Chapter 76 My admiration for him is like a surging river,
The next reporter to ask a question was an ESPN reporter, who asked, "Wolverine, the Knicks management thinks you are the next Ewing, do you think you are?"

Don Cheney sat on the left side of He Zhongqiu. He tilted his head and said, "Ewing is now an assistant coach for the Wizards. We will play the Wizards at home the day after tomorrow. He will return to New York tomorrow. Think about it before answering. Try not to offend the famous players of this team."

Philip translated what Tang Cheney was saying. Although He Zhongqiu did not have much education, he had been in society for so many years that he had the ability to speak differently to different people.

He thought for a moment and said, “I hope to be the next Ewing. He is a super center and the one I look up to right now.

My admiration for him is like the unending flow of a river, or like the overflow of the Mississippi River, which is unstoppable.

Philip was a little confused. How do you want me to translate "Mid-Autumn Festival"? I got goosebumps. I'm afraid Ewing would be embarrassed if he heard it.

Zhou Biao, Lin Cheng and other Chinese reporters were almost laughing out loud. They knew that He Zhongqiu was an actor before, and Zhou Xingxing could recite the lines very well.

Phillip reluctantly translated: "What Wolverine means is that he has great respect for Ewing, just like the Mississippi River, which is flooding."

"Clap clap clap..."

There was warm applause in the press hall.

Next, the focus of the reporters' questions was on the two slam dunks, one was an alley-oop slam dunk with one step from the free throw line, and the other was a slam dunk over David Robinson.

Alan Houston was depressed to death. After a press conference, the rookie became the protagonist, and he only answered two questions. He sat there the whole time as a supporting role, which wasted all his careful dressing up.

……

"Hey, Xia?"

He Zhongqiu returned home and received a call from Xia Song.

Xia Song returned to China on the 26th. He was so busy these past few days that he only had time to contact me today. After the call was connected, he immediately said:

"Mid-Autumn Festival, we will be here in two days, so you should prepare to collect the money."

"How much is it in total?" He Zhongqiu suddenly became excited.

"I didn't take small contracts, which would waste time shooting commercials. I only picked some endorsements that were high enough. There are seven endorsement contracts in total, and you can get about 65 million RMB every year." Xia Song said.

"So many?" He Zhongqiu's eyes lit up.

"Actually, it's not a lot. The seven endorsements combined would make less than 10 million dollars a year. You haven't made it big yet, so I can only negotiate this price. That's why I dare not sign a long-term contract. Some of the contracts are for one year, and some are for two years." Xia Song said.

“Before or after tax?”

He Zhongqiu thought about the fact that more than half of his salary was eaten up by the US government, and immediately asked again.

"Of course it's before tax. After deducting my 45%, you still have to pay the remaining % as personal income tax, which means you will get about million yuan per year." Xia Song said.

He grinned and said, "This tax, damn! It's at least lower than in the United States. Here in the United States, you have to pay 55%."

"Zhongqiu, when you become a real star, or even a superstar, your commercial income will be higher, several times or even dozens of times higher. Now it's just child's play." Xia Song said.

He said here, and then said: "By the way, several big brand sports companies in the United States have contacted me, including AND1 last time.

The contract Reebok gave you is a 7-year, $2800 million, signature shoe contract.

Nike is not a good option. They don’t think highly of you and are unwilling to give you a signature shoe contract. They are only willing to give you a group shoe endorsement for $1.2 million a year.

AND1 didn’t try to get a bargain this time, they offered $6 million for 3000 years, and said they could still negotiate face to face.”

"Really?"

He Zhongqiu was very happy. He thought of Dayao again and asked, "Brother Xia, how much is Dayao's basketball shoe contract?"

"Uh……"

Xia Song explained: "Yao signed with Nike in 1999 for four years and $20, and it will expire in May next year."

"What?"

He Zhongqiu opened his mouth wide.

