On November 24, 2015, Nike and Liu Ren jointly held a press conference in Los Angeles to announce the official establishment of their new brand Air-Boss! The AIR-BOSS 1 & 2 boots will be available on December 24th, 2015 and February 10th, 2016!

Originally, people thought that Liu Ren was going to announce the release time of the third pair of signed shoes, which was the case for the first two years, but the first two years were announced in early January.

But after knowing that it was Nike that established a new brand for Liu Ren, the entire sports world was boiling!

The second athlete in the history of sport to be treated like this!

In addition to Li Ning's own sporting goods company, Liu Ren is the second athlete in the entire history of sports to have a sports brand giant build a new brand for him!

There was only Michael Jordan before, and Liu Ren was the second!

Although there are many Nike series, this is the second sub-brand that operates independently!

In this era of information explosion, the Internet exploded in an instant.

"That's too confident in the boss! Do they think the boss will be the second Michael Jordan? "Even Lakers fans are incredible.

"You're not right, from the perspective of sneaker sales, Boss is already at the Jordan level, and with only two pairs of signed shoes, he sold nearly two million pairs of shoes for Nike last season! Not only that, but by the way, the sales of Kobe Bryant's sneakers almost doubled in two years! You must know that Kobe's sneaker sales have been declining since 11, but they have been skyrocketing since the 13-14 season. ”

"I'm going to buy a few pairs of boss's only two pairs of shoes at Nike, according to Nike's urine properties that will be suspended in about 5 years, they estimate that in another two years, the number of boss's new brand sneakers will be out of print, and then like squeezing toothpaste, they will snap up once in a year or two, they have done this kind of thing too many times, I think I should buy a few pairs and put them away."

"That's right, maybe it will be auctioned in ten years."

"I'm going to buy ...... too"

“……”

“……”

Sure enough, as Linda expected, when the news of the new brand came out, the previous two sneakers were out of stock almost in a day!

In this regard, Liu Ren said that Nike's wave of non-discount promotions has done a really good job, and then the first boots of the new brand are not worried.

The reason is simple, just like the Air-Jordan boots are no longer available and can only be auctioned or purchased at a high price from collectors, the Air-Boss generation does not need to think that this will be the case in the future.

As for the quality of Liu Ren's new brand...... It's not for the fans at all.

Although it is a new brand, it is still a Nike brand like air-Jordan, the production process, technology used, and materials are the same as Nike, and even the appearance design is still the responsibility of Nike's designer, but the logo has been changed.

……

……

On December 25, the morning of the game day between the Lakers and the Trail Blazers, Liu Ren came to the Toyota Center.

As before, start with 300 blues, 50 from outside the three-point line and 50 from free throws.

However, it felt a little strange to cast Liu Ren, and when he looked back, he found that several people were staring at him.

"What are you doing?" Liu Ren looked at them and felt a little like being stared at by a group of jackals.

"Ah...... It's okay, boss, you keep practicing, leave us alone. ”

Liu Ren felt weird and continued to shoot.

After throwing a basket of balls, Liu Ren was just about to pick up the ball, and found that LaVine, the kid, came over directly pushing a basket of balls.

"Boss, you keep casting, I'll pick it up for you." After saying that, LaVine went to pick up the ball.

“……”

For the first time, Liu Ren found out that this kid Raven is so diligent without kicking!

This training feels a little awkward!

It took Liu Ren half an hour to finish the pre-training preparations, and Liu Ren was just about to go to get the towel, and Antetokounmpo had already handed the towel over.

“……”

Liu Ren was speechless for a while holding a towel, and then just sat on the bench on the edge of the training ground with his sweat, when Whiteside decisively offered Gatorade.

“……”

The corners of Liu Ren's mouth twitched, but he didn't expect Whiteside, who had thick eyebrows and big eyes, to be this kind of person.

"Tell me, what the hell are you trying to do?" Of course, Liu Ren guessed that these three ill-intentioned guys would definitely not be idle and courteous.

