimate goal for the trip, Stern was in a much better mood. He got up, took a bottle of wine from the refrigerator, opened it, and said, "Let's toast to this league! And to the Lakers' championship next season!"
"Cheers!" Bass smiled so broadly his eyes disappeared; he was genuinely happy.
There's nothing we can do about it; the Lakers are widely considered the unluckiest team of the new century.
Other teams like the Mavericks, Suns, Timberwolves, and Kings only lost to Lin Tian once in the Finals.
But his Lakers, after acquiring the OK duo, dominated the Western Conference, reaching the Finals multiple times, only to be brutally defeated by Lin Tian and his team.
Even in Lin Tian's first year with the Knicks, when the Knicks failed to reach the Finals, the Lakers unexpectedly lost to the tough Pistons.
Wrong!
S and the entire city of Los Angeles were incredibly frustrated.
Back then, we were the biggest backdrop for the Celtics, getting thoroughly beaten by them.
Forty years later, Chamberlain is dead, and we run into you, Lin Tian, who beats us up again.
What, is he the basketball world's Ballack or the basketball world's Kane?
Oh, at this time Kane was still little Karami.
Lee Chong Wei of the basketball world, right?
It seems not.
It was just awful!
But now, the nightmare is over!
Finally, Lin Tian arrived.
Although Lin Tian is almost 40 years old now, Bass has watched this year's finals and watched Lin Tian's warm-up video.
With his physical attributes and shooting touch, and now with Durant and Kobe on the Lakers team to finish and score, Bass has an absolute certainty that the Lakers can win the championship after Lin Tian joins the team!
A guard of this caliber, as long as he can still shoot threes and organize the offense, can elevate the team to another level!
Thinking about this, Bass felt like he was about to shed tears.
It's finally my turn to crush the League!
at last!
“Since you’re so great,” Stern said with a smile after taking a sip of his drink, “then you can take a base salary and don’t let Jerry clear salary cap space.”
"With this roster intact, your chances of winning the championship are definitely high!"
"Don't even think about it!" Lin Tian, who had just been talking about ideals and life goals, immediately changed his tune and said, "Go as big as you can, don't even think about saving a penny! I don't care about player recruitment or team roster."
"Anyway, I will never back down on salaries in my life. I will never do something like asking superstars to take pay cuts to keep role players and maintain the integrity of the roster."
"That's the team's business."
"What if your team fails to win the championship because of a weak roster?"
"There's no such thing as 'what if'," Lin Tian said with absolute confidence. "I'm the fucking king of this alliance!"
"I will lead the team to the championship."
At this moment, Lin Tian exuded an aura of dominance!
"Good! As expected of Lin!" Bass smiled and raised his glass again, saying, "Don't worry, I will give you the biggest contract possible within the rules! You will definitely not be disappointed. Just wait to sign, and leave the rest to me."
"Look at David, look at Jerry! This is the kind of person who gets things done! That's why Jerry is the league's number one owner!" Lin Tian said with a smile, "He never lets his players down!"
"Whatever." Stern shrugged, completely unfazed by Lin Tian's teasing. On the contrary, the old man was in a good mood right now!
Having finally managed to win over Lin Tian, he is now brimming with ambition!
He will give himself a truly dignified retirement!
How about a tour? In the final year, how about visiting the home stadiums of all 30 teams? And experiencing the boos from the fans?
It's funny and good!
"You two, don't rush to open the champagne. I have some requirements," Lin Tian suddenly said. "You really think I'll just join right away?"
“Tell me anything! What do you want?” Buss was smug at this moment, laughing loudly and indicating that you could name your terms: “Do you need me to go and talk to Kobe and ask him to give up his position as the team leader?”
"Jerry, you swear so rudely." Lin Tian curled his lip and said, "If I can't even handle a little black snake, what am I good for? Do I need you to do this? I can handle that Iron King myself."
“My request is directed at David.”
Upon seeing Lin Tian looking at him, Stern couldn't help but shudder and said, "Tell me about it."
"It's actually very simple," Lin Tian said easily. "First, I don't sign long-term contracts. At my age, I'll definitely sign one-year contracts. Only when I don't want to play anymore can I comfortably turn around and leave."
“Of course, no problem.” Bass, unaware of what was going on, patted his chest and assured everyone that it was fine, but Stern next to him narrowed his eyes.
He was an expert in labor relations and had already grasped Lin Tian's meaning.
"Secondly, I will not make any concessions on money. If I sign a one-year contract, the Lakers may be able to make room for me this year, but they may not be able to next year, and it will be even more difficult the year after."
“I can’t let my new boss suffer like this. My demand is that I have bird rights! Even if I only play for one year, I have bird rights.”
"That's how you can get a contract extension."
“I’ll figure something out.” Stern paused for a moment, his mind racing as he considered how to resolve Lin Tian’s request.
Bass understood Lin Tian's meaning at this moment.
The Lakers can certainly sell their assets this year to free up cap space to sign Lin Tian, but if Lin Tian only signs for one year, then he will not meet the two principles of 'serving the team for three years or having a contract for more than three years', and will not be eligible for Bird rights, which means that the Lakers will not be able to re-sign Lin Tian next year.
If they can't renew Lin Tian's contract, then they have to keep making room for him and continue to exploit that room to their advantage to profit from Lin Tian's contract.
One year is fine, but what about two years? Three years? That would mean the Lakers could only sign one-year minimum-salary players each year to supplement their roster, meaning the Lakers would have to rely on this mercenary-style approach every year.
That would be a huge test for the integrity of the roster, team unity, chemistry, cohesion, and team culture!
The Lakers' roster will be in great turmoil, and it will be difficult for the players to give their all for the team.
After all, the contract is only for one year and it's only a base salary. What if he pushes himself too hard and gets injured? What will happen next year? Who will guarantee his career?
Therefore, the question Lin Tian raised was not entirely for his own benefit; the team definitely had a consideration in mind as well.
Look at that! That's a good player! He hasn't even signed a contract yet, and he's already thinking about his team.
"Just these two." Lin Tian looked at the expressions of the two men and knew that they were both sure they had no problems. He smiled and raised his glass, saying, "I think there shouldn't be any major issues, so, shall we have a drink? I'll start working on building momentum as soon as I get back."
"Consider it a favor I'm doing for you for free."
Hearing Lin Tian say this, Stern and Bass were completely relieved. They raised their glasses at the same time and clinked them together with Lin Tian.
This essentially signals that the next NBA season will be anything but ordinary! The entire league's landscape will be completely transformed.
In the early hours of that day, just as Lin Tian was adjusting to the time difference and waking up, he posted a message on Twitter—a tweet that was enough to ignite the entire basketball world.
"Do you miss your king? He's coming back!" (End of Chapter)