Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

As of June 15, 2001, Yu Fei no longer accepted tryouts from NBA teams.

It was also on this day that the NBA 2000-2001 season came to an end.

The Los Angeles Lakers, with their historically strong performance, swept through the playoffs, undefeated in their journey out of the Western conference, except for in the finals where Iverson descended like a deity for one game, the rest were solidly won.

In the final game, even with Iverson scoring 37 points, it was no use against the combined 55 points, 25 rebounds, and 8 assists from the O'Neal-Kobe duo.

108 to 96

Compared to the Kings team, which O'Neal mocked as the 'Princess' team, the Sixers earned the respect of the league's number one.

"They played really well, it was a fierce series," said O'Neal, who averaged 33 points, 15 rebounds, and 3.4 blocks per game in the series.

For Kobe, no matter how good the results, he still couldn't outshine Iverson.

In this round of the series, Kobe averaged 24 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists with a 41% shooting rate, while Iverson, on the other hand, averaged 35 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists with a 40% field goal rate.

Therefore, he couldn't possibly win the Finals MVP.

Regardless, the season was over.

The Lakers' season-ending game was also the only game Yu Fei watched recently.

Starting tomorrow, Yu Fei would be heading to Canton, Massachusetts, to Reebok Headquarters to discuss an endorsement deal.

This time not only would his agent be accompanying him, but also Yu Fei's team and his mother Yu Fenglin.

Endorsements are a big deal, and currently, the brands interested in Yu Fei are mainly Reebok, Adidas, and Li-Ning.

Emotionally, Yu Fei was inclined to sign with Adidas because it was Sonny Vacarro's company.

His rise from an unknown to a nailed-on lottery pick wouldn't have been possible without Vacarro's help.

Even Yu Fei's agent was recommended by Vacarro.

But the advice Arne Trem gave to Yu Fei was, "Personal feelings are one thing, but the real deal is how much money they're actually willing to give you."

At this point, Yu Fei became curious, "What kind of endorsement deal do you think they'll offer me?"

"You can take a guess."

Yu Fei was leaning towards signing a four-year endorsement deal, which would coincide with the duration of an NBA rookie contract. After the rookie contract ended, if he made a name for himself, he could negotiate a much bigger deal.

"4 years, one million US dollars?"

Hearing this number, Trem laughed.

"Yu, your value is worth far more than that," said Trem, and not just Yu Fei, even Yu Fenglin was taken aback.

One million US dollars, she'd never dreamed of having that much money in her life.

But Farman actually implied that it was far more than that?

Yu Fei had a reason for suggesting the price; he looked up the commercial endorsements of last year's fourth pick, Darius Miles.

Miles wasn't more promising than this year's Kwame Brown and others, but he was a forward with a glamorous playing style.

Such a player, if he plays well, becomes a shoe-selling machine.

Therefore, he received a 4-year, six million US dollars endorsement contract.

Yu Fei mentioned 4 years, one million US dollars mainly because he considered his draft prospects not as high as those of Miles.

But he overlooked one thing, his Asian-American identity was also a point of profit in the eyes of sneaker merchants.

As a potential NBA player, Yu Fei had a wide influence in the State of Washington, and as an Asian-American, the attention he received was nationwide.

This was Yu Fei's biggest advantage over his peers in terms of commercial value.

Hence, Trem said that Yu's value was far more than "that."

On the afternoon of June 16, Yu Fei walked into Reebok's headquarters meeting room, accompanied by a group of people.

Inside, there was also a group of Reebok executives who had prepared exquisite desserts and drinks for Yu Fei and his family and friends, and they were warm and kind, speaking pleasantly.

Especially the CEO of Reebok, Paul Farman—he was one of the most approachable successful people Yu Fei had ever met.

The first thing he said to Yu Fei completely stunned him.

"Yu, if you sign with us, we'll make you the most important basketball player in the history of Reebok."

What sweet talk, how could they test a young boy whose hair had barely grown? Which young man could withstand this temptation?

"Uh... really?"

