Chapter 156: The Next Meat Divider, Jack Fan

When Fan Xi arrived in Los Angeles, he was welcomed by a crowd.

He was in the most wonderful time of his life; everything was going smoothly on the court, and more and more people were discussing their own wisdom back then on the internet, emphasizing how they knew Jack Fan was not an ordinary person the moment they first saw him.

Managers of other teams in the league were also dragged out to be 'target practice'; any manager who didn't pick Fan Xi in the 2010 draft was considered derelict in their duty, and those teams that had received Fan Xi's self-recommendation letters were even 'publicly humiliated'.

The worst of these was the New York Knicks.

At the time, the Knicks were very close to getting Jack Fan, and there were even reports that D'Antoni had taken Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire to the hotel where Jack was staying to find him.

This made the Knicks unprecedentedly angry; looking at Fan Xi's phenomenal performance in the playoffs, they were very regretful. If they used their brains a little, they would feel that if the Knicks added Fan Xi, it would definitely be like adding wings to a tiger. The Lakers were now entering the Finals with the posture of autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves, while the Knicks, sitting on two superstars, were swept 4-0 by the Celtics in the first round.

Since they were spending a lot of money on luxury taxes anyway, why didn't they give Jack Fan a ten-million-dollar annual salary back then?

The New York management was scolded bloody, especially the owner James Dolan.

However, they didn't care, because since 2003, they had long been accustomed to the feeling of being scolded and ridiculed.

As a famous successor of a prodigal son in the NBA, no matter how much James Dolan 'acted up', as long as the Knicks were still in New York, he could always make a profit.

However, interestingly, James Dolan, an owner who had always been elusive and never accepted media interviews, surprisingly answered questions about Fan Xi these past two days. He said: "I often misjudge players; Jack Fan is not the first, and he won't be the last. But if you ask me if I am willing to sign Jack Fan now, my answer is yes."

He showed a belated welcome.

However, Fan Xi no longer had time to pay attention to him.

All of Los Angeles was shouting Jack Fan's name, and Fan Xi's commercial value was rising at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Although many media were shouting loudly: Jack Fan has never proven his ability to lead a team alone, so he doesn't count as a superstar.

But these voices couldn't stop those crazy merchants.

Lu Yuan told Fan Xi that Fan Xi's market value in Los Angeles had increased by 100 percent.

Previously, hotels invited Fan Xi to cut ribbons, only willing to offer a price of 100,000 US dollars; now, the price for participating in commercial activities had climbed to 200,000 US dollars. And many merchants were willing to provide Fan Xi with free VIP services.

Many bars even put out that as long as Jack Fan came for a walk and said two sentences on stage, he could take away hundreds of thousands of US dollars.

Fan Xi was an NBA player who had broken into the 'nightclub economy'.

In people's normal logic, NBA players go to nightclubs to spend money like water. However, Fan Xi was a bit different; he had his own style, and his persona was linked to trendy people, just like some rappers performing in nightclubs.

He could drive bar consumption; many women were willing to go to bars to meet him, and many men paid for his appeal among the female group; everyone wanted to be a cool boy like Jack.

Fashion magazines said Jack possessed a charming charisma; he perfectly integrated integrity and rebellion, sunshine and depravity; he was a phenomenal, evil-charming male. Everyone was chasing this trend.

Hollywood female stars were eager to move on him, and teenage girls in schools were fantasizing about Jack Fan as their Prince Charming in their dreams.

And whether it was a billionaire or a street gangster, who wouldn't want to be Jack Fan?

Fan Xi's influence was something even Ma Chen hadn't expected.

He originally wanted to establish Fan Xi as a god-like image like Grant Hill in the media.

But now, things had gone off track, completely out of his control.

Media across the United States were waiting for a close-up photo of Jack and a Hollywood female star, and street tabloids were frantically arranging plots of Jack battling beautiful girls.

His popularity had risen to an unbelievable level.

Even Lu Yuan felt worried; he felt that the strength Fan Xi currently possessed might not be enough to handle his current popularity. He was afraid that Fan Xi would soon be a flash in the pan; he even persuaded Jack to earn more money while his popularity was high.

Because public opinion is fickle, and trends rise and fall quickly.

Therefore, when Fan Xi returned to Los Angeles.

He arranged two large shopping mall ribbon-cutting activities for Fan Xi, and also arranged for Fan Xi to conduct activities at two bars.

This brought Fan Xi a cash income of one million US dollars.

No one would go against money.

Fan Xi was certainly no exception.

As long as the check the other party paid was real, Fan Xi didn't mind if it was obtained from a bustling bar or a bright and beautiful office.

However, some sports media were very willing to stand on the moral high ground to criticize Fan Xi.

They said Fan Xi had drifted.

Idle and having nothing to do, they promoted a trend of 'accelerated depravity'.

They tried their best to describe Fan Xi as a young player who was eager for quick success and instant benefits and unwilling to calm down to play the game; some even said with certainty that Fan Xi, who was now popular all over the place, would soon lose everything because of his declining performance on the court.