"Boss, we're brothers." Laven didn't care about Liu Ren's sweat, and directly hooked Liu Ren's shoulder.

"It's not." Liu Ren replied decisively.

"It's too much! Boss！ I treat you as a brother, but you don't treat me as a brother! Raven looked like a wronged little daughter-in-law.

"You're going too far! I treat you as a son, but you treat me as a brother! ”

"......" Laven was completely speechless.

"Okay, let's talk about something." Liu Ren is not joking anymore.

"Boss, what do you think of me?" Ravan instantly returned to his true nature.

"It's good, in two years, maybe I'll be an All-Star." Liu Ren told the truth, which means that it will take at least two years for LaVine to reach the first-line level of the league, almost before the rookie ends his last year and signs a new contract, although there are also super geniuses like Wall, Irving, and Lillard who quickly became first-line point guards in the second year, but after all, they are a minority, LaVine is talented, but the degree of development is too different from Irving and others, LaVine was not even the core of UCLA in college, he only averaged 9 points per game in college, and entering the NBA is pure talent.

"Then boss, do you want to consider signing me? Your sneaker brand doesn't seem to have signed a spokesperson yet, right? Ravan stated his purpose.

"There's no way around this, Nike won't let people go, they're not blind." Liu Ren glanced at LaVine, Nike is already preparing to train LaVine as Kobe's successor, and after LaVine stands up in the NBA, there will definitely be top endorsements to smash over, and LaVine is a member of Nike's potential star group, Nike has the right to match, Liu Ren is even more unlikely to let Linda dig up his own people, and his own people will raise the price for their own people, and their heads will be wat.

The most important thing is that the newly established subsidiary of Air-Boss has no money at all, and it will not have the money to sign endorsement stars until Liu Ren's generation of combat boots is sold, after all, the company is independent, and the publicity is independent, except for the endorsement fee that Liu Ren got in the Nike head office and the salary of the player, the rest is for Linda to pay for herself.

Of course, there are exceptions to this, and if Liu Ren or Linda poach a popular superstar from other big brands, Nike will help pay for the first year's endorsement.

And Liu Ren's brand spokesperson will not be too much, at most three or four, otherwise he will not be able to raise it, and it is not much more expensive.

Just like air-Jordan, air-Jordan only has four spokespersons, formerly Anthony, Paul, Wade, Ray Allen.

Now Wade is leaving Nike, Ray Allen is retiring, and after the newly signed Griffin, there are only three spokespeople.

And only Anthony and Paul have personal signature shoes, Wade has only sent PE before, no signature shoes, let alone Griffin, it is difficult to sell big shoes, and Howard's sneakers in Adi at his peak can't be sold.

There are just over 10 people in the entire NBA who have signed shoes.

“NO！ I'd also like to talk to boss your brand of sneakers! Boss, I'm your player, did you abandon me like that? ”

"Don't be disgusting, speak your mind."

"Nike's hooks are so ugly, I want to wear sneakers with your dunk action, and I'll dunk like that in the future, maybe people will think it's my brand."

"Get out!"

LaVine said he was hurt.

"What about me, boss, what about me! My two-year contract with Adi has just expired. Antetokounmpo looked like he was looking forward to wearing, his endorsement contract with Adi was 1.6 million for two years, when he first came to the Lakers to jump to the Chick Agency, he immediately got this endorsement, and I was pleasantly surprised at the time, you must know that many players like him who sell potential, the early endorsement fee is almost two or three hundred thousand a year, but as he gets stronger and stronger, this endorsement seems too cheap.

"I'm going to give you an endorsement contract of 5 million a year and sign you for ten years." Liu Ren replied.

Antetokounmpo was instantly pleasantly surprised, Anthony, Paul and others had an endorsement fee of six or seven million a year, and before Durant signed the new contract that was regarded as the poison contract that Under Armour fed to Nike, the endorsement fee was only 50 million for 7 years, for a large player, Antetokounmpo felt that the 5 million endorsement fee was already a surprise!

