Dominate the Super Bowl

"Li Wei?"

Mahomes stood at the co-driver's door, a red satchel over his shoulder, waiting for Li Wei to open the door, only to find that Li Wei was on the phone.

Li Wei gestured towards the phone, mouthing the words, "Agent."

Then, Li Wei took out the keys from his pocket and tossed them to Mahomes, heading towards the co-driver's seat while Mahomes made his way around to the driver's seat.

Li Wei and Mahomes, both rookies and neighbors, led very regular lives, with the same biological clocks, the same work content, and helped each other. They were both adjusting to the professional playing field.

Li Wei was a starter, but his understanding of football was only superficial; Mahomes was a substitute, but quarterbacks needed to learn a mountain of material.

Therefore, apart from regular training, the two would also study tactics together. Mahomes helped Li Wei gain a deeper understanding of football, while Li Wei helped Mahomes analyze the team's tactics in a comprehensive, three-dimensional way.

Back and forth, now the two simply went to training together and then returned home together, alternating between Li Wei's car one week and Mahomes' the next, taking turns driving, keeping a regular routine during the season.

In fact, not just Li Wei and Mahomes, but other rookie players also made weekly trips to Li Wei's place for tactical study sessions, Hunter included.

Mahomes still remembered the bewildered expression on Hunter's face when Li Wei initially invited him to the rookie strategy sessions.

In Li Wei's view, although they were competitors, everything was out in the open, fair and square, face-to-face combat. He disdained and had no need for underhanded moves; competition was also a form of motivation.

In just half a year, the progress among the rookies was indeed visible to the naked eye.

Even though Mahomes was still a substitute, because of Li Wei, he participated actively in every game, slowly transitioning into the identity of a quarterback, standing behind Smith, and seriously learning at Li Wei's side, truly feeling the confrontation and strategizing of the professional playing field.

Now, the rookie strategy sessions had also made a name for themselves within the Kansas City Chiefs. Some second-year players and free agents who joined during the offseason expressed interest today and if the timing was right, planned to see what these sessions were all about next time.

The season had just begun, and everything was positive.

This scene didn't surprise Mahomes, who expertly opened the car door as if it were his own and then opened the co-driver's door for Li Wei.

"LeBron?"

"Yes, there was indeed such a call. Should I know this LeBron?"

Upon hearing Li Wei's words, Mahomes, sitting in the driver's seat, burst into laughter, immediately recalling the mockery that had taken place in the locker room.

Li Wei shrugged lightly to show his innocence.

"But how did you know? They couldn't be some important big shot, could they?"

Donald: …

Donald had grown accustomed to such interactions, "Just the current NBA star, no big deal. You don't have to pay special attention."

Li Wei was bold, and Donald was sharp yet understated. Their back-and-forth conversation was unnervingly calm.

LeBron: ???

Truth be told, Donald was indeed composed.

Just earlier, LeBron had gone through hoops to get Donald's number—Li Wei's agent, launching into a tirade out of nowhere, leaving Donald totally baffled and in disarray on the phone.

Although he didn't understand what had happened, Donald stood his ground and defused the bomb within a few words, not only placating LeBron but also conceiving a brand-new marketing plan for the future.

After resolving the crisis, Donald wasn't in a hurry—

He had called Li Wei, no answer. Without insisting further, he switched to work mode and quickly made other calls to set things in motion.

By the time Li Wei called back, Donald had everything arranged.

"He hopes to get to know you."

"I think this is a good thing, clearly, he also realizes your market value, so, I accepted on your behalf. Next week in Los Angeles, he will go to the game on-site, and afterwards, you'll have dinner together."

Just a dinner, Li Wei didn't think it was a big deal.

"Okay."

He agreed crisply, Li Wei's real focus wasn't there.

"So, he really is an NBA superstar?"

Donald, "Commonly known as The Emperor."

Li Wei slightly lifted his jaw, "If he's the Emperor, what about Michael Jordan then?"

Donald: ...

In "The Bible", there's a figure known as "King James", thus during LeBron James's high school fame, reporters started calling him "king".

The term "The Little Emperor" was a special nickname from the Hua Xia Continent because people generally believed that Jordan was the true king of basketball, so they naturally added a prefix that signifies descendant to LeBron's nickname.

However, Li Wei was only joking and didn't expect Donald to respond, "I'm curious though, isn't the NBA in season? He seems pretty free, I thought the NBA had more than eighty games a season, much busier than us."

Clearly, that was still teasing.

Donald automatically filtered it out and answered seriously, "The season hasn't started yet, their preseason starts in two weeks."

"I guess LeBron's trip to Los Angeles is probably to negotiate privately with a free agent, hoping to transfer them to Cleveland, but they need to hide this, so they're using you as a smoke screen." Discover exclusive tales on empire

Li Wei suddenly understood, "A show. Indeed, it couldn't be Hollywood."

But Li Wei wasn't surprised, "You agreed to it, does that mean we're also scheming something?"

Donald was a fox.

If one were to assume he was a good person based on his honest and sincere appearance, they might be in for a loss.

Since Donald had seen through LeBron's diversion and still agreed to it, it meant Donald also had his own plans in mind.

Donald wasn't surprised by Li Wei's sharpness, and he gave the answer directly.

"Nike."

In 2015, after a twelve-year long partnership with LeBron, Nike provided him with a lifetime contract worth one billion US dollars, becoming the second pinnacle in Nike's commercial history after Michael Jordan.

The reason was simple; LeBron's signature shoes and jerseys could bring in six hundred million dollars in revenue for Nike every year, making him the undisputed top active player.

So, Nike showed enough sincerity.

Nike's cooperation with LeBron became another successful case of competitive sports expanding into the commercial realm, creating a new business empire.

On one hand, LeBron was trying to use Li Wei as a decoy, just for the sake of free market negotiations.

On the other hand, Donald was ready to use LeBron to increase Li Wei's market awareness and popularity values, what he was really seeking were tangible commercial contracts.

It had to be said, Donald was the true master.

Li Wei immediately grasped the key point, "Are you saying, Nike has offered a contract?"

Donald nodded, "Not just Nike, Adidas and Under Armour have also each provided a contract."

Turns out, the bombshell was here.