Three Hundred and Seventy: Everything Is Ready

In 2004, he finally showed up.

Since Grant Hill joined the Orlando Magic, he has hardly played a good game. It was also around this time that another versatile forward, LeBron James, entered the league. Hill's repeated injuries have made him no longer have the highest popularity in the league.

But in 2004, he came back.

"I belong to this city, but I have been away from it for too long. This city has given me too much tolerance, and I will pay my last and greatest efforts." This is before the comeback, Grant Hill in the press release Tell reporters and fans at the meeting.

Then people discovered that the 33-year-old Grant Hill seemed to be able to reproduce the glory of the No. 33 back then.

He is still able to steadily contribute 20 points per game, his shooting is much more accurate than before, and his free throw percentage even hit a career high. Although the number of free throws he won was less than half that of his peak period, and although his breakthroughs were no longer so deadly, his defense was more mature, his position was more neat, and his distribution of the ball became smarter.

That year, Hill played 67 games for the Magic, more than the past three years combined. The fans couldn't wait to put him in the Eastern All-Star starter, and his average of 19.7 points + 4.7 assists + 3.3 rebounds per game is also worthy of this popularity.

It's just that the guy who dunks on the opponent's center at every turn has become a veteran who plays with his head.

At that time, everyone said that Grant Hill was alive, but the successor of Jordan was dead.

For Hill that season, Link was very impressed. After all, that was supposed to be his season of resurgence.

Hill's athletic ability at that time was not as good as at his peak, but he was definitely not a shooter who could only rely on shooting. Hill's versatility is still there, and at the age of 33, his athletic ability has not deteriorated as it did during the Suns.

After Link was upgraded, he couldn't wait to call Jimmy Butler to fight him for a few rounds. Because he only practiced alone, Link didn't know exactly where he had become stronger.

But after fighting Jimmy Butler, Link found that this time he became stronger not in one aspect alone, but in all aspects!

Breakthrough, Link's direction change is faster, and his acceleration ability is also stronger.

Link is more comfortable shooting, and his shooting percentage is even more terrifying than before.

Dunk, if Link wants, he can even make some more complicated dunk moves. Such as back buttons, such as windmills or something.

In terms of lateral movement, since Hill's knees have not fully aged during this period, the lateral movement speed is also very fast, which further strengthens Link's defensive ability!

Indeed, this time when Link was upgraded, a certain ability suddenly became very prominent as before. However, all-round abilities have been improved to a certain extent.

Link's abilities are inherently superimposed, which is equivalent to the convergence of Hill's advantages in various periods. Coupled with the improvement of his own athletic ability and confrontation ability, Link's current strength is actually far superior to that of Hill in 2004. you!

After hitting 10 balls, Link beat Butler 10 to 2!

Butler was panting and supporting his knees, and was beaten so much that he doubted his life. He worked so hard this summer, but he still couldn't see Link's taillights.

Obviously when he fought Link last time, he wasn't that strong. And this entire summer, Butler has been training with Link...

"Could it be that we practiced extra behind our backs?" Butler sat on the sidelines, looking at Link helplessly.

What happened to the windmill dunk just now? When will Link do this again?

"No, it's just that the season is about to start, and I just want to be serious." Link patted Butler on the shoulder. During the offseason every year, the thing he looks forward to most is the ability to upgrade.

This summer, after practicing the ability to shoot three-pointers off the dribble, his abilities in all aspects have been improved to a certain extent, which undoubtedly makes Link very excited.

From the strength of the team to the strength of the individual, there has been a significant improvement. Next season, the Grizzlies should go further.

Division champions, Western Conference champions, maybe... a bit further?

As he said to Iguodala, FedEx Arena, it's time to hang some honor pennants for decoration.

※※※

While Link's strength continued to improve, Jeff Austin's business value also soared.

Link's rumors of defeating the Dream Team during the offseason made him famous. Especially after the Dream Team won the Olympic Games, the title "Link is the only man who defeated the Dream Team 10" became even more popular.

Along with his fame, Link's commercial value also made Austin smile crookedly.

Now Link is very popular all over the world, let alone in China.

Therefore, Nike wanted to sign a signature shoe contract with Link, allowing him to have his own series of basketball shoes in Nike.

But since the first contract between the two parties has not yet ended, Link has to wait another year to come up with a signature shoe.

Prior to this, Nike decided to launch some "Link Special Editions" of sneakers to test how much Link's popularity can be converted into purchasing power.

Most of the players in the league can get cash remuneration paid by the sneaker brand every quarter. In addition, about 50 players can also get their customized sneaker models. Some sneakers will be added to the "personal special edition". mark or logo.

Link is now one of those 50 players. Although they do not have their own exclusive sneaker series, they have left their own personality and imprint in this sports brand.

Austin knows that the launch of this sneaker will not only allow Link to get more incentive terms, but its most important role is to pave the way for the launch of signature shoes in the future.

And once Link can get the signature shoe contract, it will be terrible.

Like Nike's Kobe series, James series and Durant series, Adidas' Howard series, Ross series, and even Chinese Peak's Parker series and Battier series, etc., all belong to special signature shoes.

The latest news about the signature shoe contract is that Rose signed a 13-year 185 million contract with Adidas in 11 years!

It can be said that as long as he can sign a signature shoe contract with a sneaker manufacturer, he will be an athlete worth hundreds of millions!

This shows how much Jeff Austin attaches importance to this. It was Jeff Austin's job to make Link's commercial value soar.

So this time, Austin is very concerned about the opportunity to get the "special edition sneakers" to test the waters.

As soon as he was invited by Nike, Austin called Link and asked him what suggestions he had for sneaker design and what he thought about color matching.

But how does Link know this? He is not an artist at all, and art bacteria were not well developed since he was a child.

Moreover, Link, who has been obsessed with eating, sleeping and playing Jimmy for the past two days, didn't put much thought into the design of sneakers at all.

So, after thinking about it, he finally only made one suggestion to Austin.

"All my special edition sneakers have to have a small line on the side of the sole—Rest in Peace, Zeke. You can figure out the rest."

Link smiled secretly. From now on, he no longer has to write this sentence with a marker every time he gets a new pair of sneakers.

These simple words will be engraved on the soles of Link's special edition sneakers.

On the road to becoming Mr. Yiyuan, you must not forget the people who accompanied you along the way.

Sneakers, strength, popularity and partners... Now everything is ready, just wait for the new season to start!

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