You must know that there are nearly 450 players in the NBA, of which 70%, that is, about 300 people have endorsement contracts with sneaker brands, but about 200 of them are commodity contracts signed once a year, that is, endorsement fees of tens of thousands to 100,000 yuan, and then the shoes worn in each game are given by endorsement brands, and other brands cannot be worn.

There are about 70 of the remaining 100 people who are the so-called potential star group, that is, cash endorsements, and the money they can get is between 150,000 and 500,000, but there are reward agreements, such as entering the All-Star, getting MVP, FMVP, and all have high bonuses.

The remaining 30 people can really get a lot of money, nearly 20 of them are celebrity endorsements, with more than 3 million endorsement fees, but there are no signature shoes, but there are also reward clauses, the amount is negotiated, there is endorsement publicity in the summer, and you can accumulate popularity, but they often go to the second and third tier cities in the world.

The last dozen or so people are the ones who stand at the top of the pyramid, have signed shoes, and become the face of the brand, and they do the publicity of the world's top cities every year, promote their popularity, and treat them as real superstars.

If he gets an endorsement fee of 5 million a year, it means that Antetokounmpo has become the most popular player among NBA players! How could Antetokounmpo not be happy?

"Boss, when are we going to sign the contract?" Antetokounmpo exploded with excitement.

"I want to sign you too, but I'm afraid that the proprietress of your brokerage company will beat me to death." Liu Ren smiled weirdly.

"Hostess? Mary？ Boss, Mary won't let me sign your sneakers? No way! I remember that I didn't offend the hostess, or did I do something wrong? "Antetokounmpo felt cold sweat on his vest, and it wasn't a good thing to offend his agent, especially for a European player like them.

"Want to know?" Liu Ren continued to laugh evilly.

"Well, boss, tell me, I'll go and apologize to Mary, and I'll definitely try to get the boss lady to forgive me." Antetokounmpo is ready to go to battle.

Chicks are the kind of strong women who say nothing in the company, and they put a lot of pressure on their young people.

"Okay, you go and apologize, Mary is talking to Adi about your contract renewal, it seems to be 70 million for 7 years, you go and tell her that you want to take 5 million a year, she will definitely be angry, and you can apologize justifiably when the time comes."

"I know the boss, I'll call Mary right away to apologize......"

Antetokounmpo suddenly stopped his voice and looked at Liu Ren with a look of surprise that turned to ecstasy.

“……”

Antetokounmpo smirked as if he had fallen into an evil spirit.

10 million annual endorsement fees, European basketball players have never got such a big endorsement contract!

Antetokounmpo is about to become the first European basketball player in terms of endorsements!

In fact, Liu Ren knows that in Xiaochi's agency, in addition to his accident, the most profitable person in the future is Antetokounmpo, who originally got a five-year contract extension promise of more than 130 million from the Bucks in advance this summer!

Players including LaVine, Whiteside, and Green can't catch up with Antetokounmpo's future value, Antetokounmpo's future is the same as Liu Ren's first person in the league, and LaVine can't catch up with Antetokounmpo's talent.

But also for this reason, the Lakers can't keep Antetokounmpo because they already have Liu Ren.

The age difference between the two is only two years, and the Lakers can't keep their peaks on the team like Kobe Bryant and O'Neal, so they can only choose to choose.

And Liu Ren is already the MVP, and he is a player selected by the Lakers themselves, and his popularity is not comparable to Antetokounmpo, so it is natural that Liu Ren stays.

The rest was one by the side, and when the flowers were gone, it was finally his turn in Whiteside.

The Lakers came to Liu Ren and wanted to join Liu Ren's only these three people, and the others did not have endorsement contracts as early as Kobe Bryant and Gasol, and they all had endorsement contracts before they retired, or they were potential stars for countless years, such as Korver, such as McCollum and others, without these three people have the potential and strength, knowing that they can only take one or two million cash endorsements.

