Chapter 286: Coming for him again.

Robert quickly followed out and got into the car with Chen Huan.

“Chen Huan, why did you reject Jordan? He’s the owner of the Hornets and as long as he nods, you’ll be able to enter the NBA.” Robert asked in confusion.

Chen Huan obviously couldn’t tell the truth so he lightly coughed and said, “Robert, do you understand Jordan?”

Robert was weirded out, “Of course, no one in the basketball industry doesn’t know of his past and present achievements.”

“Then what kind of contract do you think Jordan would give me?” Chen Huan asked.

Robert suddenly realized what he meant and came from his earlier excited mood.

Chen Huan was right!

Boss Bob was the stingiest boss in the NBA!

He wouldn’t be able to get a raise no matter how well he would play if he went to his team. Jordan would just let him go as he would train new rookies and continue to make money.

A boss like him was simply a disgrace of the industry!

But who told Jordan to be the face of the NBA in a way?

So the league didn’t condemn his behavior and the other bosses and players obviously wouldn’t do so either.

But it didn’t mean that Robert wanted Chen Huan to jump into that pit.

It was easy to jump in but not that easy to climb out of it!

The Hornets were in the lottery every year and there was a possibility for them to get the first pick in the draft each year. How hard would it be for him to achieve anything in a team like that?

Wouldn’t that be wasting Chen Huan’s talents?

Robert felt shame when he thought of this point.

Fortunately, Chen Huan was smart otherwise wouldn’t he be lauded as an idiot middle man if that happened?

“Then what do you plan to do next?” Robert asked.

“My schedule is very tight.” Chen Huan said, “There’s still a day where they review the tests and the day after tomorrow would be the award ceremony and evening party. The next day after that, I would have to go back to China.”

“Okay!”

“California still has two other teams, right?” Chen Huan asked.

“There is the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers.” Robert then realized something, “You want to try outs for those two teams?”

“Yes!” Chen Huan said, “But we can’t waste time like we did just now. It would be best if you can arrange for me to try out for them directly and play some workout games for them.”

“Their training camp doesn’t start until the end of August but there are still many people now looking for an opportunity to get into it.” Robert said while nodding, “I’ve recorded your last few games and Jordan’s training camp is also known to the public so they definitely wouldn’t treat you like a random person if you were there.”

“Alright, it would be best if you can get something tonight.” Chen Huan said.

“Okay!”

Robert immediately started the car and said, “I’ll go to the Lakers after sending you back to the hotel.”

“Why are you going to the Lakers first? Isn’t the Lakers very strong? Would they even care if someone like that had never played an official game?” Chen Huan was a bit stunned and thought Robert would go to the Clippers first.

“What a joke! The Lakers had simply been trash for the last three years!” Robert cursed as he drove the car, “In the past three seasons, Old Kobe kept getting injured, leaving the team without any will to compete anymore and set the worst regulation season record of their history! I don’t even want to buy the season ticket anymore!”

It could be seen that Robert was a Lakers fan.

It was nothing surprising.

Most people in Los Angeles were fans of the Lakers and a pitiful number were Clippers fans but they had a little more fans from the surrounding cities.

“Kobe is injured?” Chen Huan asked, “Isn’t he…”

Chen Huan stopped at that moment.

If he remembered correctly, Kobe would announce his retirement in the 15-16 seasons.

But this decision hadn’t been announced yet.

It seemed that they would wait until the end of the season.

Every game where Kobe was in his retirement season was packed just like Jordan’s second retirement seasons. Everyone wanted to watch Chen Huan’s last game in their stadiums.

The price of the tickets were sky high just like with Jordan.

“Yeah, Kobe is 37 years old and has been constantly injured these past few years. He can’t take the intense competition with his old body anymore so a little injury can keep him a long time from the court.” Robert exclaimed, “He had been trying a lot of treatment but the effects aren’t that good so we don’t know what would happen next season.”

Sports injuries?

A thought suddenly emerged from Chen Huan’s mind but he didn’t say anything as he continued to listen to Robert.

“But he shouldn’t compete either. He got injured in January and was recovering well with the treatments….but it’s useless for him to comeback early, it was already decided that the Lakers won’t be able to make it to the playoffs in April. So Kobe will go to your country in a few days as spokesperson for Nike and rack in a lot of money!”

It wasn’t unusual for Kobe to come to China.

In his career, he came to China for more than ten years to do his advertisements and it could be said Nike was quite frantic in their quest to expand their market.

Just think about it, whose basketball fans could stop Kobe there?

And everything he did would have Nike tagged into it so how much promotion Nike enjoyed from it?

“Can you think of a way to have Kobe watch my workout game?” Chen Huan made a request.

“Um… maybe.” After Robert pondered for a moment, he readily said, “Kobe can’t play right now but he had been persistently trying to recover and train. He would drive to the training area at 4am everyday if he had nothing to do and the area where he trains isn’t far from the workouts stadium so he should come if I told him there’s a promising newcomer.”

“Okay, I’ll trouble you then.”

Chen Huan felt a bit guilty as he spoke.

Who knew how Robert would react when Chen Huan told him he didn’t have any plan to play in the NBA.

Maybe Chen Huan’s words sparked the conversation but Robert said, “What a shame! If you came 5 years earlier, Kobe would definitely be ecstatic as he would be filled with energy to compete for the NBA championship again! But Kobe is old now and although his love for the Lakers hasn’t changed, I’m afraid the Lakers can only fight for a playoff spot even with you.”

Chen Huan slightly nodded.

Although Kobe was someone that never gave up, he couldn’t fight against time.

He would lead the team next year but he wouldn’t be able to overcome the wall as the team wouldn’t qualify for the playoffs.

It could only be said that competitive sports were very cruel.

No hero could forever stay in the limelight as newcomers would replace them due to injuries or decline.