584 A Man Who is Not Content With What He Deserves is Like a Snake that Tries to Swallow an Elephan (1/2)

”Coach Li, congratulations on being the nominated for the best coach of the season!” Chenggong Sun said with the brightest of smiles. ”There are only three people nominated. They must recognize your ability as a coach. Congratulations on becoming the best coach in advance!”

”The best coach of the season award will not go to me this season. I may be able to get it next season if I fight for it. After all, the Rockets and Raptors did really well this season. We didn't even make the playoffs. The NBA officials won't give such an award to me,” Dai Li said, smiling.

”Fight for it a little. You're already nominated, so you might actually have a chance!” Chenggong Sun suggested.

Dai Li smiled mysteriously. He lowered his voice and said, ”In truth, I've already spent quite a lot in PR just to get nominated, so I think this is as much as I can hope for.”

”Oh, spending a lot in PR also works in the U.S.! I thought that it only worked back in China.” Chenggong Sun nodded.

Dai Li really did spend a lot of money to get this nomination.

The annual NBA awards ceremony was usually held in the latter part of May every year, where nominees for all sorts of awards were announced. Some awards (such as the scoring leader, the rebound king, and the assist king) were supported by data. Whoever had the best stats would win, so there was no suspense at all.

However, some awards (the MVP, the best sixth man, the best defender, the best growth, and the best coach) were more subjective. The final winners in these categories are decided through the voting procedure.

Previously, the head coaches of each team would have one vote for each award. However, this had changed recently. Now, well-known sports journalists and sports pundits voted. In recent years, the NBA had also tried to involve the fans in the voting process.

People often fell into habits when voting. For example, a player was named the best defender last season would likely win it again if he was still a good player. He would at least be put in the best defensive line up. So, for players, it was hardest to win their first award. As long as a player got his first award, then the next awards became far easier.

Dai Li wanted to be nominated for the best coach award. The best method to get a nomination was to do PR with sports journalists who had votes. These journalists were certain to be backed by well-known media firms. Dai Li sent a message to these media firms by buying multiple advertisements for his training center from these firms. The sports media firms knew that Dai Li purchased those advertisement space with conditions and, when there's money to be earned, who would say no. Naturally, they would let their journalists vote for Dai Li if he was willing to buy advertisements.

In truth, he basically purchased his nomination for the best coach award. Other coaches did not have that enough money to throw away media advertisements.

Dai Li's physical fitness training center budgeted a certain amount for advertisement and public relations annually, so Dai Li had to spend that money sooner or later. Since it was money that needed to be spent, why not benefits it a little extra?

Dai Li also really needed this nomination. His identity as ”Outsider” had plagued him for over half a season. Since the day he arrived at the NBA, an endless stream of people had coined him as ”Outsider.” He needed an award like this to support him. Even if he could not really win the award, being nominated for the best coach award would be sufficient in shutting up the people who had dubbed him ”Outsider.”

It was similar to the way that acting careers worked. If critics don't like an actor they say he isn't believable or can't capture an audience's attention. Other people are affected by these negative comments and believe that this actor is bad. However, when the actor receives an award, the negative criticism vanishes. If he received several heavyweight awards and became a master actor, then everyone who critiqued him would change their tune. All the negative comments would become excuses for absolution.

The coaching industry was similar. After receiving a few awards, people would naturally start praising someone.

In truth, the voting was also very lopsided.

The annual NBA awards ceremony was an appraisal of the award winner's season. A team had to play 82 games in a season. The players who could win an award would have at least played 70. It was impossible for the journalists to focus on too many players. They could not watch all 82 games of every team in the NBA. When they voted, they could only vote for players from the pool of players that they followed, or perhaps choose a few players with good stats from the statistics table.

Based on that, when the candidates for the annual NBA awards were released, there were always debates and arguments. Some fans always felt that the nominated players did not deserve the awards.

Dai Li and Chenggong Sun chatted casually for a while and began discussing the next stage of the training plan. At that moment, someone's phone rang.

Dai Li picked up his phone and his expression suddenly changed.

”Coach Li, you should go if you're busy. I'll be here to keep an eye on things,” Chenggong Sun said kindly.

”Alright, I'll be right back,” Dai Li said. As he left, he called for Cassel and walked to the meeting room.

...

”Coach, what happened?” Cassel asked as he walked in behind Dai Li.

”Ronny's contract renewal talks collapsed. He rejected the contract we offered,” Dai Li said.

”He rejected a five-year contract worth 90 million dollars?” Cassel was a little surprised.

”Before the season ended, the team wanted to renew Ronny's contract, so they offered him a five-year contract worth 85 million dollars. He did not accept it. Now that the season is over, the team offered him a 90 million dollar five year deal, with the last year being his option. That averages out to 18 million dollars per year, but he still rejected it. He wants more!” Dai Li said.

Cassel nodded and asked, ”Then how much does Ronny want? Does he want a super contract of 20 million per year? That's 100 million over five years!”

”His appetite has no limit. He wants a five-year contract worth 150 million dollars!” Dai Li said as a cold light flashed in his eyes.

”What? A five-year contract worth 150 million dollars? That's about as much as we could pay anyone. Has Ronny gone mad!?” Cassel exclaimed.