One Year Left to Play-Chapter 107 - 34: Da Zhi, Let’s Go to the United States!
Paid $30 for training, an extra hour’s fee... It was Pierce who taught him. Every time he trains, he pays for an extra hour, which motivates the junior helping him train to be more proactive and passionate.
For him now, spending an extra $7.5 is not a big deal. In the past... it could buy a hearty and delicious large pizza, and he couldn’t bear to spend it before.
After finishing training and taking a shower, Zhang Hao rode his newly-purchased bicycle to a therapy center near the Great Western Forum. When he returned yesterday, he came to the Great Western Forum, not just to see the Lakers, who the news said were preparing to go on strike, but mainly to make an appointment with the therapist for daily afternoon therapy.
This was something he wanted for himself; post-training therapy is necessary even though he’s still young, and regular exercise means he’ll likely recover after a good night’s sleep, but youth is not a reason to squander one’s body... The main point is, now he has money and can afford the dozens of dollars for therapy fees.
Money earned should be used for oneself and family. To live smoothly until old age, one must have a healthy body, which is essential in both player and coaching phases for a long professional career.
Even though it’s painful to spend, when he came to the United States, the average salary in Beijing was only five or six hundred, and in Shanghai, it was only just over seven hundred, so a day’s therapy fee costs a month’s salary in Beijing. But this money has to be spent.
When not to spend money frivolously, he can listen to advice, and when he judges that it needs to be spent, even if it hurts, he pays these expenses decisively. Thanks to his family’s previous wealth, otherwise, he might have squandered when he should save, and been thrifty when money should be spent.
...
At the Great Western Forum, Jerry West saw all the player-related items packed away and felt very helpless. Compared to those owners, he is more pure about basketball... Mainly because when he played, he barely made money, nowhere near what he earns as a general manager now, so he finds this interest struggle uncomfortable.
Estimating that from July 1st, they won’t use this venue for at least a month now. Jerry West and the staff packed everything up and got into the owner’s son’s car to go back to the Time Warner Training Center.
Returning to the Time Warner Training Center, Jerry West asked Jim Buss beside him, "Jim, what are Garnett and Zhang doing after getting drafted?"
Jim Buss didn’t understand why Jerry West was so focused on these two high schoolers, but since this elder supported him against Jeanie Buss, he respected him greatly and naturally tried to do what he instructed. To compete for power with the big sister, his abilities are too far off without the support of other team management personnel. Fortunately, Jerry West and Mitch Kupchek both support him... But even with that, they can only contend with Jeanie Buss, whose abilities far exceed his, and her charisma makes her shine overwhelmingly compared to him, her brother.
Jim Buss took out a report from his bag sent back by the scouts and said, "Garnett signed a 3-year, $5.4 million contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves the night he was drafted, and is currently selecting a good private high school for his sister. There’s no new movement; Zhang signed a 3-year, $4 million contract with the Brooklyn Nets the morning before yesterday and returned to Los Angeles yesterday. Today he started training at Inglewood High School and announced through the Players’ Union this morning his need to hire an agent...
Jerry, why are you so concerned about these two high schoolers?"
"I want to know what these talented high schoolers who were drafted do after being selected and observe their situations," Jerry West replied.
"Didn’t their teams reject our offers?"
"You must make more attempts, because what if one succeeds? Not trying means you can never succeed. If we apply to trade with the teams of 100 talented players, even if only one succeeds, it does us no harm..."
Jerry West felt helpless; this young master is competent in nothing but sparring for favor in front of the boss.
Had the eldest son Johnny Buss been willing to take over Old Buss’s business, Jerry West would kill to not get involved with Jim Buss.
But Johnny Buss didn’t want to inherit the family business. Instead, he teamed up with a group of wealthy basketball enthusiasts to establish a league and even reached an agreement with the NBA, so in about two years, he plans to set up a women’s version of the NBA.
This might not reflect Johnny Buss’s ability, but his skill is demonstrated by his agreement with Toyota to build a brand new arena over the next three years. It’s not just a training venue but a real basketball arena holding over 6,000 spectators, serving as the Lakers’ new training ground and UCLA’s home court. His business skill is on par with Jeanie Buss.
However, Johnny Buss working effectively with the Los Angeles City Hall, NBA, UCLA, Toyota, and investors... is not solely for the Lakers, or rather, it’s not primarily for the Lakers but for his women’s basketball team. After the women’s version NBA Alliance is established, this arena will become the home ground for his owned team.
Jerry West can read people well; he knows Old Buss still prefers to leave his wealth to his sons rather than his daughters. That’s why he chose to assist Jim Buss. If Johnny Buss were willing to take over the Lakers, he would have nothing to do with the foolish son of the boss’s family.
