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Chapter 567: New Opportunities, New Challenges

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Ten days later, Dai Li returned to Los Angeles.

Blake looked at Dai Li, who seemed cheerful, and could not help but ask, “Li, was your proposal successful?”

Dai Li nodded and then grinned like a fool.

“Congratulations. It seems that I have to apply for a visa to China so that I can participate in your wedding,” Blake congratulated him.

“The wedding is still a bit far off. As for where the wedding will be held, I’m not certain. We might have it in Hawaii. If that were the case, you wouldn’t need to apply for a visa,” said Dai Li. Dai Li then said, as he pointed to the door, “I just took a look around. It seems that there are not many people here r today. There are fewer customers than usual. It also seems that there are fewer coaches working.”

“All of the center’s black coaches took time off to go participate in a protest at the entrance of Stark Real Estate,” Blake said.

“Protest? What for?” Dai Li asked.

“Have you not read the news recently? There was a leaked recording of the Los Angeles Clippers boss, Stark, saying something discriminatory against black people,” Blake replied.

Dai Li nodded. “I did see that. I saw some reports when I was in China. It seems that this Stark fellow has made racially discriminatory remarks before. This is not the first time he has done such a thing.”

“This guy has a record of being racist, but this time it seems to be a lot more serious. This time, the recording caused an uproar. Many black people are protesting in front of Stark Real Estate every day. I think the NBA will definitely impose a heavy punishment on him,” Blake said.

“How big of a fine will have to pay?” Dai Li smiled disdainfully, “Stark is a real estate tycoon. He is worth at least a few billion dollars. This rich man won’t feel a thing even if he’s fined tens of thousands of dollars.”

“It may not just be a fine this time. The NBA could force him to sell the team.” Blake then explained, “In other words, they want to kick Stark out of the NBA forever.”

“So serious?” Dai Li was a little surprised. He continued to ask, “But the Clippers are the property of Stark and his ownership of it is protected by law. If Stark does not sell, the NBA can’t force him. The NBA has no power to force him to.”

“That is true. As his private property, his ownership of the Los Angeles Clippers is indeed protected by law, and Stark can choose not to sell the team. However, the entire Clippers team, from the coach to the players, have already issued statements refusing to work for Stark. I heard that the Clippers’ head coach has already written his resignation letter. The fans are also disgusted by such racist behavior. They will boycott the Clippers.”

Blake then explained, “If this continues, no one will watch games that feature the Clippers. No one will buy their jerseys and souvenirs and the advertising sponsors will leave. The market value of the Clippers will fall and the value of Stark will also shrink. Instead of losing money, it is better to sell the team quickly. Anyway, Los Angeles is a big basketball market. Even if they were a bad team, it would still be possible to sell them at a good price.”

“How much do you think the Clippers can be sold for?” Dai Li asked casually.

“Definitely more than $1 billion,” Blake replied.

“So expensive?” Dai Li was shocked. “The Clippers’ record is not that good. It’s basically the bottom of the barrel on the West Coast. Can it be sold at such a high price?”

“This is after I’ve deduced the amount. This is Los Angeles! The NBA market has been quite good in recent years. It is a Los Angeles team. It will definitely appreciate after someone buys it. I guess the price of the specific transaction will definitely be far higher than $1 billion!” Blake continued, “Stark bought the Clippers in the 1980s for only $10 million, and now he can sell it for at least 1 billion. A one hundred percent growth over thirty years. That doesn’t include his income for managing the team for thirty years. The sale will be a very profitable transaction for Stark.”

...

NBA Headquarters, New York.

The President of the NBA, Adams, was listening to his assistant’s report.

“Stark has relaxed his position. He said that he will be willing to sell the Los Angeles Clippers if the price is right,” the assistant said.

Adams nodded. “I knew it. Stark, the old fox. He said that he wouldn’t sell the team, but he just wants to sell it for the right price. It seems the one billion dollar price we leaked is unable to impress this old guy.”

“Yes, he is more greedy than we thought. Before, we released information that a buyer was willing to spend one billion to buy the Clippers. He was completely unmoved and told the media that he would not sell the team. Now someone has offered a bid of more than 1.5 billion dollars, he said he would be willing to let it go. The nature of the bargaining businessman has revealed itself,” the assistant said.

