For Li Tian, the two days of Christmas were a rare relaxation at Lawrence, and he even saved practice. Originally, Li Tian planned to stay in Lawrence for three days, but the morning after Christmas, Li Tian left Lawrence and rushed back to Sacramento because Pete Smith called Li Tian to go back and sign a sneaker endorsement contract.

Since the second half of last season, Li Tian has received sneaker endorsement contracts one after another, but because Pete Smith thought that Li Tian's performance in the league at that time was not outstanding, the matter was put on hold.

After the start of this season, especially since the second half of November, Li Tian's performance has become better and better, and Pete Smith has also received a lot of endorsement contracts, which are naturally indispensable to several sports brands in China, such as Li Ning, Peak, and Anta, all of which have approached Pete Smith.

And the two giants of sports brands, Nike and Adi, also threw olive branches to Li Tian, obviously taking a fancy to Li Tian's identity as a Chinese player. Recently, Pete Smith has also been in talks with various sports brands.

After entering the league for more than a year, if Li Tian wanted to sign some endorsement contracts before, he could sign a lot with his status as a Chinese player, but Pete Smith's strategy was that Li Tian was able to go in the direction of big contracts and high endorsements from the very beginning, so Li Tian has never had any endorsements, and now, Pete Smith believes that Li Tian's popularity has finally accumulated to a certain stage, and such a thing can be considered.

This season, the Kings have a good record, and Adelman's arrival has brought their offense to the forefront, so there has been renewed attention. And Li Tian also has a high popularity in China with his outstanding performance, and even began to become a relatively popular player in the entire league.

In the first round of All-Star voting results announced in mid-December, Li Tian has been ranked high among the guards in the West, second only to Kobe, and the outside world also believes that with Li Tian's popularity in China, referring to Yao Ming's rookie year, Li Tian is very likely to be selected as an All-Star starter.

Facts have also proved to be true, in the second round of All-Star voting announced on December 24, Li Tian's vote ranked first in the Western backcourt.

758,960 votes, in the second round of voting officially announced by the NBA, Li Tian's votes surpassed the injured Kobe Bryant, second only to Durant with 850728 votes in the West, and judging from Li Tian's growth trend, it is entirely possible for him to surpass Durant to become the king of votes in the West in the remaining month. As for getting into the All-Star starters, there is almost no suspense.

Unlike Yao Ming, Li Tian is a guard, which means he has more opportunities to perform in the All-Star Game, and according to some news, the league is very interested in inviting Li Tian to participate in the three-point contest, plus Li Tian, as a sophomore, will also be selected for the Rookie Challenge. Li Tian will have plenty of opportunities to show his face during the All-Star Weekend, which has been recognized by major sports brands, so they have stepped up their offensive as well.

…………

Sacramento, Li Tian and Pete Smith sat facing each other, Li Tian did not rush to pick up the contract in Pete Smith's hand, but asked with a smile: "Adi or Nike?" ”

"Why don't you think it's your domestic brand, or UA, Reebok?" After listening to Li Tian's question, Pete Smith asked rhetorically.

Li Tian shrugged his shoulders and said: "I'm just guessing, you want me to have more influence in business, and it seems more straightforward to choose a bigger brand, is my guess right?" ”

"That's right! Go ahead and take a look at your first draft sneaker endorsement contract. After Pete Smith finished speaking, he handed the contract to Li Tian.

"Adi?" Flipping over the cover, Li Tian said with a little surprise, but his surprise was only for a moment, and then he regained his composure.

Li Tian's reaction suddenly made Pete Smith a little curious, and he couldn't help but ask: "Li, you don't look very surprised, don't you think I should show you Nike's contract?" After all, Nike is a giant in basketball products. ”

"Yes, a little bit of a surprise, but it wasn't too surprising to me, I thought you would end up with Adi's contract in front of me." Li Tian said to Pete Smith while flipping through the contract.

"Oh? Can you tell me what you think, I was going to find a reason to convince you, but now it seems that I don't need it. Pete Smith said to Li Tian with interest.

After stopping to look at the contract, Li Tian analyzed after a little groaning: "As a Chinese player, I believe that my popularity in China is not low, but my popularity in the United States is obviously not comparable to that in China. So if you don't choose a Chinese brand, then you will choose Nike and Adi, two brands that are very popular in China. As for why it is Adi, maybe you think that there are already too many stars under Nike, Kobe, James, Durant, these players are very popular in both the United States and China, and they can fully support Nike in the markets of the two countries.

