Chapter 21: Boys should take care to protect themselves when they are out.
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When Li Rui got up the next morning, he was in a fairly good mood. Using his phone’s sluggish 2G connection, he read the flood of news reports from across the United States.
Putting everything else aside, the reporters from Sports Illustrated wrote with impressive quality, and their values were firmly in the right place.
The media frenzy sparked by his skin color and his unlikely rise reminded Li Rui of a player from his previous life.
Jeremy Lin!
Back then, Lin had set New York ablaze with “Linsanity.”
If things continued at this pace, would he become “Li-sanity”?
After all, Los Angeles media outlets were no less capable of creating a sensation than those in New York.
The exposure that came from playing alongside Kobe was truly terrifying.
Linsanity had brought Jeremy Lin a tremendous surge in fame, helping him land numerous endorsements and eventually secure a respectable contract with the Rockets.
Li Rui naturally hoped to recreate that experience. Becoming famous quickly meant making money quickly, and it could only benefit him.
But the moment he thought about endorsements, his mood soured.
The agent he had signed with before entering the NBA was Dan Fegan.
Yes, the same American agent well known to Chinese basketball fans in his previous life as Yi Jianlian’s representative.
Fegan had signed Li Rui because he saw the Chinese market behind him.
Fegan’s team had devised a “major-market-first” draft strategy for him, hoping he would join a team in Los Angeles or the Bay Area, where large Chinese communities could enhance his commercial value. After a complicated series of maneuvers, Li Rui was indeed selected by the Lakers with the sixtieth pick.
After being drafted, Li Rui’s reputation soared in China. It should have been the perfect time to pursue domestic endorsements and make some money, but Dan Fegan had held out for a better price and quoted Chinese companies an exorbitant fee, scaring off quite a few of them.
Even those who were not scared away began watching Li Rui closely.
Unfortunately, Li Rui could not withstand much scrutiny. If he failed to impress them from the outset, things would become troublesome later.
The Lakers had not placed much importance on a player drafted that late. After Li Rui signed a non-guaranteed contract with the team, Dan Fegan began stirring up public pressure off the court in an attempt to force the Lakers’ management to give Li Rui playing time. He hoped the Zen Master would guarantee that Li Rui played at least twenty minutes every game.
But who was the Zen Master?
What kind of storm had he not weathered?
He completely ignored Dan Fegan’s pressure tactics. Instead, Fegan’s behavior strained Li Rui’s relationship with the management, and the Zen Master simply listed Li Rui as inactive according to the team’s actual needs.
Li Rui’s lack of ability early on left Dan Fegan with no leverage whatsoever when negotiating with the Zen Master or potential sponsors.
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As Li Rui continued to underperform after joining the Lakers, Dan Fegan gradually became disappointed and shifted his attention to other players, effectively abandoning Li Rui.
As a result, not a single commercial endorsement had been finalized for him.
Over time, it seemed even his former self had sensed that Fegan no longer valued him. A month earlier, the original Li Rui had fired Dan Fegan, which meant that the current Li Rui had neither an agent nor any endorsement contracts.
“What an idiot. He could have used his status as an NBA player to make money in China.”
“Even signing one or two deals would have helped. Why didn’t he sign a single one?”
“The only thing he did right was fire that agent in time.”
Li Rui grumbled about all the ridiculous things his former self and Dan Fegan had done. The original Li Rui had simply cared far too little about developing his commercial value.
That had allowed Fegan to control everything, and it had also left him desperately poor.
There were only $2,203 in his bank account. Every month, his salary had to go toward repaying his student loans and paying rent. The financial pressure was enormous.
From Li Rui’s current perspective, even if the original Li Rui had been completely useless, he was still an NBA player—and the only Chinese guard in the league.
That status was highly valuable in China. A few minor domestic endorsements would have made his life much easier and spared him this level of hardship.
Unfortunately, complaining that he was an idiot was really just cursing himself. All he could do now was change things step by step.
Relying on himself was better than relying on anyone else.
……
Around noon, Li Rui went to the hotel’s buffet area for lunch.
The entire team would eat lunch at the hotel before taking an afternoon nap, then gather at around three to leave for the United Center.
NBA teams usually had very tight schedules on the road, and sometimes they did not even hold practice.
“Hey, Li, Andrew, over here.”
After Odom saw Li Rui and Bynum get their food, he waved them over.
“Li, it’s such a shame you didn’t go to the nightclub last night. Those girls were incredible. Andrew really knows how to have fun.” Odom immediately began talking about their night out, a lingering look of satisfaction in his eyes.
He had invited both Li Rui and Bynum the night before. Li Rui had declined, but Bynum had gone.
“What happened?” Li Rui asked curiously.
“Hey, I met a girl from Cameroon. Apparently, she was the runner-up in a beauty pageant back home. She was something else.” Bynum wore a lecherous grin.
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“Could you even see her with the lights off?” Li Rui asked curiously.
“To be honest, no. I almost went into the wrong hole.”
“Hahaha!”
“I’ll give each of you an egg from my plate to help replenish your protein. Otherwise, you’ll be exhausted tonight.” Li Rui handed his eggs to Odom and Bynum.
“Give Lamar his. He’s older and needs more nourishment.” Bynum moved the egg onto Odom’s plate.
“Li, you have to come out with us next time,” Odom said with a laugh.
“Haha, if I get the chance, I definitely will. By the way, doesn’t the team punish players for this kind of thing?” Li Rui remembered that some teams imposed restrictions on players’ activities during road trips.
“You just have to make sure that old man doesn’t find out, hey.” Odom grinned. “Li, your fame has gone up these past couple of days. Have you received any endorsement offers?”
Odom took out his phone, opened the news, and showed it to Li Rui and Bynum.
“I don’t even have an agent right now. I wouldn’t know where to find endorsements,” Li Rui said with a shrug.
“If you don’t have an agent, you’ll just have to put in some effort yourself. Twitter, for example. Do you have a Twitter account?” Odom asked.
Li Rui thought carefully. His former self had never registered one.
“No.”
That could hardly be blamed on his former self. Twitter had only officially been made available to the public in July 2006, and many people still did not know about it.
“Then register one right away,” Bynum said. “You can find commercial endorsements through Twitter. With your current fame, your number of followers will rise quickly.”
Odom nodded, then added, “The app is pretty fun too. There are beautiful women from all over the world on it. Just send some of them direct messages. Once they see that you’re an NBA player, they’ll be more than happy to get in touch with you.”
Bynum gave a mischievous grin. “I’ve been chatting with a girl from South Africa on there. She even said she’s planning to come to the United States to see me in a while.”
Li Rui: “……”
Odom patted Bynum on the shoulder. “Andrew, Li, even young men need to protect themselves when they’re out there. You’ll understand someday. A lot of girls have their eyes on you…”
To many women, NBA players were walking bags of money. Having a child with an NBA player could bring a woman a substantial amount in child support.
Li Rui listened to Odom and Bynum talk about Twitter, occasionally adding a word or two.
He naturally understood the purpose and influence of social media. He planned to open a Twitter account as soon as he finished lunch.
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