Looking at the "Meteor Dunk" repeatedly playing on the TV...

Maurice, the senior shoe designer at Nike's shoe division, couldn't sit still.

Coincidentally, just as Maurice was pacing back and forth anxiously...

His superior, Phil Knight, also couldn't sit still.

Half a year ago, when Su Feng became the first Chinese player to enter the NBA, Nike had already expressed interest in him.

And two months ago, when Su Feng dunked on the Milwaukee Bucks, starting his professional career with a buzzer-beater, Nike contacted Su Feng's agent, Bill Duffy, to discuss further cooperation.

But without exception, the answer they received each time was:

Su Feng needed time to consider. His current focus was on how to play well in the NBA. Thank you for your concern, and much gratitude.

Okay...

Anyway, if you're not in a hurry, neither is Nike.

After all, signing a player is also an investment for Nike.

And there doesn't seem to be much wrong with watching the stock market before betting.

However...

When the growth of Su Feng's stock far exceeded people's expectations...

Not in a hurry my ass!

"Phil, we have to make a move!"

In Nike's president's office, Maurice looked at Knight eagerly.

Nike's head, Phil Knight, nodded. "I know it's time for us to make a move.

But William, do you know, I always feel...

Without enough sincerity, I'm afraid we won't be able to impress that kid this time."

As the person in charge of Nike, what Knight saw was fundamentally different from what Maurice saw.

What worried Maurice was that Su Feng's popularity was constantly rising.

And behind Su Feng, there was also the Chinese market.

Not to mention, shoes for the swingman position have always been easy to sell.

In Maurice's view, if Nike couldn't sign Su Feng in time, it would be equivalent to pushing Su Feng to their competitors: Adidas and Reebok.

Therefore, Maurice was very anxious.

But Knight saw much further than him.

Generally speaking, when rookies receive offers from these shoe companies, most of them find it difficult to resist the temptation of shoe contracts.

As long as the price is not too different from their psychological price, many players' first shoe contracts basically can't escape the fate of being "exploited."

Only a very few players have the possibility of getting sky-high contracts as soon as they enter the league.

Take Iverson's 10-year, 50 million shoe contract with a lifetime agreement attached as an example.

Iverson's shoe contract was definitely worth the title of sky-high price back in '96.

And the key reason why he was able to get Reebok's sky-high contract at the time, in addition to the No. 1 pick bonus, was his identity as a black hero and idol of the common people.

Of course, and the nickname "Answer."

The future LeBron James was the same, because as early as James' high school days, his name as the Emperor had already resonated throughout the United States.

In fact, the principle of shoe manufacturers and Stern is very similar, that is, they are not afraid of not being able to promote you, but if you don't even have a logo, how can they promote you?

Just like when people mention the logo, they think of Jerry West, when they mention the free throw line dunk, they think of Michael Jordan, when they mention "Answer" they think of Allen Iverson, and when they mention the iron-blooded jump shot, they think of Kevin Garnett.

The reason why Knight was anxious was because he saw a logo, a symbol, and even a culture in the "Meteor Dunk."

Patrick Ewing, Alonzo Mourning, Dennis Rodman, Karl Malone, which of these men who were dunked on by Su Feng this season was not famous?

Nike has always had a soft spot for stars who are good at dunking, because in the eyes of Nike's executives, dunking is the most eye-catching way to score on the basketball court.

Coupled with the "the.king" nickname that Su Feng had used before, along with the arrogant and domineering "Meteor Dunk," Knight made up his mind almost without thinking.

Su Feng belongs to Nike!

He must belong to Nike!

It's just that Knight, who saw further than Maurice, realized that Su Feng's emotional intelligence and IQ were far above the league average.

Because the main reason why most rookies are tricked by shoe companies with sugar-coated bullets as soon as they enter the league is because of money and shortsightedness.

There are many examples of people lacking money, because, as Ewing said, players' spending speed most of the time can't keep up with their earning speed.

As for shortsightedness...

