The Magic had only one game left in 1996. They played against the Pistons away in Detroit. Although Smiling Assassin Isaiah Thomas has retired, Chaudhumas is still fighting with the Pistons. Coupled with the best rookie in 1994, Grant Hill, and several good-powered role players, such as Otisthorpe, the strength of this Pistons cannot be underestimated. ↑

It was still the Magic that Jonny led the team alone. When Nick Anderson, Horris Grant and Gerard Wilkins went to Toronto to report, and the team's three new players had not arrived, the lineup was even more incomplete. Jonny played for a full 45 minutes and set a record of personal playing time. In this game, Jonny's performance was still good, but they lost to the Pistons.

After all, due to the trading issue in this game, the Magic can only line up the combination of Ronnie Sekali and Derek Strong, which has no defensive ability in the inside, and the small forward can only use Brian Evans. Such a starting lineup is extremely weak. If Joni can still defeat the Pistons with such a lineup, there is no need to doubt that Joni is already a superstar.

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

After this game, the Magic returned to Orlando. In Orlando, Joni met Jimmy Adams again, and Frank Gardner, the lawyer in Joni's agent team. At the same time, a middle-aged man Joni didn't know and a group of people behind him came.

When the middle-aged man saw Joni, he walked up and shook hands with Joni.

"Hello, Joni, I'm Phil Knight, the president of Nike." Joni quickly understood that after a week of negotiations, Joni's agent team and Nike and Adidas had in-depth negotiations. In the end, Jimmy Adams and Frank Gardner, as well as a veteran agent of David Falke's agent company, all felt that Nike's conditions were better and were more beneficial to Joni's future development. However, out of respect for Joni himself, they finally came to Orlando and wanted to talk to Joni in person.

Phil Knight was present in person, showing Nike's attention to Joni. Now Phil Knight has been staring at Joni. He has been curious about Joni, the hottest rookie in the league now. Although there are good players with low picks every year in the NBA league, even if there are one or two All-Stars, it is not surprising that Joni has broken records in succession and has surpassed Michael Jordan in the average score so far, and has become the league's No. 1 in average scores. After all, such performance and such data have already made people see that Joni's future is not just an All-Star.

For Nike, who has expanded rapidly in the NBA in recent years, it is imperative to win Joni. If Adidas is really taken away, it will undoubtedly be a very serious blow to Nike. So Phil Knight attached great importance to Joni and rushed over from his headquarters in Portland.

After Jonny understood the reason why Phil Knight and his nike team arrived, he sat down on the sofa. Jonny saw the current situation very clearly. Now the people who want it are Phil Knight and Nike, not Jonny. Jonny can wait for the price, and Phil Knight was afraid that Jonny would be snatched away by adidas.

"Jonny, you played a great game with the Knicks in the last game. Really, I watched the live broadcast. Your block was really shocking!" Phil Knight first complimented Jonny.

Joni just smiled and said thank you. The most exciting game he has played since he entered the NBA was actually the last game against the Knicks. Although Phil Knight's compliment made Joni very happy, he still would not give in to the sneaker contract. After all, Joni knew that this sneaker contract would be his first big income and was likely to reach the tens of millions.

Seeing that Joni's reaction was very indifferent, Phil Knight knew that Joni didn't like to be polite, so he directly came up with Nike's plan. Jimmy Adams and Frank Gardner had known Nike's plan for a long time, and Joni also had some understanding. However, when Nike came up with two contracts, Joni was curious to look at it.

The first contract has a long term, 7 years and 4,200,000 yuan, which can be said to be very high. Even Aaron Iverson, who was the first to get the sneaker contract in this rookie, just signed a 5-year contract with Reebok for 4,000 yuan. It can be said that judging from the amount of this contract, Nike's sincerity is very sufficient.

The second contract has a term of only two years, but the amount is very small, 800,000 for 2 years. Such an amount can only be regarded as the contract amount obtained by ordinary rookies. Players like Kobe Bryant, Marcus Camby, and Stephen Marbury have similar sneaker contracts, so when they see these two contracts, Joni frowned instantly.

