Versatile Point Forward

Chapter 89 Bill Duffy
"Hey, old friend, how are you doing lately? As God bears witness, I forgot how long I haven't called you! When you are free, come to Los Angeles and I'll buy you a drink." Ye Ning held the microphone , Smiling in proficient Spanish.

There was also deafening laughter from the opposite side: "Andres, I don't believe that you would be so kind to buy me a drink. How can I say that I have been with you for so many years, and I don't know what your routine is? I I know that you Chinese like to hide things, but there is no need to talk about our friendship. If you have anything to say, you have always been in the Three Treasures Palace." Andres It was the name Ye Ning gave himself when he played in the Spanish league.

Ye Ning grinned, he knew that he would be pointed out.But he was not hypocritical, and said solemnly: "My son is going to participate in this year's NBA draft, and now he needs an agent. And the only time I touched basketball after retiring was to guide this brat in my family. He has intersect with the American agent circle, so I hope you can recommend him a more reliable agent."

The voice over there also became more cautious: "Well... I also paid attention to this year's NCAA semi-finals. The number 13 in UCLA is your son, right? I have to admit that you have good genes. Two games In it, your son played very well. It seems that the lottery show is gone. Such a young man with both talent and ability really needs a good agent. So I think of someone, and I will talk about it later Contact him first, presumably he will be very interested in your son. As for whether you want to choose him, you can communicate by yourself, if not, then contact me."

Ye Ning gave his son an OK gesture, thanked the other party, and hung up the phone.Seeing the curiosity on Ye Feng's face, Ye Ning said angrily: "Calm down, boy, he will help us contact the manager recommended by him first, and then he will come to meet with us. Don't get too excited now, Continue training with peace of mind to maintain your form, and prepare for the NBA team's trial training." Ye Feng scratched his head, and agreed with a smile, but he was still looking forward to it.Although my father swore that he contacted a big-name agent in Europe, what kind of American counterpart would the other party recommend to him?
Ye Feng's question was answered the next day.He looked at the smiling middle-aged man in a light-colored formal suit sitting in front of him in surprise, and felt a little incredulous: How could it be him?Not because the chubby middle-aged man in front of him is a nobody, but because he is so famous, at least for the Chinese basketball circle.Although Ye Feng has been playing in Los Angeles, he has been famous for a long time. He really didn't expect that the American agent recommended by his father's friend was Bill Duffy, a member of Team Yao. In a sense, this It may be the broker who is most familiar with the Chinese market in the United States.

When Ye Feng was sizing up Duffy, the other party was also secretly looking at the restrained young man in front of him.At least in terms of appearance, Ye Feng is quite good, not only has the humility and gentleness of an oriental person, but also has an unconcealable confidence and pride in his brows.Although he was very surprised at his arrival, it was only limited to his eyes, not only his body movements, but also his expression was well restrained. I have to say that this is a very polite young man.

Duffy had done his homework before coming to visit this potential client.Not to mention that Ye Feng and Yao Ming are both from China, just judging from his season at UCLA, he is Duffy's favorite type of player.Duffy himself has a very good reputation in the agent circle. He behaves upright, serves his players sincerely, and even pays out of his own pocket to compensate clients for losses. At the same time, he also hopes that his players can do the same. To be of good character, he has repeatedly rejected some players with bad deeds to join, which may have something to do with him being born in a military family.

Duffy is very optimistic about Ye Feng due to his years of experience as an agent, but he still needs to work hard to convince this little guy to become his client, not to mention that his parents are sitting on the side, and they are also a A former professional player who is quite familiar with various unspoken rules.Seeing that Ye Feng didn't intend to take the initiative to ask questions, Duffy smiled slightly and said: "Mr. Ye, from your expression, you already know who I am, but I think I should introduce myself. I'm Bill. Duffy, at the helm of the BDA-Sports-Management agency. Of course, I am an anomaly in the entire agent circle. Money is not everything to me. I am not in this career for money. I have my own principles."