Take Carter from Su Feng's previous life as an example. Logically speaking, given Carter's completely non-lacking family background, as long as he was willing to wait two more months, he wouldn't have signed that contract that was a rip-off by Puma.

You know, when the name "Half-Man, Half-Amazing" resounded, even Toronto's market was ignited by Carter at the time.

If it wasn't for often saying things that made him friendless, Carter's popularity during his peak period could truly be described as killing sharks who blocked him and killing Buddhas who blocked him.

Therefore, in Knight's view, Su Feng's mind and vision didn't seem like those of an 18-year-old child at all.

First of all, from the point that he was not in a hurry for a shoe contract, there were only two possibilities.

One was that he didn't lack money, and he firmly believed that he would be able to get a sky-high shoe contract.

And the other possibility was blind confidence, thinking that he was awesome and not taking the major shoe companies seriously.

Without a doubt, in Knight's eyes, Su Feng was the former.

Because when he sent someone to negotiate cooperation with Bill Duffy, Knight discovered it.

Duffy's replies were always very polite, and he also expressed his desire to cooperate with Nike, but...

They had to wait.

Plus, after understanding Su Feng's recent situation, Knight felt that every step Su Feng took after entering the league seemed to be able to predict what would happen next.

He had good looks, the support of the local Philadelphia market, and he quickly rose to fame. Although he had only played half a season in the NBA, he had already left many wonderful moments.

He even reversed the views of many scouts and experts on yellow-skinned players.

He knew how to plan his career. Take the "Meteor Dunk" as an example. In Knight's view, where would the average person get the brainwave to research this technique and give it such a cool name?

From yesterday to today, Knight had repeatedly watched the "Meteor Dunk" hundreds of times. He had to admit that this move...

Was really cool.

As for whether it was a dunk?

Was that important?

What was important was that it was a signature move, a brand!

In the future, when people mentioned "Meteor Dunk," they would immediately think of Su Feng!

With brains, good looks, strength, and confidence, in Knight's view, if such a player didn't become popular, who would?

The Chinese market, which anyone could see, and what Knight saw in Su Feng was more than just the Chinese market.

So, after pondering for nearly half an hour, Knight wrote a string of numbers on a napkin and handed it to Maurice.

"Are you serious, Phil..." Looking at the string of numbers on the napkin, Maurice said in surprise.

"Don't you understand, William, what this kid wants isn't money, but sincerity, because he wants a guarantee, a proof that we will support him with all our strength," Knight said with a wry smile.

Maurice nodded. "Time is of the essence, Phil, we must act as soon as possible.

I will send someone to Philadelphia immediately."

...

8 years... 42 million.

When Bill Duffy handed a napkin written by Nike's head to Su Feng, who was still reading the *Philadelphia Evening News*, Su Feng quickly took out his small notebook and calculated.

18.6 per year, hiss, Nike is a bit ruthless this time...

Based on the prices of '96, this contract was almost the same as the one that future man got.

However...

All of this was within Su Feng's expectations.

Because even if Nike didn't offer this price, Adidas and Reebok would sooner or later offer him a price that wouldn't be much lower than this.

As the saying goes, times are different.

If Su Feng had gone to Nike and clamored for such a price when he first entered the league, Nike would definitely have suspected that he was crazy.

So Su Feng was not in a hurry.

Especially after conducting a sound analysis of his living environment...

Su Feng could confirm that even if he couldn't get as exaggerated as Carter in his rookie season, he still had a good chance of getting the title of the strongest high school rookie in history.

After all, which high school rookie could play as long as he did every game?

And after the "Meteor Dunk" came out, Su Feng's popularity was currently soaring.

Iverson was the idol of the American people, and Su Feng also had the added bonus of being a hero of his home country.

Therefore, Su Feng believed that Nike's offer to him... Nike's head Knight must have based it on Iverson's contract with Reebok.

But an 8-year long contract...

