Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

Chapter 967 967 570 Player Godfather_2

?Chapter 967: Chapter 570 Player Godfather_2 Chapter 967: Chapter 570 Player Godfather_2 If the era had not changed, Brown would still have been a useful blue-collar player, but the era changed too quickly.

Ironically, this new era was led by the team Brown played for, yet he himself could not adapt at all. If not for clinging to Yu Fei, he might have been unemployed long ago.

Therefore, when the Clippers signed Brown, the mystery of “Where did Yu Fei go?” finally began to have an answer.

This was an outcome no one had anticipated.

“The Clippers? Frye’s final choice turned out to be the Clippers?” Bill Simmons exclaimed in surprise, “Could it be that even God thinks MJ is the true GOAT, so he sent Frye to that cursed team?”

Immediately, various parties started discussing Ballmer, trying to understand what kind of promise this tycoon had made to the GOAT.

On July 20, Ballmer officially completed the acquisition of the Clippers.

The result was shocking. Previously, “Forbes” had valued the Clippers at 600 million US dollars, but Ballmer ended up spending 2 billion US dollars.

This price was not only more than three times the estimate, but it was also the second highest price for a sports team in history, only lesser than the Los Angeles Dodgers team sold last year for 2.1 billion US dollars.

This amount was clearly far more than the current value of the Clippers, but Ballmer knew well that every day’s delay increased the uncertainties in signing Yu Fei, so he decisively made an offer that Sterling couldn’t refuse.

Despite spending triple the estimated amount, Ballmer didn’t feel like he had lost out.

In fact, it was puzzling that a basketball team, rooted in Los Angeles for many years like the Clippers, was worth only 600 million dollars, indicating clearly that its previous owner had not managed the team seriously.

In Los Angeles, any professionally managed franchise, whether it’s the “money-devouring” Lakers Team, or MLB’s Dodgers, Angels Team or NHL’s Kings Team, and even NFL’s Rams, isn’t every one of them valuable? The market value of the Clippers itself was perplexing.

For a long time, this team had not been popular among the people of Los Angeles. Those who supported them were mostly fans who couldn’t afford Lakers tickets, or those who favored smaller teams.

However, even without Yu Fei’s joining, the Clippers were worth 2 billion dollars in Ballmer’s eyes.

The advantage of having a stingy owner was that every penny was spent cautiously; the team had no debts. Moreover, the Clippers’ broadcasting contract with the local TV station was due to expire in the summer of 2014, by then they could make about 20 million dollars a year, which was about a tenth of what the Lakers earned yearly from Time Warner.

Once Yu Fei joined, the Clippers would immediately become a top team in the league, and the income from the next local TV broadcast contract was bound to greatly increase.

Additionally, the financial status of the Clippers was very healthy. This was largely thanks to Sterling’s “prudent” style. If not for the scandal of racial discrimination, he would have faced hardly any external risks. In comparison, when Jordan acquired shares in the Bobcats, he spent far less because he inherited most of the previous shareholders’ debts, which had yet to be cleared. By comparison, the Clippers were a healthy asset.

As per the agreement, Ballmer would transfer 10% of the Clippers’ shares to a person nominated by Yu Fei.

According to the CBA agreement, the league prohibits people who are closely related to players and the direct relatives of players from owning team shares, to ensure fairness in competition. However, the league had never set clear standards for determining “close relations with a player.”

Therefore, Yu Fei decided to let Quentin DiMio resign from his own media company through Ballmer, who bought 5% of the Clippers’ shares, and DiMio would serve as the team’s president in the new season.

In exchange, Ballmer made another promise to Yu Fei: if Yu Fei ultimately chose to retire with the Clippers, he would gift 10% of the team’s shares to Yu Fei.

Of course, this was just a verbal promise, and there was no guarantee Ballmer would fulfill this promise later on.

But for Fei, what mattered was the present.

DiMio was Fei’s close friend, and now as the team’s president owning 5% of the shares, this granted Fei an influence within the team similar to what Jordan had with the Bobcats.

This was the control Fei wanted.

If Ballmer were to go back on his word in the future and take back the control of the team, Fei would be helpless. This is the inherent weakness of being a player: power is always granted by others, full control requires becoming an owner oneself.

That step was still far away for him; at this moment, he had reached his limit. Apart from Ballmer, no other team could offer the same conditions.

The current situation was ideal for him; he had gotten unprecedented power from Ballmer, holding the status of the GOAT. If the power were taken back before his retirement, it would only imply that he, like the Wizards’ Jordan, had messed up many things.

If so, being backstabbed would be deserved.

This was a new beginning.

He was already looking forward to the new chapter of his life.

On July 24, it was officially announced that Yu Fei had reached a four-year contract with the Clippers, including a player option.

The Supersonics dynasty had not ended in the Western conference finals. If Yu Fei chose to stay, they might rise again like the Bucks did in 2006.

However, Yu Fei did not stay.

He had completely abandoned the idea of staying with the team after the season ended.

Because his relationship with Clay Bennett had become irreconcilable.