"I don't believe it" went unsaid, but Yu Fei truly didn't believe that a big company like Reebok would place such importance on a lottery prospect projected between the seventh and the tenth pick.

```

Then, Todd Krinsky, an executive from Reebok's apparel and footwear division, outlined the company's desire to have a more diverse array of star athletes, and their new initiative of merging music with sports, hoping to attract more fashionable and younger consumers.

Yu Fei, as the most influential Asian-American athlete among the younger generation in the United States, would be packaged by Reebok with top-tier specifications.

First came the sweet talk, then the grand promises.

Yu Fei swallowed hard as he listened, but he wasn't Nagato; until Reebok made any actual gesture, don't expect the 'Naruto'-style rhetoric of "The world will be a better place in my hands, I don't know how, but the master believes in me, my dad believes in me, so, Nagato, you should believe me too," to be effective.

Feeling that Reebok's presentation was nearing its end, Trem got straight to the point, "Let's talk about the contract now."

Then, Farman looked straight at Yu Fei, like a succubus wanting to firmly captivate the young man's heart.

He spoke, "Four years, ten million US dollars."

For a moment, the meeting room fell silent.

Yu Fei didn't react at first, and Yu Fenglin was stunned.

Even a minute ago, if someone had said her son was worth ten million dollars, she would have found it hard to believe.

Following the shock, Yu Fenglin's eyes moistened, filled with too many emotions for Yu Fei to fathom.

Arne Trem remained calm, he could foresee that Yu Fei's commercial value would be higher than Kwame Brown's and others, but he didn't expect it to be this much higher.

DiMio's breathing quickened; from the moment he had resolved to become Yu Fei's sidekick, he knew the young man would soar high, but the extent of this leap was beyond imagination.

As Yu Fei's close friend, Anthony Lawson took deep breaths in and out through his wide nostrils. He had to stand up to unbutton the top of his shirt, only to find it drenched in sweat.

Damn, is this for real? Lawson thought.

Reebok's offer had completely overwhelmed Yu Fei and his team.

Farman, knowing he held the winning ticket, was ready to adopt an even more aggressive stance.

Farman pulled out a pen, signed a check on a piece of paper, and handed it to Yu Fei.

Yu Fei looked at the check, which read: One million US dollars, payable to Frye Yu.

Yu Fei passed the check to his agent, who then showed it to Yu Fenglin.

Yu Fenglin's eyes, already damp, began to shed small pearls, while Trem was well aware of what this meant from Reebok.

If he signed the contract on the spot, Yu Fei could leave with an upfront payment of one million dollars.

Thinking of the zeroes on the check, Yu Fei was no longer as shocked as when Farman had verbally offered to sign him for ten million dollars.

Still, a million dollars in 2001 was a huge sum of money.

A sum that Yu Fei from a previous life couldn't have imagined.

"My family and I need some private space," Yu Fei said calmly to Farman.

This left a strong impression on Farman.

Farman expressed understanding and, therefore, the Reebok team left the meeting room, closing the door behind them, allowing Yu Fei and his family to discuss thoroughly.

"I don't think there's much to discuss," Lawson, overwhelmed to the point of irrationality, said, "Frye can become a millionaire today!"

Yu Fenglin had no objections, "Consider it well, make your own decision."

Yu Fei turned to DiMio.

DiMio shrugged as well, "I don't know how to turn down ten million dollars."

Strictly speaking, they weren't professionals, and their opinions shouldn't sway Yu Fei.

So, Yu Fei looked towards Trem.

Trem didn't know whether he should tell Yu Fei that a four-year, ten-million-dollar deal was the biggest endorsement contract a high school player had signed before entering the NBA, bigger than Darius Miles, bigger than McGrady, bigger than Kobe.

Since venturing into basketball in 1992, Reebok had always tilted their signing strategy toward established players, but they had no edge compared to iconic basketball shoe companies like Nike and Adidas.

It took them nearly a decade to pivot their strategy.

Unexpectedly, they launched a money offensive on Yu Fei.

While the offer was too tempting, Trem hadn't lost his reasoning, "Our original plan was to finish talking with all three companies before making a decision."

But now with Reebok's substantial offer on the table, Trem wasn't sure if it was still necessary to meet with the other two.

Could Yu Fei handle it?

Could the 18-year-old refuse this one million dollar check?

"Stick to the original plan," Yu Fei was even more composed than Trem had imagined, "I should give Uncle Sonny and Adidas the opportunity to make their offers."

And so, Yu Fei turned down the opportunity to immediately become a millionaire, returning the check to Farman, ready to fly to New Jersey to start negotiations with Adidas.

```