“1.5 billion dollars is definitely not a price Stark would accept. He will want more. This old fox spent ten million dollars to buy the team. Now he wants to sell it for 1.5 billion!” Adams’s tone change and continued to say, “If the team sells at a high price, it will also be good for us. If the team gets more and more valuable, the owner of the team will be more willing to invest money into it. The NBA will develop faster. The value of the NBA will also increase.”

“What you said is true,” said the assistant as he handed a document to Adams. He then continued to say, “Mr. President, so far we have received dozens of requests to acquire the Clippers. These four are the ones that offered to bid more than 1.5 billion. I have already sorted out their background information. Please look them over.”

Adams opened the folder and looked at it carefully.

“The Seattle Consortium. They have a background in Silicon Valley technology. They make up some of the shareholders at Microsoft and Intel. It seems that these industry giants also want to delve into sports.

“Bay Area Entertainment Group. They are currently the highest bidders, but how many of their major shareholders are from the Las Vegas Lottery Company? This won’t do. We have signed a three-year strategic cooperation agreement with the Las Vegas Lottery Company. Gambling on NBA games has been legalized. If they were allowed to control a certain team, it would be equivalent to letting them control the chains of the entire industry. Even we in the upper management at the NBA will be controlled by the Lottery Company,” Adams said as he shook his head. “So no matter how much they pay, we can’t sell it to them.

“Shenzhen Investment Group is the second highest bid. The boss behind the company is the richest man in India. He is called the ‘Rockefeller of India.’ This guy is worth nearly 50 billion U.S. dollars. If the Clippers were sold to him, the NBA would be welcoming the wealthiest NBA owner ever. That is also a good thing.

“Dingtian Sports is Chinese-funded. Their main shareholder is the Chinese real estate giant the Dingtian Group. Although their bids are not high, they have a huge market behind them. It is a market that we at the NBA hope to expand into. There hasn’t been an NBA player who is from China for a while now.”

When Adams thought about the massive market of over one billion people, he had already made his decision.

...

The Dingtian Group’s central conference room was where the shareholders’ meeting was being held. Everyone there was a major shareholder.

The purpose of this meeting was to discuss whether or not to acquire the Los Angeles Lakers. This kind of investment of more than one billion U.S. dollars was a significant investment decision for Dingtian Group. The investment amount was higher than prime properties in first-tier cities in China. The transaction would also be in U.S. dollars. Xiao Dingtian could not make such a decision by himself. It was natural to conduct a meeting with the board of directors.

“I think this investment is feasible. The domestic real estate market is unlikely to rise forever and the cost of land acquisition is getting higher and higher. It is imperative to diversify our investment. The NBA only has thirty teams. Anyone of the NBA teams would be a good asset that is suitable for the group to invest in. So I agree with this investment proposal,” said a white-haired shareholder.

“I also agree with this investment proposal. Compared with other investment proposals, buying an NBA team is definitely a relatively low-risk investment.” Another person paused and said, “I am just worried about something. Will this take up much of the group’s funds? And this investment is in U.S. dollars. Can we raise that much?”

Xiao Dingtian focused his gaze on his assistant, Zhicheng Huang, who was beside him. Zhicheng Huang immediately started to report, “Shareholders, as far as the capital is concerned, I need to inform you that we have received a clear reply from the foreign exchange bureau. They will not approve such a large amount of foreign exchange. A large amount for the acquisition of the Los Angeles Clippers will require us to raise our own funds.”

Xiao Dingtian added a timely cough, and then Zhicheng Huang said, “In the past few years, we have made some investments overseas. There are stocks in big companies, there are U.S. dollar bonds, and there are real estates. These investments have made some gains. If we were to buy the Los Angeles Lakers, we would need to sell a large portion of our overseas investment.”

“We need to sell our overseas assets?!”

“The overseas assets have been accumulated with great difficulty in the past few years. It would be a pity to sell them.”

The shareholders began to whisper and it was clear that everyone was reluctant to give up these overseas assets.

Xiao Dingtian seems to have anticipated something like this, so he said, “Of course, there is another way. We could use these overseas investments as collateral, borrow from foreign banks, and then use that money to buy the Los Angeles Lakers. However, it is more difficult to get loans abroad than in China.”

“In our own country, with the name “Dingtian Group,” we can borrow tens of billions from the banks. Even if we delay the repayment time sometimes, we could discuss it with the bank. The bank knows that once we take the money, bought the land, and build the buildings, we will be able to make it back very quickly. It would be very easy to repay the loan. In foreign countries, our name does not carry as much weight.”