Because players wouldn't empty their pockets to buy sneakers for a mediocre bench player.

Brand merchants wouldn't pay advertising fees for a guy who stumbled on the court.

And how could those Hollywood female stars in the vanity fair like a nobody who only had a face left? Would big stars in the entertainment industry fall in love with an NBA bench player?

These people spoke with certainty, each of them acting like Lu Xun of the basketball circle, wanting to tear apart this 'hypocritical prosperity'.

Fan Xi read some articles and reports, and he found it funny. These people didn't spray those NBA players who were anesthetizing themselves with consumption in nightclubs, but sprayed me, a person who went to earn money; isn't that funny?

"Am I not contributing to the NBA? The bar I went to yesterday, so many NBA players go to consume every year, I only earned three hundred thousand US dollars from him; Carmelo Anthony came here to play an away game last season and consumed over 100,000 in one night. They don't praise me, but spray me; it's really unreasonable."

Fan Xi said angrily to his agent Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan nodded repeatedly.

"Didn't I train during the day? I used my rest time to earn money; does this also need to be sprayed?" Fan Xi became more and more angry as he spoke.

Lu Yuan next to him nodded repeatedly.

However, he was actually a little worried now; in his view, those articles were not completely unreasonable, although he didn't believe Fan Xi would fall into a nameless bench player.

But he felt that Fan Xi's terrifying popularity in North America was somewhat of a castle in the air, because Fan Xi's super high popularity was partly accumulated by constant victories on the court and various miraculous performances, and the other part was because of his emotional entanglements with Hollywood female stars.

However, in Lu Yuan's view, both of these were unstable. No player could guarantee that they would constantly create miracles, and Fan Xi's success on the court was inseparable from the Lakers' overall strength.

As for the emotional entanglements with those female stars in the entertainment industry, Lu Yuan had always felt that emotion was the most unreliable thing, so he didn't believe in any love, so he had never been married. He felt that these female stars' rush to Fan Xi would change sooner or later; whether from historical experience or American cultural traditions, they could not be chaste women who were loyal to one person, let alone they all fell in love with Fan Xi at the same time.

Therefore, he hoped to earn a wave of quick money while his popularity was high.

However, what he didn't expect was that besides taking some local station activities in Los Angeles, Fan Xi called a halt to those long-term sponsorship contracts.

He told Lu Yuan: "The only person who can master the future is myself."

"But Jack, can you be sure that these famous female stars will always love you? Now a large part of your popularity in the United States comes from this; those boring people like to watch such gossip news."

Lu Yuan said worriedly.

Fan Xi shrugged: "I believe those brands with long-term vision can't find a star with many lace news. I will continue to improve myself on the court; as for these messy things, they can't affect my determined heart."

Lu Yuan chose to listen to Fan Xi's words; as an agent, he handled more specific matters, and Fan Xi controlled the general direction.

He had a strong sense of conviction in this young boy.

May 26th.

The Miami Heat defeated the Bulls at the United Center in Chicago with a score of 83:80.

The young regular season MVP fell before the Big Three; Derek Rose, as the second superstar of the new generation, won respect in this series, just like Kevin Durant and Westbrook fell before the powerful Lakers.

People all knew that Derek Rose had a bright future, and the future belonged to him. The Bulls' revival was just around the corner.

LeBron James once again proved that he was the best player in the league today; as a member of the middle generation and also the face of the entire league, now he only had one opponent in front of him: the king of the '96 Golden Generation, who had dominated the league for 16 years, holding five championship trophies, two Finals MVPs, one regular season MVP, three All-Star Game MVPs, and 13 All-NBA teams and 10 All-Defensive teams, Kobe Bryant.

Although LeBron James chose to join the Miami Heat last summer at the peak of his career, and his behavior of teaming up with Wade and Bosh made people drop their glasses, as Miami continued to win, these doubts gradually became smaller.

If LeBron James defeated Kobe Bryant this season and won the first championship trophy of his career, then his choice last summer would be regarded as a small flaw that didn't obscure the jade, and it wouldn't affect the judgment of his entire career.

After all, the times had changed now. The kind of generation hero who guarded a city alone until success might be inappropriate.

After defeating the Chicago Bulls, LeBron James praised Derek Rose as the number one person in the league.

He said: "This is the most difficult guard I have ever seen; the destructive power Derek Rose possesses is inconsistent with his calm appearance; he is as fast as lightning and unstoppable. He will definitely become the league's signature player in the future; he and Kevin Durant will become the two best players in the league."

This was almost the consensus of the entire basketball world.

Kobe, Duncan, Pierce, and Garnett were considered the super superstars of the Pan-'96 generation, the old-generation speakers of the league. Among them, considering the comprehensive factors of off-court influence and on-court influence, Kobe Bryant was respected.

LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Dwight Howard, Carmelo Anthony, and Chris Paul, these superstars in their prime, were considered the middle-generation speakers of the league. LeBron James was the well-deserved number one person; in fact, he was already the number one person in the entire league.