The first contract was sincere, both in time and in money, but judging from the phenomenon that a large number of players received tens of millions of contracts or even billions of contracts from NBA teams at the beginning of this season, such an amount could not satisfy Joni's value soon, especially Joni was very confident in himself. He was confident that he would become a player like Michael Jordan and Anthony Hardaway. For Joni, 7 years was too long, and at that time, the average annual amount of 600,000 would be very small, so the first contract would be more harmful than good for Joni.

The amount of the second contract was a bit too shabby. Such an amount obviously cannot match Joni's current rookie and the NBA's first average score. Therefore, Joni frowned. For Joni, these two contracts were not very satisfactory.

Joni came back from his thoughts and smiled at Phil Knight: "Sorry, Mr. Phil, I think you should know that the price of adidas is much higher than you. They have issued a two-year contract of 2,000 yuan."

Phil Knight raised his eyebrows and said, "I know, I know, but Mr. Joni, do you know Michael Jordan's sneakers?"

"Of course." Since I was going to sign the sneaker contract, Joni naturally understood the sneaker contracts of most stars and rookies in the league. Michael Jordan's sneaker contract is relatively alternative and unique in the league, because Jordan's stars have formed his own brand and have almost become independent.

"That's OK. If you can maintain your current state, I can guarantee that your future sneakers can become a brand independently, which is something that adidas cannot guarantee." Phil Knight said proudly. In fact, in the past few years, the sneakers contracts of NBA stars have been monopolized by brands such as Adidas, and Nike did not have the upper hand. Jordan's sneakers were independent from Nike, which can be said to have helped Nike make an invisible advertisement, which is also a successful business operation of Nike. So Phil Knight has reason to be proud.

"But, I think if I have the status of Jordan, if I ask adidas to build my own brand, it will be impossible for adidas to refuse."

"But Jordan's status is hard to obtain." Phil Knight immediately retorted.

"But I have confidence in myself." Jonny's next words left Phil Knight speechless. Jonny was confident of getting the same status as Jordan. What could he say?

"So Mr. Joni, what conditions do you think can allow us to reach an agreement?" Phil Knight had to take a step back. In fact, he was already a little forced to the dead end by Joni. This year's NBA draft was an unprecedented year, but this year's Nike's gains were not very good. Among the rookies of the same year, there was only one Ray Allen who was won by Nike, and others such as Alan Iverson, who joined Reebok, Kobe Bryant joined Adidas, Stephen Marbury joined And1, and Joni's new teammates have also signed with Adidas.

In the year of the draft, I almost got nothing, and of course Nike cannot miss the emergence of Joni Lee.

"The contract remains unchanged for two years, and the amount has increased to 2,000,000." Joni spoke directly at the lion.

"This is impossible!" Phil Knight shouted. It was indeed a bit terrifying for Joni to shout. Even Jimmy Adams and Frank Gardner were laughing helplessly, thinking in their hearts whether Joni didn't understand the price of the sneaker contract. But how could Joni not understand? He has investigated many players' sneaker contracts. Joni knew the current situation of the NBA sneaker contract.

"Then there is nothing to talk about. I think the contract of adidas is better." Joni refused directly.

Phil Knight was immediately overwhelmed. He didn't expect Joni to be so difficult. There was no way. In order to win the player that Nike had to win, Phil Knight decided to make concessions.

"2 years 1,600,000 yuan, and at the same time, the next contract is subject to the same price, we must renew the contract with us first. Of course, the conditions for building a personal brand will also be written into the terms."

"Okay! That's it!" Joni agreed without thinking and immediately agreed. The average annual price was 800,000 yuan, which was enough to meet Iverson's sneakers contract. More importantly, Joni's contract lasted only two years, which was the most beneficial to Joni. Joni then made another request: "I want to see my sneakers as soon as possible."

"Of course, we will use our best efforts and fastest speed to create your sneakers. How about the time is set at the All-Star Game?" Phil Knight said after thinking.
Chapter completed!