“Chairman Xiao, what do you mean?” asked the white-haired shareholder.

“I mean, after we buy the Los Angeles Clippers, we need to make a profit as soon as possible. As long as the Clippers can make a profit, it will demonstrate to the bank that we have the ability to repay the loan, so the pressure to repay the loan will be lessened,” Xiao Dingtian said.

“What the chairman said makes sense, but I don’t know much about the management of a basketball team. To be honest, I don’t even watch basketball very often,” a shareholder said with a smile.

“I think it’s easy to make a profit. Let the team sign a Chinese player. There hasn’t been a Chinese player in the NBA for a long time. When we buy the Clippers, we immediately sign a player from the CBA, even if he is just a substitute. It would attract a Chinese audience. It won’t be a problem to make a profit then,” another person said.

“The crux of the matter is whether or not our domestic CBA players are good enough for the NBA. As far as I know, the substitutes in the NBA are better than our CBA players,” another shareholder said.

“Then just sign someone to be a mascot,” said the man before.

“You can’t just sign any random person. If this player isn’t popular in China, even if he were signed to the NBA as a substitute, it wouldn’t attract much attention from the domestic fans. If you want to sign someone, you need to sign someone from the CBA who is well-known. We would need a player who is key to the CBA. Now that the CBA games are in progress, the CBA teams will definitely not let them go easily. It wouldn’t be easy even if we were trying to find a ‘mascot.’”

Xiao Dingtian coughed again, indicating that everyone should be quiet. Then he said, “Everyone, I have an idea. Since it is not easy to find a suitable Chinese player at this time, then we can find a Chinese coach. The NBA has had Chinese players in the past, but there has never been a Chinese coach. More attention will be paid to a head coach than a substitute player.”

Everyone concentrated on Xiao Dingtian.

Xiao Dingtian then said, “The head coach of the Los Angeles Clippers is a black man. He submitted his resignation after Stark’s racist speech a few days ago. He declared that he would not work for Stark. His behavior attracted the positive attention of African American groups. Some called him a defender of equal rights. After our investigation, we found that the reason for his resignation was that he found a better job. He will be the head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks.

“A month ago, the Bucks fired their own head coach because of their team’s poor performance. They have been looking for a new coach. The Clippers boss, Stark, is stingy. The salary he gives his coaches are very low, so the Clippers’ coach had wanted to change jobs. The racist incident by Stark gave the Clippers’ coach the excuse to change jobs. He just resigned and signed a two-year contract with the Bucks.

“The current Los Angeles Clippers have no head coach, and the coaching for the team is temporarily being done by the former assistant coach. So we can find a Chinese coach to be the new head coach of the Clippers.”

After Xiao Dingtian finished, the shareholders began whispering amongst themselves again.

“Can we find the right coach in China?”

“We can’t even find a strong enough player for the NBA. How can we find a coach who can coach an NBA team?”

“Our own men’s national team hires foreign coaches, right? If the domestic coaches have the ability to coach an NBA team, why would our men’s team spend so much money hiring foreign head coaches?”

“Don’t forget Dai Li won the Best Coach Award.”

“I remember. He could become the coach of a U.S. team! I think Dai Li and Chairman Xiao’s daughter are in some sort of relationship, right?”

“Yeah, it is said that he is Xiao Dingtian’s future son-in-law. Does Xiao Dingtian mean to let Dai Li be the head coach of the Clippers?”

“That should be the case. Keep it within the family!”

“But Dai Li is a track and field coach, right? Does he know basketball?”

“If Chairman Xiao dares to mention this, it means that Dai Li must know basketball. Besides, he became the head coach of the American track and field team, and he won an important international award. There’s no way he wouldn’t be multi-talented, right?”

“Xiao Dingtian will be suggesting Dai Li as the head coach soon, should we agree or disagree?”

“Nonsense. Xiao Dingtian is trying to use this as a chance to promote his future son-in-law. If you are against this, Xiao Dingtian will lose face. Moreover, Xiao Dingtian only has one daughter. The position of chairman of Dingtian Group will be handed over to his daughter in the future. We will be seeing her very often in the future. Why should we go against it? Why not just agree since it isn’t hard to do and save the Xiao family some face!”