Among the younger generation of superstars, Kevin Durant and Derek Rose were the most outstanding. Fan Xi was also in this sequence; his amazing off-court influence plus on-court influence could even exceed these two, but in terms of strength, he was still considered to be in the second tier; he still needed more games to prove himself.

And when Miami broke out of the East, all sports media became excited, and TV stations became excited too.

Kobe vs. James.

Since '07, it had become the main theme plot of the league.

Whether it was the fans, or each other, or the advertisers and media behind them, all hoped for this scene to be staged.

In '09, James had the opportunity to break out, but unfortunately fell under the iron palm of the Orlando Magic.

Now, this scene finally happened.

All of a sudden, media reports about these two teams were emerging one after another, and this year's Finals was hailed as the number one grand event in the sports world.

Because too many people dreamed of Kobe and James fighting at the top of the Forbidden City; this would bring answers to many unresolved topics.

Fan Xi browsed the Chinese internet, and the fans of both sides on those basketball forums were already arguing endlessly.

From this, it could be seen how terrifying the influence these two historical-level superstars possessed.

In the basketball world, it was equivalent to Ye Gucheng and Ximen Chuixue fighting at the top of the Forbidden City.

David Stern felt exceptionally excited about this; he never dreamed that before he retired, he would still be able to welcome such a prosperous age.

The latest news showed that the advertising space for this year's NBA Finals was sold at an unprecedented high price, the reservation numbers for TV stations also reached an unprecedented level in history, and the tickets for both sides also reached a height never reached by the NBA; taking the top-tier tickets of the Los Angeles Staples Center as an example, the selling price had already broken through 3,000 US dollars, and if you wanted to buy from the pockets of scalpers, you needed to start at 5,000 US dollars; as for those tickets sitting behind the bench, you needed to pay at least 700,000 to 800,000 US dollars to start.

When Fan Xi knew this number, he was numb all over. He thought that just staying in a nightclub for half an hour and taking away 300,000 US dollars was an astronomical figure; now he realized how much profit could be brought by truly becoming a signature superstar of the league.

Before heading to Miami, Kobe Bryant specially organized a party, right in his backyard; he took out the treasured red wine, and as a leader, he divided the meat for all players including Andrew Bynum.

And in the midst of drinking, he expressed his feelings.

He told the teammates emotionally: "Brothers, the next moment is our historical moment. We will become the fifth team in history to win at least a three-peat; we will be famous and make a lot of money!"

"In the face of such a historical opportunity, I hope everyone will not be soft-handed; for yourself, for your family, for the entire city, fight!"

Kobe said with great passion.

He inspired the passion of the teammates.

In fact, at this time, no one needed to be mobilized. Because once you won the championship, the honor and money and fame obtained were completely incomparable to the Western Conference championship; there was only one champion every year. And this year's Lakers championship was still a three-peat, and it was obtained by defeating the signature superstar James.

Kobe then pointed to each player's name and said some encouraging words.

He said them one by one, and those whose names were called felt a sense of glory and explosive fighting power.

Many people said Kobe Bryant was a lone wolf and had no leadership charm. But in fact, when he really started to inspire players, he had a way.

"... Andrew, I know you have always wanted to surpass me. You have always wanted to prove that this is your team; I am glad that you finally have your own sense of territory like a man. I promise you, after this season, after winning the championship, I will truly delegate power to you young people. Your opportunity has come; this Finals, prove it to me, prove that you are a true strong person, not a fragile boy who hides behind and calculates, wants to share a piece of the pie when encountering benefits, and retreats when encountering difficulties."

"Are you a man? Are you a strong person?"

Kobe questioned Bynum loudly.

"Of course I am," Bynum roared, stimulated: "I will definitely wear the crown of the Purple and Gold Legion. This is my team!"

"Very good!"

Kobe nodded.

Finally, he looked at Fan Xi.

Looking at this undrafted player he had tried his best to keep, who had now grown into the most trustworthy Second Route Marshal of the Lakers, Fan Xi.

Although Fan Xi's appearance, technique, personality, and character were very different from his, he always felt that Fan Xi was another himself in this world. Equally competitive, equally paranoid, equally able to disregard everything for victory.

Therefore, he didn't even know what to say to Fan Xi.

He could encourage Gasol to be stronger, could inspire Odom to be more focused, could provoke Bynum to become tougher... only Fan Xi.

He smiled.

Then he stretched out his arms and hugged Fan Xi: "Jack, I'm glad to be your teammate."

"Me too," Fan Xi nodded with a smile.

He had learned too much from Kobe; although his offensive skills hadn't released true fighting power, the foundation laid by Kobe had already benefited him a lot.

Kobe handed the knife he had used to divide the meat for his teammates to Fan Xi: "Jack, from now on, you divide the meat for the teammates."

Fan Xi looked up and saw Kobe's gaze full of encouragement.

He believed in Fan Xi; he knew Fan Xi would definitely divide better and more beautifully than himself.

... ===== CHAPTER 157 =====