Xia Song said: "Zhongqiu, now the American media recognizes you as a big Rain Man, your playing style is explosive and very popular with fans. You will definitely be popular in the United States in the future.

Moreover, your popularity in China is really high now, even not less than Yao Ming. The click-through rate and search volume of your dunks on several major Internet portals are very high, especially the three dunks that broke the backboard.

I think the shoe contract is still negotiable. We are not in a hurry. When you achieve better numbers in the future, we can discuss the contract better."

"Okay, I don't understand these, please think about it more."

He Zhongqiu replied and said, "Brother Xia, come over as soon as you finish your business." "What do you have to do?" Xia Song asked immediately.

"I have enough money now, so I plan to set up a private training team. Although the team has trainers, they are not just for me, and sometimes they delay my training," he said.

Xia Song said: "Okay, if you want to improve your strength as quickly as possible, you should build a personal training team. Mid-Autumn Festival, I will come here in a few days and live in the United States in the future.

I mentioned earlier that I would help you set up a business team. In the past few days, I have made some progress. I have found two suitable people in China to take charge of domestic affairs, and I am preparing to find two more in the United States. "

"Okay, you take care of this first. Another thing, I'm also planning to buy a house. The villa that Yao Ming bought for more than 500,000 US dollars is quite big. I think it's very good. It also has half an open-air basketball court." He said.

"It would be best to build your own indoor basketball court in the villa, just a half-court one. It will be more convenient for training and won't cost much," Xia Song suggested.

"Okay, then let's do as you say." he said.

……

On the 31st, He Zhongqiu's two dunks last night appeared on the official NBA website, and Stern ordered them to be the focus of promotional materials in the near future.

Thanks to last night's performance, his popularity is expanding rapidly, more and more New Yorkers are beginning to identify with him, and his title of dunk king has been established.

At 11 a.m., the Wizards led by Michael Jordan arrived in New York.

"Michael, there are rumors that you will retire again?"

"You also said that it was a rumor."

"Michael, the Wizards are currently ninth in the Eastern Conference. Do you intend to increase your playing time and make a push for the playoffs?"

"I'll be 37 in two months. I'm averaging minutes per game. How many minutes do you think I should play?"

"Michael..."

When he arrived at the hotel, Jordan got off the bus wearing sunglasses and was immediately surrounded by a group of reporters and photographers. He handled them with ease and walked into the hotel.

"Patrick, are you happy to be back in New York?"

"King Kong, do you think Wolverine will be the next you?"

“Patrick, will you return to the Knicks as an assistant coach?”

"Patrick, will you pass on your technical experience to Wolverine?"

As an assistant coach of the Wizards, Ewing also came to New York with the team. After getting off the bus, he was followed by a group of reporters.

He has a love-hate relationship with New York, and the same goes for New York fans.

In the later stages of his career, after he got old, the fans here began to boo him, disliking his slow pace that could not keep up with the lightning-fast mid-range shooting king and madman, and believed that he was a burden to the team.

He played 15 seasons in New York, and only failed to make the playoffs in the first two seasons, but made the playoffs in the next 13 seasons.

Even though he made it to the Finals in 99 and the Eastern Conference Finals in 00 in his last two seasons in New York, although he did not bring a championship to this city, he lived up to this city.

After he left, the team was eliminated in the first round in 01 and didn't even make the playoffs in 02. This is the difference between having him and not having him.

Indeed, his heart had grown cold and he wanted to leave the city that no longer welcomed him. The Knicks tried to keep him, and Jeff Van Gundy went to Maryland in person to persuade him to stay.

But it was also true that he had lost his love for the city, he was no longer the king of New York, so he refused.

"Feel sorry."

He never liked or even hated reporters, so after silently saying the word, he followed the team into the hotel.

"He's still the same."

"Ewing never changed."

"You can tell he hates us."

“No, I hate it here.”

"But he asked to leave?"

A group of New York reporters looked at Ewing's broad and heavy back with mixed feelings and talked a lot.

(End of this chapter)