The Magic only have one game left in 1996, they face the Pistons on the road in Detroit, although the smiling assassin Isaiah Thomas has retired, Joe Dumas is still fighting with the Pistons, plus the best rookie in '94 Grant Hill, and several good role players, such as Otis Thorpe, the strength of this Pistons is still not to be underestimated. ↑

It's still Jonny who leads the team alone, with Nick Anderson and Horris Grant and Gerard Wilkins reporting to Toronto, and the team's three new signings have not yet arrived, the lineup is even more incomplete, Jonny played a full 45 minutes, setting a personal record for playing time in a single game, and Jonny still performed well in this game, but they lost to the Pistons.

After all, because of the trade problem in this game, the Magic can only discharge the defenseless combination of Ronnie Secali and Derrick Strong on the inside, and the small forward can only use Brian Evans, such a starting lineup can be said to be extremely weak, if Jonny can still beat the Pistons with such a lineup, then there is no doubt at all, Jonny is already a superstar.

However, even if the Magic did not defeat the Pistons, Jonny's performance in this game was still very good, which can fully prove Jonny's strength.

And after this game, the Magic returned to Orlando, where Jonny met Jimmy Adams again, and Frank Gardner, the lawyer on Jonny's agent team, arrived at the same time as a middle-aged man that Jonny didn't know, and a group of people behind him.

When the middle-aged man saw Jony, he walked up and shook Johnny's hand.

"Hello Jonny, I'm Phil Knight, President of Nike." Jonny quickly understood that after a week of negotiations, Jonny's agent team had in-depth negotiations with Nike and Adidas, and finally Jimmy Adams and Frank Gardner, as well as a veteran agent of David Falck's agent company, felt that Nike's conditions were better and more beneficial to Jonny's future development, but out of respect for Jonny himself, they finally found Orlando to talk to Jonny face-to-face.

And Philknight's presence in person shows how much Nike values Johnny. And now Philknight, has been staring at Jonny, for Jonny, the hottest rookie in the league now, he has been curious for a long time, although there will be good players with low picks in the NBA league every year, even if there are one or two All-Stars, it is not surprising, but like Jonny, who has continuously broken records, so far the average points per game has surpassed Michael Jordan, becoming the league's No. 1 Jonny per game, it is a bit superhuman, after all, such a performance, such data, It's already clear that Jonny's future isn't just an All-Star.

And for Nike, which has been expanding rapidly in the NBA in recent years, it is imperative to take Jonny, if Adidas is really allowed to snatch it, it will undoubtedly be a very serious blow to Nike, so Phil Knight attaches great importance to Jonny, and he specially rushed over from the headquarters in Portland.

And after Jonny understood the reason for the arrival of Phil Knight and his Nike team, he sat down on the sofa, and now the situation, Jonny sees it very clearly, and now it is Phil Knight and Nike, not Jonny, Jonny can be sold at the price, and Phil Knight is afraid that Jonny will be snatched away by adidas.

"Jonny, last game with the Knicks, you played awesomely, really, I watched the live broadcast, that block of yours, it's really shocking!" Philnet complimented Jonny at first.

And Jonny just smiled and said thank you, the coolest game he played since he entered the NBA was actually the last game against the Knicks. Although Philknight's compliment made Jonny very happy, he still wouldn't budge on the sneaker contract, after all, Jonny knew that this sneaker contract would be his first big income, and it was likely to reach the tens of millions level.

Seeing that Jonny's reaction was very weak, Phil Knight knew that Jonny didn't like such politeness, so he directly came up with Nike's plan, and for Nike's plan, Jimmy Adams and Frank Gardner knew about it for a long time, and Jonny also had some understanding, but when Nike took out two contracts, Jonny was still curious to look at it.

The length of the first contract is very long, 7 years 4200w, this amount can be said to be very high, even Alan Iverson, who was the first to get the sneaker contract in this rookie, only signed a 5-year 4000w contract with Reebok, it can be said that from the amount of this contract, Nike's sincerity is very sufficient.

The term of the second contract is only two years, but the amount is very small, 800w for 2 years, such an amount can only be regarded as the contract amount that the average rookie gets, like Kobe Bryant, as well as Marcus Camby, Stephen Marbury, and the shoe contracts of players are almost at this price, so seeing these two contracts, Jonny's brows instantly wrinkled.

