Chapter 550: Chapter 388 The Price of Growth

The All-Star Weekend in New Orleans was a spectacle, a showcase for the NBA to demonstrate its humanitarian concerns. Though they couldn’t bring any substantial help to the locals, just conveying the message that “the NBA stands with New Orleans” was enough.

Yu Fei heard that Jordan had come to New Orleans and had said some strange things about himself.

But Yu Fei didn’t care what Jordan said, because it was useless. When a person no longer plays the game, their words carry no weight, unless they are willing to lower themselves like Magic Johnson did, adding the attribute of a media personality to themselves.

Yet just by looking at what Jordan had done since retiring, one could tell he wouldn’t do that.

His class had risen. He was now a businessman, an owner; everything he did was for the sake of his business.

Therefore, when such a person made a few odd comments about the recent internal strife of the SuperSonics, people sensitively remembered the feud between him and Yu Fei.

If there was a feud, how convincing could his words be?

After arriving in New Orleans, Yu Fei had to promote his Reebok brand in addition to meeting with Clay Bennett.

Every year, the NBA holds about four or five top-level summits.

The first one is during the All-Star Weekend, when the league convenes a high-level summit at the location of the All-Star Game, followed by the owners’ summit in April, the summary conference in June–of course, you could also call it the profit-sharing conference–and the annual meeting at the end of the year.

In the meantime, if any major issue arises that requires the owners’ input, an emergency meeting will be called.

This time in New Orleans, the show was not just the league’s job; the businesses represented by the owners wanted to show their faces too, so the owners of all the teams had come to the city of jazz.

…

When Bennett decided to keep the SuperSonics, he realized how difficult it was.

Yu Fei had brought astonishing profits, revitalizing the moribund market and rekindling hope among Seattle basketball fans, but getting the municipal government to approve a financing plan for a new SuperSonics arena? The polls were still not budging.

Mayor Nickels had recently passed a “Sports Arena Financing Opinion Bill.”

With the approval of 77% of the citizens, the municipal government had passed the bill.

What was its content? Put simply, the citizens were fed up with being repeatedly threatened by the major leagues’ franchise privileges; taxpayers’ money should be used for more important matters. However, they had not closed off all routes.

They just no longer wanted to hear teams blaming their poor management on the arenas. Therefore, if any team could prove they could bring competitive effects to the area and that with a better arena, they could create more revenue, the municipal government would consider passing a financing plan for a new arena.

This amounted to killing any hope the SuperSonics had of passing a new financing plan within the year; they would need one or two years to prove they could make money.

Bennett could wait, but he didn’t know if the league would be willing to.

“Frye, do you know about the new bill?”

Bennett asked directly.

Yu Fei nodded. He had heard about it, but although the bill sounded intimidating, it had actually given the SuperSonics a chance.

All they had to do was prove they could make money, and the bill would be no problem.

“I know, but I also know that’s not a problem,” Yu Fei said. “We can turn a profit this year.”

Yu Fei looked like a shareholder of the club, more concerned than many around Bennett about whether the SuperSonics were making money.

It was undeniable that the SuperSonics were making money.

And this was a fortune that Bennett had never dreamed of before he acquired the SuperSonics.

“Take a look at this,” Bennett pulled out a document. “Later, I will present this document at the meeting.”

Yu Fei opened the document and realized it was the latest financing plan.

Bennett planned to build a luxurious arena in the bustling center of the city, costing 400 million US dollars. He needed the municipal government to provide 300 million dollars in financing, with the remaining 100 million dollars to be raised by the SuperSonics themselves.

“Not bad, quite good,” Yu Fei said after reading. “I have some good news too.”

Bennett believed the good news must be related to him. “I assume you are willing to share this news with me.”

“Of course, it’s closely related to the team,” Yu Fei smiled. “I had asked Warren a while ago if he was willing to invest in our new arena. A few days ago, he gave me his answer.”

Bennett naturally knew that the Warren Yu Fei mentioned was Warren Buffett.

“What did he say?” Bennett asked.

Yu Fei replied, “He’s willing to invest 20% of the capital.”

Bennett felt his body heating up; 20% of the capital meant 80 million US dollars. To Warren Buffett, it was not a large amount, but this move indicated that Buffett was bullish about the SuperSonics’ future in Seattle.

With Buffett starting the trend, was he afraid he wouldn’t find investors?