Whiteside ...... Center......

O'Neal's sneakers can't be sold!

Power forwards and centers almost can't sell sneakers, so only two or three people in the center position have signed shoes in the past 20 years, so although Whiteside is becoming more and more popular, Adi, who signed with him for three years, did not talk about a contract extension with the chick, and obviously wanted to be the same as when he gave up Howard two years ago, and it would be over when Whiteside's contract expired.

However, Liu Ren is still ready to sign Whiteside, of course, the contract is not big, like Green, 7 years and 30 million.

Of course your own players have to be signed! Twenty percent of the business income and signing fees are the bulk of the broker's income, okay!

And Whiteside's popularity is not low, Liu Ren put Whiteside as a spokesperson to Linda at the beginning, Linda has no objection to this, can poach superstar-level players from Adi, the head office will be responsible for this part of the money, if the new brand sells well in the first year, this money does not care at all, if the sales are not good, it will directly declare bankruptcy and be re-incorporated into Nike, it is not Linda's business, what she has to do is to promote Liu Ren's new sneakers in the next few months, Poaching people from Adi's banner is also a good way to publicize.

"Hassan, your new endorsement contract has been finalized, the same as Drummond, 30 million for 7 years, if you agree, I'll call Mary, and she will bring someone from Nike to sign the contract in the afternoon."

"Okay."

The answer is really simple and concise, why does Liu Ren feel so unhappy?

"Hassan, I want to drink water."

"Get it yourself."

“…… Depend on! You money-eyed guys! ”

……

……

In the afternoon, Whiteside happily signed a new endorsement contract with Linda, this contract is a star endorsement, which means that from next offseason, he will be the same as Green, going to go outside the United States to do publicity, of course, the United States still has to do a living, even if his 1.2 million a year endorsement fee has a lot of activities, but they are all in California.

At 7 p.m., at Staples Center, the Lakers' 13th game of the season, home to the Portland Trail Blazers, is set to begin soon.

Lillard ......

Liu Ren looked at the arrogant point guard, and now he was really lonely.

In the past two seasons, the Trail Blazers' starting five kings were invincible in the league, just looking at the starters, their scoring, rebounding, defense, and efficiency in all aspects are at the forefront of the league, and even most of them are ranked first!

But one summer, the situation changed abruptly, and four of the five starters actually went directly, and if it weren't for Lillard's choice to renew his contract early, the Trail Blazers thought he was also going to leave and were ready to send him to the Rockets.

But now Lillard really regrets renewing his contract, and it is better to go to the Rockets.

Originally, Liu Ren remembered that even if the Trail Blazers lost four starters, this year was still good, because McCollum originally rose this year, and the backcourt duo composed of Lillard averaged nearly 50 points and more than 10 assists per game, and led the Trail Blazers to not fall out of the top eight in the West throughout the season.

But this time and space McCollum was poached by Liu Ren to the Lakers, and the Trail Blazers previously gave potential scoring guard Will Barton to the Nuggets, and they only had one Allen Crabbe left on the scoring guard, and Crabbe was still okay as a backup, averaging 8 points per game last season.

However, there is still a big gap between this Crabbe and the starter, so the Trail Blazers had no choice but to poach Gerald Henderson from the Hornets for 3 years and 30 million in the offseason.

The Hornets had Courtney Lee on their side, Mike Scott from the Lakers, and Henderson, who was seen as the core of the future but had not improved much, was abandoned.

It will cost 10 million a year to pick up players who can't be lifted up by others, which can see how desperate the Trail Blazers are this summer, and how desperate Lillard is now.

It's been almost a month since the season started, and you can almost see how strong the teams are.