"Bill, can we discuss with Nike to slightly shorten the length of the contract?" Su Feng asked, looking at Duffy.

Duffy was stunned. "A long contract is a good thing, Su. Why do you want to shorten the contract length?"

Su Feng spread his hands. He knew that a contract of this length was indeed a good thing for the average player.

Because no one could guarantee that they wouldn't get injured or that their performance wouldn't decline in the future.

But for Su Feng, who knew that future prices would skyrocket and had injury waivers, 8 years was indeed too long.

Before long, after Duffy communicated with Nike, Nike readily agreed to Su Feng's request to shorten the length of the contract.

Duffy changed the numbers on the napkin to 5 years and 25 million, which was 11.1 per year.

"Su, have you thought about it? This contract is a full 10 million less than the previous one," Duffy reminded Su Feng.

Su Feng nodded. Shortening the length of the contract would definitely reduce Nike's offer, but in reality, it would only lose 250,000 per year.

But in 5 years, wouldn't the contract that Su Feng signed at that time earn more than this mere 1.25 million?

"In addition, if you confirm this offer, Nike hopes to add a right of first refusal to the contract," Duffy added.

"No problem, it's 5 years and 25 million. Bill, trust me, although it looks like we're earning less, maybe I'll be the MVP in 5 years," Su Feng joked.

MVP...

Okay, if someone else said that to Bill Duffy, Duffy would definitely kick him in the ass.

But if it was Su Feng...

Although it was also a bit far-fetched, after witnessing Su Feng's rise this season, Duffy felt that there was at least a one in ten thousand chance that it could happen.

"By the way, can I make a suggestion to Nike?

That is, in addition to the formal contract, can Phil Knight write me another offer on a napkin?" Su Feng asked curiously.

Duffy thought for a while and said, "This shouldn't be a big problem, but... what are you going to do with this napkin?"

Su Feng smiled. He knew that Messi and Barcelona's napkin agreement hadn't appeared yet, and as an excellent cross-border senior, Su Feng had to set a good example for good classmates like Messi.

Cough...

Actually, Su Feng smelled a topic from Knight's napkin.

Try to imagine, Nike signed him with a napkin in 1997. This will definitely be written into history in the future and become a timeless story.

Because the "napkin agreement" can tell people how anxious Nike was to sign him.

Once this is hyped up by the media, it will be a very good topic for the current Su Feng.

Su Feng was very clear that in the NBA, being honest and low-key was useless.

And if you want to earn the money of these evil capitalists, then you must first learn how to "market" yourself.

Su Feng didn't like to actively create a persona, but that didn't mean he wouldn't use the opportunities others gave him to expand his influence.

"Then Su, when do you think it's appropriate to officially sign with Nike?" Duffy asked curiously.

"Tomorrow, since Nike plans to sign with me with a 'napkin', why not strike while the iron is hot?"

Su Feng had read the offer agreement drafted by Nike for him. There were no problems. Even the shoe sales split, this time Nike gave him star treatment.

There was no need to wait any longer, because Su Feng knew that if he wanted to develop further, the resources that Nike provided him were very critical.

Therefore, since Nike was so active, he had to show his sincerity in cooperating with Nike, right?

...

Perhaps, this was the fastest shoe contract Nike had ever signed.

In addition to some details of the consultation, the Nike staff who had been prepared to work overtime for a protracted war found that, hey... why was the signing so fast this time?

Phil Knight agreed to Su Feng's request to rewrite an offer on a napkin.

And after being awakened by Su Feng, Knight immediately reacted. He had unintentionally created a very newsworthy topic.

So, while Adidas and Reebok were still thinking about how to offer Su Feng, on the afternoon of the 15th, Phil Knight officially flew to Philadelphia.

This Nike head took a valuable photo with Su Feng at the signing ceremony.

And the most shocking thing about this photo was that the "contract" that Knight and Su Feng were holding was actually a napkin...