The first contract, whether it is time or money, is very sincere, but judging from the phenomenon of a large number of players getting tens of millions of contracts or even 100 million yuan contracts from NBA teams at the beginning of this season, such an amount will soon be unable to meet Jonny's value, especially Jonny is very confident in himself, he is confident to become a player like Michael Jordan and Anfernee Hardaway, for Jonny, 7 years is too long, and the average annual amount of 600w will be very small at that time, So the first contract did more harm than good for Jonny.

As for the second contract, the amount is a bit too shabby, such an amount is obviously not in line with Jonny's current status as the best rookie and the NBA's No. 1 scoring per game, so Jonny's brows are furrowed, and for Jonny, these two contracts are not very satisfactory.

Jonny came back from his contemplation and smiled at Philnet: "I'm sorry, Mr. Phil, I think you should know that the price of adidas is far higher than yours, and they offer a two-year contract for 2000w. ”

Philnet raised an eyebrow and said, "I know, I know, but Mr. Jonny, do you know Michael Jordan's sneakers?" ”

"Of course." Now that he is going to sign a sneaker contract, Jonny naturally understands the sneaker contracts of most of the stars and rookies in the league, Michael Jordan's sneaker contract is relatively alternative and unique in the league, because Jordan's star has formed his own brand, and he has almost become independent of Nike.

"That's okay, if you can keep it the way it is, I can guarantee that your future sneakers can be a brand on their own, which adidas can't guarantee." Phil Knight said very proudly, in fact, in the past few years, the sneaker contracts of NBA stars have been monopolized by brands such as adidas, and Nike does not have the upper hand, and Jordan's sneakers are independent from Nike, which can be said to have helped Nike play an invisible advertisement, which can be regarded as a successful business operation of Nike. So Philnet has reason to be proud.

"However, I think when I have the status of Jordan, if I ask adidas to build my own brand, adidas will not refuse."

"But Jordan's status is hard to get." Philnet immediately retorted.

"But I have faith in myself." Jonny's next words left Phil Knight speechless, Jonny is confident that he will get the same status as Jordan, what can he say?

"And Mr. Jonny, what do you think will allow us to come to an agreement?" Phil Knight had to take a step back, in fact, he was already a little forced into a corner by Jonny, this year's NBA draft is an unprecedented year, but this year's Nike harvest is not very good, among the rookies of the same year, there is actually only one Ray Allen who was taken by Nike, and others such as Alan Iverson, he joined Reebok, Kobe Bryant joined adidas, Stephen Marbury joined and1, and Jonny's new teammates have also signed with adidas.

In the draft year, there was almost nothing, and the emergence of Jonny Lee, of course, Nike could not be missed.

"The 2-year contract remains unchanged, and the amount is increased to 2000w." Jonny opened his mouth to the lion.

"It can't be!" Philnet screamed, and indeed Jonny shouted that the price was a little scary, and even Jimmy Adams and Frank Gardner were laughing helplessly, wondering if Jonny didn't understand the price of the sneaker contract. But how could Jonny not understand, he has investigated the shoe contracts of many players, and Jonny knows the current situation of NBA shoe contracts.

"Then there's no need to talk about it, I think the adidas contract is better." Jonny directly refused.

And Philnet suddenly became one or two years old, he didn't expect Jonny to be so difficult, no way, in order to get this player that Nike must take, Philnet decided to make concessions.

"1600w for 2 years, and at the same time, the next contract will be renewed with us at the same price, and of course, the conditions for building a personal brand will also be written into the terms."

“ok！ That's it! Jonny didn't think about it, and immediately agreed, with an average of 800w per year, this price can already catch up with Iverson's sneaker contract, and more importantly, Jonny's contract is only two years, which is the most beneficial to Jonny. Jonny then made another request: "I want to see my shoes as soon as possible." ”

"Of course, we're going to do our best to build your shoes as fast as we can, and how about the All-Star Game?" Filknight thought for a moment and said.

"No problem." The All-Star Game, this speed is fast enough, and Jonny can't help but be even more motivated when he thinks that he can put on his own sneakers during the All-Star Game.