Chapter 40: The Dream Team

Over the next few days, the top prospects in the draft successively signed their rookie contracts with their respective teams.

Shaquille O'Neal's contract was worth $17.4 million over four years, slightly higher than Tang Bei's.

Alonzo Mourning signed a 4-year, $13 million deal, coming in just under Tang Bei's figures.

Christian Laettner received a much lower offer of $10.5 million over four years.

While most of the high draft picks successfully put pen to paper, the contract negotiations for the fourth overall pick, Jim Jackson, hit a complete stalemate.

His agent demanded a 4-year, $21 million contract from the Dallas Mavericks, a figure significantly higher even than O'Neal's deal.

However, the Mavericks were only willing to offer a 4-year, $10 million package, leaving both Jim Jackson and his agent deeply dissatisfied.

His agent advised him not to accept any deal below his expected value, even if it meant sitting out the entire season.

At ten o'clock on the night of July 1st, Tang Bei was studying English when the telephone in his apartment suddenly rang.

When he picked up, he heard the voice of his mother, Lin Lan. It turned out that the landline at their home had finally been installed, making it much easier to call home from then on.

"Big Brother, when is our family going to renovate the house? Are we really going to build a small western-style villa?" the voice of his little sister, Tang Ning, chimed in.

"Quiet down, Mom has important business to discuss with your oldest brother."

Lin Lan gently scolded her before asking, "Eldest son, you mentioned last time that you made some more money—what's that all about? Our family may be poor, but we must never take the wrong path!"

Tang Bei explained, "Mom, I'm playing in the NBA league now. It's like a massive corporation dedicated to basketball. I signed a new contract, and it pays a lot of money."

"How... how much?" Lin Lan asked anxiously and excitedly.

"I signed a four-year contract. Anyway, it's a lot of money. Just one year's salary is enough to build dozens of small western-style villas," Tang Bei replied.

"Dozens of small western-style villas?"

Not only did Lin Lan's eyes widen, but everyone else in the family was utterly dumbfounded.

Tang Yu and Tang Bin immediately started counting on their fingers, trying to figure out how much dozens of villas would cost.

Ever since Tang Bei mentioned building a house, the family had been inquiring about the local construction market.

In their rural area, building a standard two-story house with a floor area of two to three hundred square meters cost about two hundred per square meter, meaning a single house would run between forty and sixty thousand yuan. So, what about dozens of them?

"It's... it's too much money. I... I can't calculate it anymore," Tang Bin stammered with his mouth agape.

Tang Yu was the same. After struggling with the math for a long time, she flushed and stammered, "My oldest brother probably earns... probably several hundred thousand yuan a year!"

"Several hundred thousand?"

Hearing that figure, Lin Lan and the others went completely blank.

Back home in Tianjing, working a regular salaried job usually brought in two to three thousand yuan a year, while a good government job paid four to five thousand. Earning hundreds of thousands in a single year completely terrified the family.

"Second, Third, Fourth, you must not breathe a word about this to outsiders."

Recovering her senses, Lin Lan hurriedly warned, "Fourth, especially you, listen carefully to your mother! You're always the one with the loose lips. Bury the fact that your oldest brother is making this money deep in your stomach—do you understand? If you let this slip to anyone, I'll skin you alive!"

"Eh, Mom, I know. I promise I won't say a word."

Threatened by their mother, Tang Ning showed no spirit of rebellion and nodded obediently in quick succession.

On the 2nd, media reports announced that Shaquille O'Neal's agent, Leonard Armato, had declared the negotiations for a shoe contract with Nike to have completely broken down.

In an interview with reporters, O'Neal stated, "I demanded my own signature shoe line, but Nike didn't believe in my future. They even thought my career would be shorter than Tang's, predicting I'd be kicked out of the NBA in less than two years. Haha, that's hilarious. They fell for tough guy Alonzo Mourning instead and signed him to a signature shoe deal. That's fine, congratulations to them. Yes, I'm angry, I'm frustrated—why should Alonzo Mourning be mentioned in the same breath as me? Now, Reebok has agreed to all my demands. Yes, Reebok."

The very next day, Reebok finalized a signature shoe contract with O'Neal.

Although the news did not disclose the exact endorsement amount and duration, some media outlets reported it as a 7-year, $41 million deal, while others claimed it was 5 years and $15 million.

Regardless of which figure was accurate, O'Neal topped the charts, setting an all-time historical record for a rookie shoe contract.

Michael Jordan's early endorsement deal back in the day was worth $500,000 a year, and after later renewing into a lifetime contract, annual salaries no longer applied to him.

During that era, the shoe endorsement earnings for the top three dominant centers generally hovered around several hundred thousand dollars annually.

"So shoe contracts are this lucrative—even bigger than playing contracts?"

After learning about this, Tang Bei couldn't help but set his sights on sneaker deals as well. However, he was no Shaquille O'Neal; if Nike didn't even think highly of O'Neal, let alone someone like him.

Following that, Tang Bei embarked on his summer training regimen.

Meanwhile, the rest of the world began shifting its focus to the rhythm of the Summer Olympic Games.

The United States men's basketball team, composed of NBA superstars, displayed overwhelming dominance in several exhibition games, dragging the NBA league into the vision of sports fans worldwide.

On July 25th, the Barcelona Olympic Games officially commenced.

Right from the group stage, Team USA showcased terrifying prowess. Finishing with an 8-0 record, they claimed the Olympic gold medal with undisputed dominance, earning the legendary moniker of the "Dream Team."

The appearance of the Dream Team—composed of professional NBA players—on the Olympic stage felt like a dimensional strike; no country could offer even a shred of resistance.