When Su Feng and Nike's "napkin agreement" were broadcast first through TV reports a few hours later, the executives of Adidas and Reebok, who learned that Nike had officially signed Su Feng, were completely stunned...

No...

You guys...

When did you negotiate?

Didn't Su Feng's agent Duffy keep saying to wait?

Suddenly, the hearts of the Adidas and Reebok executives were like ten thousand alpacas galloping past.

It was like you had been chasing a girl, but she suddenly ran away with a rich and handsome man.

5 years and 25 million, just like that, Su Feng successfully joined the Nike family.

And next, he could say goodbye to the days of wearing shoes provided by the team manager.

In addition to some shoes that required his permission to wear, in the future, he could wear Nike shoes however he wanted.

As for his signature shoes, Nike had already written it very clearly in the contract this time. They planned to design a signature shoe for Su Feng based on the "Meteor Dunk", but the design process plus the production would take at least until the next season.

If Su Feng remembered correctly, Kobe's Adidas signature shoes would also have to wait until the next season to be released.

And it was worth mentioning that the Nike designers were quite worried that Su Feng would give them some troublesome suggestions...

But these shoe designers never expected that Su Feng only had one requirement for his signature shoes:

That is, the better looking, the better.

What are you talking about? Give advice?

Su Feng wasn't his high school classmate.

God knows how many shoe designers directly shut themselves down after seeing the shoe sketches drawn by Kobe?

Su Feng deeply knew the truth that every line produces its own experts, he was not interested in design at all, and he believed in Nike's designers.

The reason why Su Feng wanted the shoes to look better was because basketball shoes were not like soccer shoes.

In the sports world, basketball players' shoe contracts account for a large proportion of their total income.

Because basketball shoes are easy to match with clothes, even if you don't play basketball, you may buy them because they look good.

But soccer shoes...

Logically speaking, who would wear soccer shoes to go shopping if they weren't playing soccer?

Therefore, the shoe income of basketball stars is much higher than that of soccer stars.

And this is why Iverson and Da Ben didn't choose to play in the NFL back then. After all, who would buy American football equipment in general?

In addition, Nike gave him a very high shoe split this time, so Su Feng hoped that his shoes could go in the cool direction.

He was not worried about getting injured, and besides, being handsome is a lifetime thing.

...

Speaking of which, shortly after Su Feng completed the signing with Nike, Kobe called him as soon as possible to "spray" him.

At that time, Kobe sprayed things like "Why didn't you sign with Nike for 8 years? Are you earning too much money?" "What if you get injured in the future? Who will support you?"

Su Feng laughed, because he knew that Kobe was worried about him.

Actually... there was another reason why Su Feng didn't want to sign with Nike for eight years.

That is, in the future, the contract he gets from Nike can't be lower than his successor's, right?

As a "Human-shaped LeBron Encyclopedia", the Akron kid will sign a big contract of nearly 80 million US dollars with Nike in '03, and Su Feng, as James' senior, can't earn less than James, right?

You know, in Su Feng's previous life, Kobe's contract with Nike was not as big as James', in addition to the negative news surrounding Kobe at that time, another main reason was because Kobe transferred from Adidas.

Nike has always distinguished between their own people and outsiders, so in fact, from the beginning, Su Feng had not considered Adidas and Reebok.

Because in the field of basketball, Nike is daddy.

Even if Adidas brings out the Adidas Five Tigers in the future, they will still have to accept the fact that they will be beaten by Nike in the field of basketball in a few years.

And Reebok, although Reebok's shoe black technology is more and the quality is good at this moment, but after '05, Reebok will start to decline.

In Su Feng's previous life, Yao's toes suffered a lot of injuries, and Reebok's shoes were also related to it.

In short, after comforting Kobe's emotions, Su Feng's attention still had to return to the game.

It's just that...

Su Feng didn't expect that he, who had created the "napkin agreement" after the "Meteor Dunk", had already become the focus of attention in this January of 1997...

The entire NBA was discussing topics related to him.

And in a few days, his name would spread throughout North America...

...

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