So, if Nike chooses to endorse me, they are just worried that I will be signed by other brands to compete with them, and they don't need me to open up the market for them, which means that I may not be taken seriously.

However, if I choose to sign a contract with Adi, for the sake of the Chinese market, Adi will focus on packaging, and regard me as an important weapon for them to compete with Nike in the Chinese market, and I don't have to worry about not being taken seriously. ”

"Smack! Syllable! Syllable! After Li Tian finished speaking, Pete Smith immediately applauded, and then said to Li Tian with an appreciative face: "Li, your analysis is very good!" Your performance has put me under a lot of pressure as an agent, and I'm wondering if you'll just fire me in a few days and take care of the business yourself. ”

Listening to Pete Smith's first half of praise and the second half of his ridiculous words, Li Tian immediately laughed and scolded: "Pete, this sounds very hypocritical, don't use your set at the negotiation table on me." ”

"Now I don't like to sit at the negotiating table and talk with some old foxes, I'm more interested in the game, and it's still appropriate for you to talk about money. What is Adi's offer? ”

As he spoke, Li Tian looked at the contract, and when he saw the amount of the contract, he couldn't help but be slightly stunned.

"Pete, how the hell did you talk to them?" After taking another look and confirming that he was not mistaken, Li Tian asked with some surprise.

The three-year contract for the sneakers didn't surprise Li Tian, because Li Tian had communicated with Pete Smith a long time ago that he hoped that his sneaker contract would not be too long.

Li Tian's consideration is the same as signing with the team, he firmly believes that with the help of Tieshu, he will perform better and better, so he does not want to have too long a contract to limit himself.

However, the amount of this contract is somewhat unexpected by Li Tian, 30 million US dollars for 3 years, and an endorsement fee of 10 million US dollars per year, which is already high for Adi, who does not like to use high endorsement fees to smash on young players.

"They have taken a fancy to the Chinese market behind you, it's that simple, Li, maybe you don't know how big the Chinese market is, you underestimate your country's spending power, but Adi's management is very aware of this." Pete Smith explained.

"This is my bargaining chip, of course, this has something to do with the fact that the contract is only 3 years, and Adi initially offered 50 million for 7 years. When I talked about changing the contract to 3 years, they finally agreed, 3 years, which means they don't have to take as much risk and they don't lose another 40 million if you don't perform as well as expected. ”

"At the same time, they put forward a condition." Speaking of this, Pete Smith pointed to a clause in the contract and said: "There is only $9 million guaranteed in this contract, and if you play less than 50 games in a single season in these three seasons, you will only get 3 million in that year." ”

Li Tian nodded, he can understand Adidas's clause, it seems that Adidas is also frightened by the injury of the star. Arenas before, Rose now, and Adidas don't have many defenders, and most of the famous ones have suffered injuries.

"I don't have much of an opinion on the big picture of the contract." After turning over all the contracts, Li Tian handed it back directly to Pete Smith.

Except for the add-on clause mentioned by Pete Smith, the rest of the terms of this contract are not harsh for Li Tian.

In order to further develop the Chinese market, Adidas also stated in the contract that it will launch signed sneakers for Li Tian, which is very important to Li Tian at this stage.

As for Li Tian's obligations in the contract, it is nothing more than to cooperate with the brand promotion, and then not to wear competitors' sports equipment in public.

"Okay, then next, I will work with the lawyer to carefully review the contract, and if there is no problem, I will give Adi an answer." Putting the contract away, Pete Smith said to Li Tian.

Li Tian nodded in agreement, and after Pete Smith put away the contract, he suddenly laughed and teased: "Hey, congratulations, millionaire Pete!" ”

According to the contract signed by the two, Pete Smith will get 18% of Li Tian's endorsement fee, even if it is calculated at 10 million in the first year, Pete Smith will also get 1.8 million US dollars, and the tax deduction will be more than 1 million US dollars, because Li Tian's salary contract Pete Smith's commission is only 2%, so Pete Smith at this time can be regarded as really having a high income.

"Thank you!" Pete Smith smiled happily, then looked at Li Tian with feeling, and said with gratitude in his eyes: "Lee, thank you, I am lucky to meet you, otherwise, I may still be struggling to buy a piece of pizza now." ”

After hearing this, Li Tian did not show a moved expression, but said with a disgusted face: "Damn, Pete, can you not say such a sensual thing, this sounds like a big man confessing to me." ”

was interrupted by Li Tian, Pete Smith also put away his grateful expression, and laughed: "Ha, Li, I don't have such a hobby. ”

"Who knows?"