Chapter 316 1997 NCAA Division I Mens Basketball Tournament 4 (1/2)
Jake had to admit that he was a little excited after hearing the great David Falk saying that he could become the future NBA lead character in the coming years, especially since he was someone who had always been close to Michael Jordan.
Since his past life, Jake had a dream of being a great basketball player, in this life he was having this opportunity and didn't want to waste it so he trained so much and even lost marathons to playing college basketball.
Jake was already in a situation where he had the money to live the rest of his life from the investments in Matthew's companies and the investments his investment company made that he would have a part beyond the investments in the company Amazon that would guarantee billions of dollars to Jake in the future.
He could also dominate a sport like athletics if he kept pushing himself the way he was and maybe even getting other gold medals in different sports, but Jake still struggled in basketball and wanted to become a star and leave his name on history.
Still, Jake knew how difficult it was to realize this dream even with all his talent and the help of the system, so hearing David Falk saying something like that after playing a great season on the Tar Heels team made Jake more confident.
”I'm glad to hear you say that David, to be honest, I really am very ambitious with my career as a basketball player, I say nothing to others not to sound arrogant, but I really want to become an NBA star.”
”I don't really care much about money, but I want to get paid just as much for my skills and achievements playing basketball, so I really want someone to find several companies to sponsor me.”
”Besides, I want to get good contracts where I win what really reflects my value and in the contract I find possibilities to compete in marathons and maybe do other things like acting.”
”After all, I know that only if I can really make a lot of money and make my team make a lot of money can I really be considered a basketball star.”
Jake decided to say everything he really thought to David Falk, he knew very often that being too modest can cause a negative result, what David Falk was looking for was a star who had confidence in his abilities and had high ambitions.
Jake said he didn't need any money, but he still wanted to have a lot of advertising deals and great contracts with NBA teams, so he would let David Falk know that he could do his best to get Jake better and get a good commission.
Just as Jake thought David Falk was very pleased that Jake was ambitious because Jake had the ability to be arrogant if he wanted to, so David hoped Jake still wanted to run marathons even playing in the NBA and he could get it for him on contracts.
A team plays over 80 games a year and wouldn't mind if Jake lost 3 games a year to run and still bring more publicity to the team, as Jake didn't care about money but still wanted several sponsorship deals and the best contracts in basketball.
David didn't believe it at all, but he agreed with Jake's view that only a player making a lot of money and making a lot of money for the club would really be recognized as a basketball star.
”I can make sure that in your contract with your future NBA teams you have permission to lose some games if you need to compete in marathons.”
”I myself believe this is very good for your image as an athlete and as an American citizen winning multiple marathons and continuing to win gold medals in the Olympics.”
”Companies may not want to pay a lot for an athlete who only knows how to run, but you will be an NBA star who is also an athlete, this is unique and maybe it will be unique forever, so we have to use it to value your brand.”
”You Jake Smith, you have to make your name a brand, you will have to become a brand, I know it is not very easy to do that, but we will have to preserve as much as possible your reputation and both social and professional life.”
Jake wondered why David was saying this, many basketball players have hectic people lives and have fights with their teammates and coaches, but sports agents can't rule the basketball stars.
So some sports agents have to rush around to clean up the mess players make and try to protect the public image of the players, Jake could guarantee it wouldn't be because it wasn't his personality.
But even he could not deny that in the future he could end up having problems with other players and even with coaches of the basketball teams he passes, after all, something like this has happened in the past.
”I can say that I don't like doing things like this and my personal life will be pretty quiet, but I can't guarantee that I don't have problems with other players or coaches, it will depend on a lot of things, but I will try not to cause too many problems for you.”