Chapter 317 1997 NCAA Division I Men“s Basketball Tournament 5

"A Nike representative has already talked to me and offered me a very bad proposal a few months ago."

"So you don't want to work with them anymore? That's a shame, I have good contact with some Nike directors after a lot of deals I've done with them, but I can try to get a good deal with Adidas and Reebok."

"You got me wrong David, I want to work with Nike, in fact, I'm not interested in what other companies can offer before you try to get as much as possible from Nike."

David was confused about why Jake seemed to like Nike more than other companies, Nike has grown a lot in recent years thanks to the influence of Michael Jordan, but Adidas and Reebok were also big companies.

"I thought that because they had underestimated their value by offering a bad offer you wouldn't want to work with Nike, or would prefer Adidas or Reebok unless Nike offered an indispensable offer."

"That's because you don't know me, David, this is business and it's nothing personal, more than offended I'd say I was disappointed with Nike's offer, I thought they'd be smarter."

"After all a few months ago I had achieved a lot of things in the marathon and was playing very well at the university, with a decent offer I could sign with them and they could say they had signed with an Olympic champion and world record holder."

"Especially because I'm an American and they currently have more clients in the United States, and in the future at least it was almost certain that I would join the NBA, but they offered less than my other sponsors paid."

"You even know how fearful they are to make new contracts, even with Michael Jordan they asked for several clauses in case it didn't work out they could terminate the contract."

"And Michael Jordan wasn't annoyed at being underrated and renewed his contract with them a few years later."

David was amazed that Jake could calm down and think about it alone without having any unnecessary pride or arrogance, after all, Michael Jordan had him to advise making the most rational decision.

Also, times were different and even Michael Jordan thought it was normal for Nike to doubt that this deal could have worked, of course, he was glad he made that deal and lost a little at the time because he would continue to receive royalties for life by Nike for the shoe brand with his name.

"I think you're right and did well not to hold a grudge, which I don't understand is why do you prefer Nike over other shoe companies?"

"It's partly because of you, David, I believe Nike will make many billions in the future and win a lot of basketball market because of you and Michael Jordan, because of you the Nike brand will be much better known."

"For you too, many new talents will want to sign with Nike and they will grow even more so it will be good for me to associate with this growing brand."

David thought for a moment and realized that Jake was right, Nike had grown and gained a lot of market in recent years even though it was a less influential company than the other companies because of Michael Jordan.

Even after Michael Jordan retired he would still be an idol for many athletes, and other talented players might want to sign with Nike to try to replicate Michael Jordan's success just as Jake wanted to do.

"And like David yourself, with your Nike contacts and their trust in you, it will be easier to get a better contract with Nike for me, everyone believes that if you think I'll be a star then I'll probably be a star."

"I think you're right to think so Jake, so I'm going to talk to them too, looking like I'll try to convince you to sign a contract with them for my friendship with Nike."

"I will also say that you are much more interested in signing a contract with Adidas or Reebok, so they will have more pressure to offer a better offer if they believe you are talented as I believe."

Jake thought David's idea was great, he even remembered to warn David that his current annual sponsorship was over $ 4 million, so companies that wanted to renew with him would have to offer at least the same each year to get a contract.

Otherwise, it would be better for Jake to just renew his contract with the companies he works for now, David was impressed to see how much Jake received even though he had never had a sports agent and to convince himself even more of Jake's potential to make money.

After that meeting Jake wouldn't see David Falk for a while, after all, David had many clients in the company besides Jake who couldn't even pay him for now, but Jake believed David would keep looking for better sponsors for him as soon as he finished college.

So Jake now just had to concentrate on playing well and winning more marathons in the coming months to have a better chance of getting a contract, so in the next few days, Jake and the Tar Heels team continued to train while resting before the next game.

Everyone was looking forward to the next game and confident, after all, they came from a great winning streak that lasted for months and everyone felt that the team had been performing better in recent games.

So after a few days, the day of Sweet Sixteen's game came, if they won this game the Tar Heels team would have only three games to win the NCAA tournament, but the opponent of that game would not be easy and even Jake was worried about the outcome of the game.

The opponent was the California Golden Bears team who also had a great season this year and a very strong team, Jake remembered that this was a game where no one performed well and the team Tar Heels won by few points of advantage.

This was also because the best players of the California Golden Bears team were in this game without the best player of the team and the main responsible for the team has had this great season and reaching this stage of the NCAA tournament.

This player was Ed Gray who this season had an incredible average of over 24 points per game that was higher than Antawn Jamison's average, so Jake even thought that if Ed Gray played in this game the Tar Heels team could have lost.

So with Ed Gray not playing this game, Jake had to focus and do his best to ensure another easy win for Team Tar Heels, after a couple of hours both teams were ready for the game.

In the first half, Jake realized that only Jamison and Carter were better at this offensive game and Zwikker was catching up with Jamison, the rest of the team seemed to have difficulty playing well even though they were rested.

Knowing this Jake concentrated on making a few individual plays trying three-point shots, plus he always tried to play with Jamison and Carter, it was harder this way because within minutes of the first half the California Golden Bears team soon realized what Jake was doing.

That made it even harder to play with Jamison and Carter, yet with Jake's effort the Tar Heels team opened up more advantage in the first half, in one of the plays Jake received the ball after Zwikker caught the defensive rebound and advanced to the back attack.

Jake was always trying to make good use of the ball in every play of this game after all the team Tar Heels was winning and the team California Golden Bears was without the best player and so the players became more agitated and rushed to try to reverse the score as Time passed.

Jake advanced with the ball and after the middle of the court passed Jamison on the left, Jamison could not advance long before a player of California Golden Bears arrived in defense.

So Jamison moved to Williams who was playing in Okulaja's place for most of the first half, Williams was also getting the California Golden Bears marking because he wasn't playing badly in that game.

Williams tried to advance with a feint and speed, but the California Golden Bears defense was very good, so Williams passed the ball back to Jake, the plays went several times that way in the first half.

Over time the Tar Heels team players learned to trust Jake for most plays and especially in the most difficult times, as did Ed Cota for what Jake remembered in his past life.

But Jake got even more confidence from his teammates because even if he couldn't make the assist he could still score the points, Jake got the ball and made a foul by taking the California Golden Bears player off the pitch.

Soon another California Golden Bears player came to the defense and Jake made an alley-oop pass for Carter who took the ball high to make the dunk and 2 points for Tar Heels team, this move in a game like this was more a feature to make points than to give a show.

So in the first half with Jake having a good performance and being able to organize the plays even with the defense of the most difficult opponent team Tar Heels got a good advantage and was calmer in a difficult game like this.

"What a great first time for Jake in this game again, it's amazing how well he always performs, we can clearly see that this is his normal performance, his great performances are when he gets over 40 points or gets a triple-double."

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