On the Western side, the Warriors have won 14 consecutive wins and have not tasted a defeat so far, ranking first in the league, the Lakers are undefeated with 12 consecutive wins, and the Spurs are ranked third in the West with 11 wins and 2 losses, the Thunder are ranked fourth in the West with 10 wins and 4 losses, and the Clippers are ranked fifth in the West with 11 wins and 3 losses. The Rockets occupy the remaining three top-eight spots.

The Rockets have only 7 wins and 6 losses so far, which is really surprising, and the big three who said that they were pitted turned out!

The Trail Blazers and Mavericks are tied for ninth with 7 wins and 7 losses, ready to challenge for the eighth spot with the Rockets.

From ranking in the top three in the West last season to a winning rate of 50% this year, the Trail Blazers have completely fallen.

Even the Trail Blazers own fans don't see what the team can do this year.

However, there is one person who is the man who is said by Kobe Bryant to have the most similar personality to him.

Damir Lillard!

Lillard, who was originally a little discouraged, saw Liu Ren, and instantly his fighting spirit rose again!

Originally, seeing the expressions of the Trail Blazers players who were timid before the Lakers game was played, Liu Ren didn't have much expectations for this game, thinking that he would definitely crush this broken team in three or two strokes.

But when Liu Ren saw Lillard's eyes full of fighting intent, he immediately began to get excited again.

Both sides submit their starting line-ups.

On the Lakers' side, Clarkson, McCollum, Liu Ren, Gasol, and Monroe start.

Kobe Bryant did what he said and began to join the ranks of the rotation, and today it was Kobe, Green, Whiteside, and Antetokounmpo who were rested.

Henry and Blake are summoned back to guard the water cooler.

However, even if the Lakers let the three starters wear suits, it still makes Trail Blazers head coach Stottes envious and jealous.

D'Antoni is really hard-hitting, he has been cursed by the opponent's head coach hundreds of times a year, but he is still alive and well, and the more he lives, the more comfortable he becomes, and the value of the coach is also rising, and some people are beginning to predict how much contract the Lakers will give him when he renews his contract.

However, he knows that D'Antoni's goal now is the current season.

The Trail Blazers' starters can be described as shabby compared to last season.

Lillard, Henderson, Aminu, Ed Davis, Chris Carman.

This lineup is simply miserable!

With the exception of Lillard, all of them were players who were given up by other teams.

Henderson and Ed Davis are okay, but they want bigger contracts, the original team is not willing to give, the Trail Blazers are willing to give, and they are here, which is considered an average level starter.

And Aminu and Kaman, these two almost don't have a team to want!

Carman is a player of the 03 golden generation, and now he is in his 13th season, as an ordinary star-level player, he can play for more than 10 years, which is already very good, but at the age of 33, he really can't play at a good level, but this is already suitable for the best center of the Trail Blazers.

Aminu, the 2010 parallel No. 8 show, he is often compared with Hayward, Paul George, Bradley, Bledsoe and others who were selected after him, without these people, he would not be mentioned by many people when he was the No. 8 show, but the rookie talent exploded in 2010, he had Wall, Cousins, and Monroe in front of him, and there were seven or eight players with All-Star potential in this rookie, and his No. 8 show was particularly eye-catching in it.

Even if the Lakers didn't come up with the strongest lineup, and even five starters and four rotations were rested, it was crushing compared to the Trail Blazers! This season is the first year of the start of the new broadcast agreement, the number of live broadcasts of each team has skyrocketed, this season the Lakers have more than 60 games broadcast live in the United States on major TV stations combined, and the regular season is broadcast live in China and Europe, but this game is stunned that in addition to Time Warner's live broadcast in California, there is no national TV station to broadcast this game live, and the domestic side has not broadcast this game live in the early morning, so it can be seen that this game really does not attract the attention of fans at all.

Whether it is a game broadcast live in the United States is obvious, the number of live cameras can be seen, and the players naturally have found out.

"All ignore me, everyone ignores me!" Lillard has found a new reason to motivate himself.