Hearing Duffy's unique self-introduction, Ye Feng's eyes lit up, but he was not in a hurry to express his opinion, instead, he waited for Duffy to continue.Duffy took a sip of water and said calmly: "My management philosophy is to make myself a coach in the lives of players, to develop their potential; while cultivating players, we should also care about their lives. I have been in this business for more than 20 years. Yes, but I've recently discovered that my role is more of a life guide for players. Business is one thing, but it's more than that. I'm there for them when they need me, helping them, Let them not make mistakes they shouldn't have made."

Ye Feng smiled, such managers are rare.He asked curiously: "Then you haven't made any mistakes for so many years?" Before Duffy answered, Ye Ning widened his eyes and said angrily: "Stinky boy, how do I usually teach you? Let's not talk about whether it is possible Cooperation, at least now Mr. Duffy is our guest, it is very rude to ask such a question to a guest.” Duffy waved his hand and said calmly: “It’s okay, there’s nothing we can’t say. A player, Anthony Carter, wanted to inform the Heat to implement the player option before June 2003, 6, but an employee of our agency forgot about it, causing Carter to lose $30 million. Later, in order to calm Carter, he resorted to With the idea of ​​law, I found him a position in the Spurs for less than $410 million, and my company will bear all the losses. Of course, I am very glad that I have a chance to make up for it.”

Although Duffy's voice didn't fluctuate, as if he was talking about other people's affairs, his style made Ye Feng's eyes widen.Agreed brokers are all profit-seeking and want to scrape more money from their clients?This is totally unscientific!However, Ye Ning on the side knew that this was not a show. After his "old friend" successfully contacted Duffy, he quickly notified him, and also told him some things about Duffy, including of course this incident of his own accident. The incident of subsidizing players with money has also been regarded as a "typical case". After all, there are very few agents who can do this.

After talking about some big and general things, Duffy began to introduce some rules of the broker's business to Ye Feng. "According to NBA regulations, agents can only take 4% or less of a player's new water as a commission. The best agents can generally take about 3% to 4%, and the middle ones are only 2%. Just entering this industry or trying to grab newcomers, some people even got a super low price of 1%. The real money for a good agent is to find endorsements and advertisements for players, and they can get about 20% commission at a time. For example When David Falk connected Jordan and Nike, he made at least $5000 million from this cooperation.”

Ye Feng frowned and said: "So Mr. Duffy means that he will increase his salary by accepting a lot of advertisements for me?" Duffy nodded, shook his head again, and said word by word: "Of course I I will find you some endorsement contracts, after all your pedigree, skills and appearance make you a good gimmick. But please trust my professional ethics, I will screen it before signing, and then let you decide, In the process of your selection, I will only tell you my personal judgments and suggestions. It is up to you to decide which one to choose. When screening, I will eliminate those who have a bad reputation or products that do not match your personal style. businesses to protect your public image."

"As for the matters of negotiating with the team, you can leave it to me. I have watched the video of this year's NCAA Final Four. Your performance is very good. I seem to see a rising star is rising. No accidents. If you do, you will become the top group of people in the NBA. Since you have such conditions, I will naturally fight for better treatment for you, and you can rest assured that I will never force players to turn against their teams. If you do that, it will be ruining my own job. In addition, as Yao's little fellow, even if you can't sign with our BDA company, we can have more cooperation opportunities in the future. From Yao, I can see that Chinese virtues, not to mention you have an American basketball background that Yao doesn't have."

Ye Feng already made a decision in his heart, but he still planned to ask one last question: "Then Mr. Duffy, what do you think of the trial training before the draft?" Duffy said calmly: "In addition to the NBA joint trial training, As long as you want to go to any other team, I can get them to send you an invitation to try out. You have to know that although the NCAA performance is very convincing, many coaches and general managers still prefer to watch rookies The performance during the trial training."

After hearing Duffy's words, Ye Feng glanced at his father, and Ye Ning signaled him to make a decision with his eyes.Ye Feng turned his head and smiled, and stretched out his hand: "Mr. Duffy, I hope we can cooperate happily, and I will entrust my career to you!"

(End of this chapter)