Basketball's most talented forward is on the left

In the end, the release date of Zuo Li's first-generation signature sneakers was set at 12 noon on October 29, which is 7 hours before the start of the Knicks' first regular season game of the new season.

The sales method has also been changed to simultaneous online and offline sales. On that day in 2009, this was definitely a pioneering work. Although and1 had already had its own website under Zuo Li's instruction, it was definitely the first time to accept reservations for sneakers.

once.

Somehow, Seth still felt a little nervous.

Not only that, Zuo Li also asked and1 to discuss cooperation with Amazon to put the sneakers on the online mall. At the same time, the distribution volume also increased from 1 million to 1.5 million. Although it is only 500,000 more, this is not good for Zuo Li.

Its popularity and market acceptance of this new technology are both a major test.

As the saying goes, centers don’t sell shoes, which means that centers’ sneakers generally don’t sell well.

Back then, Malone and Olajuwon were awesome, and were they very influential?

But it’s useless, the sneaker market doesn’t recognize it!

You might not believe how miserable Ma Long was at that time!

After breaking up with Converse in the 1990s, Malone, who had no shoes to wear, and Olajuwon jointly endorsed the niche brand Laguerre. The contract was only a pitiful one-year US$150,000, while Jordan's contract with Nike was not mentioned during the same period.

, too dazzling.

This was not over yet. Later, Olajuwon chose to switch to Spalding (yes, the Spalding who makes basketball), and Malone started making shoes for himself after Laguerre quit the NBA!

do it yourself!

He and several friends invested in apex, which was about to go bankrupt. In the following two years, Malone began to live a self-sufficient life. However, soon after, he gave up apex due to profit problems and once had to buy his own shoes to play games.

Then he returned to the Converse camp, and the contract was only $300,000 a year. In the last few years of his career, Malone even joined the Dada camp, but they had no cooperative relationship. Dada only provided Malone with free sneakers.

It's tragic or not, a postman who competed with Michael for supremacy is just an abandoned baby in the sneaker market.

But this is entirely a market decision. After all, an ordinary 10-year-old boy can dream of becoming another Kobe or Iverson one day, but he cannot dream of becoming another Yao Ming or O'Neal.

Strong height, huge weight, and terrifying bounce. What a center needs to possess cannot even be obtained through hard work, but depends on talent.

On the contrary, the more flexible and more gorgeous style of play also makes more people favor other positions. In contrast, who is willing to take a second look at center forward shoes that are bulky, unsightly and do not have a wide audience?

One million is already Seth's maximum estimate of Zuo Li's influence. Adding another half a million will most likely result in a loss of money. However, given Zuo Li's previous failure experience and the expansion of the Asian market,

Seth agreed.

Naturally, Zuo Li had his own reasons. He still remembered that when he first traveled through time, in addition to investing in Apple, he also completed an investment in San Francisco that was not optimistic at the beginning.

Zuo Liquan spent 45 million US dollars on a company called Alibaba. After 3 or 4 years of development, although this company is not yet a leading company, it has changed from what it used to be and currently occupies the leading position.

Online shopping accounts for half of the mainland, oh, maybe more than that. Although the scale is much smaller than that of Zuo Li's time, it is not important. This is still the most important channel to enter the mainland. After all, and's previous strategy was too watery. The mainland has no choice but to go north.

In Guangzhou, there are no places to have stores, and opening a store cannot be solved overnight. Although a lot of roads have been paved this year, it is not yet large-scale, so online shopping is the most important channel.

Therefore, Zuo Li plans to invest most of the newly added 500,000 pairs of shoes in mainland China. Of course, Japan and South Korea are also key areas.

Seth left with the plan. He needed to discuss a practical plan with his employees and seize the time to implement it.

Zuo Li returned home with more than a dozen pairs of shoes. The preseason starts tomorrow, and Zuo Li will personally warm up zl1 with his feet.

Of course, Zuo Li's new shoes have also received widespread attention. Although Zuo Li only played 10 minutes in the first preseason game, his shoes are still eye-catching. Many commentators have talked about Zuo Li's shoes.

A new pair of shoes.

After the game, Zuo Li also posted a direct shot of the sneakers on Instagram with the text: "The long-awaited one is finally here!"

And this pair of good-looking sneakers also instantly attracted the attention of many fans. Unlike previous center forward sneakers that felt bulky, due to the left-handed playing style, these shoes are not very heavy and are closer to the striker.

sneakers, and the big signature also tells everyone: Zuo Li’s first pair of signature shoes is finally coming!

The market feedback has been perfect. Countless fans have flooded Instagram to ask when Zuoli’s pair of shoes will be released. There are even dedicated basketball magazines leaving messages below asking for first-hand information.

Back in the locker room, Zuo Li also received a lot of envious looks, especially from Randolph, who was drooling, because in the entire locker room, Zuo Li was the only one who had his own signature sneakers, and, really

Very handsome!

"Boss, can I touch your shoelaces?" Little Ewing squatted on the ground and played tricks every day.

But Zuo Li was very generous and promised that each person would have a pair after the sale.

"The boss is awesome!"

If you win a game, you will get a gift. The start of the new season is too wonderful.

But there is one person who is not in a very good mood, no, a little depressed, and that is Stephen Curry.

Zuo Li could tell at a glance that Curry was in a bad mood. Of course, this depression definitely did not come from the court. Curry played 27 minutes today and scored 12 points, 6 assists and 2 steals, which is a good start to his NBA career.

A good start.

And Zuo Li thought about it, the day when Curry and Nike would have their feud should not be far away.

Sure enough, Zuo Li, who left the locker room and returned to his apartment, received certain news from Curry, that is, the negotiations between him and Nike were not going well, and Nike only wanted to complete the contract with Curry for 4 years and 6 million.

This number is not beyond Zuo Li's expectations. Don't look at Kobe, Iverson, James, Durant, and even himself, as soon as he entered the league, he could sign a sky-high price of tens of millions of sneaker contracts, and even have his own signature.

sneakers.

But this is rare in the history of the NBA. Most players, even ordinary stars, earn millions or even hundreds of thousands in endorsement fees a year. Exclusive signature shoes are completely impossible.

matter.

This is what the basketball world calls the world of difference.

In the memory of the past life, the first sneaker contract No. 7 entered the league was with Nike for 4 years and 6.4 million. Compared with James, it was definitely a crappy price.

After waiting for 13 years, I originally thought that Curry, who was playing better and better and firmly established himself as the core of the Warriors, would gain the attention of Nike. Not to mention catching up with James and Durant, he would at least be able to compete with Irving.

Who knew that Nike didn't care at all. Faced with the new endorsement contract of US$4 million per year proposed by Curry's team, they rejected it. They believed that Curry was not worth the price and were only willing to offer a price of US$2.5 million per year.

In the end, there was a story about Curry leaving UA in anger. At that time, the signing fee was only 5.5 million a year.

And everyone knows the story that followed.

Now, Curry's fame is a little bigger than in his previous life. Although it is limited, it is still bigger. New York is also a bigger stage. I didn't expect Nike to still be so powerful.

Then it’s no wonder Zuo Li took action.

"Stephen, if you are willing, maybe this gift is just right for you!"