They averaged 117.3 points per game while outscoring opponents by an average of 43.8 points. Throughout all eight games, they did not call a single timeout. The head coach's primary job was simply to sit back and enjoy the superstars' performances. Utilizing six different starting lineups across the eight games, the Olympic men's basketball tournament was completely reduced to an individual showcase for the NBA megastars.

Consequently, the NBA league officially entered the global spotlight, leaping overnight to become the highest temple of basketball in the entire world.

As the undisputed best active player in the NBA, "Flying Man" Michael Jordan also became one of the brightest shining superstars of the Olympics thanks to his stellar performances and personal charisma, initiating an influence that radiated across the globe.

Simultaneously, the overwhelming success of the Dream Team made the Department of Competitive Sports II and the Basketball Division realize one crucial fact: they had severely underestimated Tang Bei's value.

Yet right at that moment, an unexpected incident occurred that left the Sports Commission, the Competitive Sports Department, and the Basketball Division in an extremely passive position.

Ma Jian had gone AWOL.

Claiming he wanted to play in the NCAA in the United States and eventually enter the NBA, he left the national team without the approval of the Sports Commission, flying directly from Barcelona to the United States.

This incident could be interpreted as minor or major. On a minor scale, it shook team morale and created a bad image; on a major scale, the nature of the act was rather severe, leading to Ma Jian being promptly expelled from the national team.

In September, under the arrangements of the Charlotte Hornets, Tang Bei played a few so-called summer league games.

At that time, summer leagues were not yet part of the NBA's official minor-league system. They were small in scale and purely regional—consisting of matches between small local teams from nearby cities—and the competition level was quite low.

After playing a few matches, he realized they not only failed to provide any effective training benefits but might actually drag down his own skill level, so he stopped playing.

As time rolled into early October, the NBA preseason got underway.

Geographically located in the Southeast, the Charlotte Hornets squared off against fellow southeastern division opponents during the preseason.

Aside from the Hornets, these included the Orlando Magic, Miami Heat, Atlanta Hawks, and Washington Bullets. The matches were held in Miami at the Heat's home arena, the Miami Arena.

With the Magic boasting Shaquille O'Neal, the Hornets featuring Tang Bei, and the Bullets fielding Tom Gugliotta—representing the first, second, and sixth overall picks of that year respectively—the southeastern division's preseason drew considerable media attention.

At the end of September, private trainer Kyrie Osman departed.

Following the preseason came the regular season. The team, placing great importance on Tang Bei, would assign professional trainers to work with him, rendering a private trainer unnecessary.

Over the past few months, his height and wingspan remained unchanged, but his weight had increased to 136 kilograms.

Crucially, his athletic qualities had not diminished; through professional physical conditioning, his stamina had risen to level 92.

[Center Fundamentals: Shooting 55, Dribbling 72, Hook Shot 45, Floater 42, Layup 80, Dunk 91, Contact 95, Footwork 93]

[Center Advanced Skills: Low-Post Isolation 92, Low-Post Back-to-Basket 70, Low-Post Face-Up 62, One-on-One Defense 90, Help Defense 80, Shot Blocking 90, Steals 66, Rebounding 90, Pick-and-Roll 70, Playmaking/Facilitating 20, Tactical Ability 60]

Following this period of targeted training, several categories among his fundamentals and advanced skills showed substantial improvements.

Naturally, a level 55 shooting ability was still far from reliable in actual competition, and he needed much more time to hone his foundational skills.

Dribbling was a fundamental skill he focused heavily on, as it directly dictated the quality of his low-post offensive possessions. Without adequate dribbling fundamentals, the ceiling for his low-post offense would remain severely restricted.

Whenever his low-post offensive position was slightly farther from the rim, he needed to execute one or two dribbles. Lacking reliable ball-handling would create major complications.

Because his pivot and turn speeds were excessively fast and powerful, poor ball control could easily lead to a turnover—a basic mistake he had committed multiple times back in the CBA.

Even when very close to the basket, executing a post-turn amid heavy physical contact might still necessitate a dribble, failing which could result in a traveling violation. Therefore, dribbling was an exceptionally vital fundamental skill for him.

Moreover, if faced with double-teams, subpar ball-handling would cause his turnover rate to skyrocket.

Inability to dribble would also prevent him from fully utilizing his Tai Chi spin techniques, severely limiting his overall strength.

Through over three months of targeted drills, his dribbling rating climbed from 59 to 72.

Within the realm of NBA centers, a level 72 ball-handling rating was entirely serviceable. After all, he was not an outside perimeter player, and a center's application of dribbling techniques remains relatively straightforward.

Furthermore, during his spins, he predominantly utilized a low horse stance. Combined with his massive wingspan, his dribbled ball stayed remarkably low to the ground, hugging the floor tightly, which dramatically reduced the likelihood of being stripped.

His shooting climbed from level 50 to 55. As ratings increase, subsequent progression becomes increasingly difficult, making a 5-level jump a significant achievement.

Hooks and floaters were also major focal points of his training: his hook shot advanced from level 37 to 45, and his floater progressed from 37 to 42, both showing respectable growth.

His layups rose from 76 to 80, while his footwork advanced from 92 to 93.

In terms of advanced skills, his low-post isolation improved to level 92, low-post back-to-back scoring went from 66 to 70, low-post face-up rose from 60 to 62, and rebounding increased from 88 to 90.

At present, his most dependable offensive weapon was low-post isolation, with low-post back-to-back scoring serving as a viable secondary option, while his defense and rebounding remained exceptionally strong.