The crazy idea that he might not need municipal financing to raise the money lasted only a few seconds.

Bennett knew he needed municipal financing.

It was indispensable.

It was the politically correct stance for the NBA’s delicate constitution.

The city government must provide financial support to show that Seattle supports the SuperSonics. Because NBA teams are in both big and small cities, not every team has as favorable conditions as the SuperSonics, and they can’t find substantial financing. Therefore, Seattle must support the SuperSonics — just as all major NBA cities must support their NBA teams —

otherwise, even with a new stadium, it would still not meet the League’s expectations.

But regardless, having someone like Warren Buffett getting involved, great things are expected.

Bennett found himself feeling more and more fond of Big Fei.

Can win games, has responsibility, extraordinarily high commercial value, and can even pull in investments…

“Right, Clay,” Fei spoke as if he were Bennett’s ally, not his player, “you know, my mom’s a businesswoman, and she’s also interested in investing in the new stadium. If it complies with the regulations, she’s willing to invest 5%.”

So, the 100 million US Dollars that Bennett was supposed to raise had already been gathered?

Wasn’t there a saying that Big Fei was difficult to deal with? Disrespectful of rules? Lacking in respect for his boss?

What did that matter?

If this person could take the team that finished last in the previous season to the top four in the Western Conference, turn a team that lost money last season into one that turned a profit halfway through the current season, and even bring in an investment of 100 million US Dollars for his boss, if he wanted to be the god of the team, Bennett wouldn’t say no.

Bennett now believed that the League would give him a few years to accomplish this.

The situation was becoming more and more favorable; they just needed time.

“Frye, from now on, play hard,”

Bennett said before leaving.

“And what about you, sitting at home counting money?”

Fei joked.

“Of course it’s to shut those idiots up!” Bennett picked up the financing proposal, his step as if carrying the wind, “What was your slogan again… I remember now…”

The lifelong Oklahoman strode boldly, full of fighting spirit, shouting, “Save Our SuperSonics!”

This was an abstract scene beyond description with words.

Fei still liked Bennett’s loyalty to his hometown as he had shown during their negotiations.

But this was fine too, at least Fei could be sure that the biggest uncertainty within the team had disappeared.

Bennett was truly on his side now. As for why, that wasn’t important. It might be because he saw the potential for development in Seattle, he hoped to continue making money for him or it could be other reasons. These details weren’t all-important.

He had made the right choice for Fei, and that was enough.

After talking with Bennett, the next morning, as the face of the League, Fei took part in painting the disaster zones in New Orleans, and he looked the part while presiding over a meeting to rebuild New Orleans.

The most important event of the day was the Rookie Challenge.

The SuperSonics had Durant on the rookie team and Roy representing the sophomores.

The experience was novel and Fei didn’t know who to support.

Before the game, Durant, like an apprentice, ran to the sidelines to ask Fei for advice.

“Today is not a good day for you to be on court, KD,” Fei said, “I expect you not to pass the ball.”

Durant asked, “Is passing a bad idea?”

“Your only connection with these guys is tonight, and the only thing you need to do tonight is to show off, let everyone see what you’re capable of.”

The contest between the rookies and sophomores allowed Durant to find that familiar feeling.

This low-level talent competition brought him back to his college days, where he displayed unique talent. However, the sophomores had too much of an advantage.

Even a player with All-Star capabilities like Roy didn’t play much, but just the performance of the others alone was enough to disorient the rookies.

Then, Daniel Gibson from the Cavaliers, a sophomore guard, was on fire, hitting shots from everywhere, scoring 33 points all from outside.

He had LeBron James getting up to cheer several times, truly capturing attention.

In the end, the sophomores overwhelmed the rookies, and Gibson was named the Rookie Challenge MVP.

LeBron James, present at the event, also gave an interview. His words were somewhat piercing to someone: “I’ve always told Daniel to shoot boldly, and he did. That’s the kind of performance he should be giving. I’ve always wanted to protect him under my wing, and seeing him perform so well moves me. I am proud of him.”

“When I retire, I will definitely remember what happened tonight,”

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Gibson gave his acceptance speech.

“Kevin played well tonight, it’s a pity they lost,” Fei said in an interview, “This is the cost of growing up.”

“This morning, while talking about the differences between you and him, LeBron said he won’t be as successful as you are, that he has his own way of being successful. What do you think?”

“It’s refreshing to hear someone who doesn’t know what success is talk about being successful.”

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