The Chicago Bulls' management suite on the top floor of the United Center.
On the large, dark brown solid wood table, sports headlines from several major newspapers were spread out.
Chicago Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf sat solemnly in his chair, veins throbbing on his forehead. General Manager John Parker stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, holding an internal reporting phone that had just ended.
"All six Foot Locker's stores in Chicago were emptied this morning." Parker turned around, his expression extremely complicated. "Young people all over the city are rushing to buy clothing with that new logo. Ironically, they're wearing those outfits near our arena."
Reinsdorf grabbed the newspaper from the table and slammed it onto the coffee table. "From beginning to end, Converse didn't even mention our Chicago Bulls ' name once!"
The shrewd lawyer, who had dominated Chicago's sports landscape for decades, felt his chest heaving.
Kobe played in a Chicago Bulls jersey, but young people across America were idolizing the totem created by Lin Qi. All the huge commercial profits went into Converse's accounts, the Chicago Bulls didn't get a penny, and they even had to bear the public opinion risks that Kobe might ignite at any time on the court.
" Jerry, the bigger problem is the team's internal situation."
Parker added grimly, " Kobe went to the training facility at 5 a. m. this morning. When some young players came into the locker room this morning, they saw him alone in front of the clipboard, strapping on compression belts. They were so scared that no one dared to go up and say hello. Beal Vince Carter (the head coach) told me privately that Kobe is like a wild beast that could bite at any moment, and there's going to be a bloodbath in the locker room again."
Reinsdorf leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.
The Colorado case was temporarily frozen thanks to Lin Qi, and the contract was one that Kobe signed voluntarily.
The Chicago Bulls have Kobe's playing time, but off the court, they have to continue cleaning up his Kobe.
At the same time, in Beaverton, Oregon, at Nike's global headquarters.
The air in the top-floor core conference room was so cold it was hard to breathe.
Phil Knight sat at the head of the table, his face ashen, with a national retail industry monitoring report lying in front of him.
"They didn't even manage to make shoes..."
Lynn Merritt, the executive in charge of sports marketing, spoke with a hoarse voice, pointing to the pre-sale statistics on the briefing. "With just a 30-second ad and that snakehead logo, Converse has already received over two million pairs of pre-orders across various distribution systems. And that doesn't even include the independent order fairs in Chicago and Los Angeles."
Chief Legal Officer Richard sat to the side, cold sweat trickling down his forehead.
Nike originally planned to use the Eagle County Incident to suppress Kobe's moral character, force Rob Pelinka to accept a harsh pay cut, and then slowly rehabilitate Kobe's image through traditional charity and public relations.
Lin Qi has no intention of clearing his name.
He directly elevated Kobe to the throne of villainy, transforming all the negative publicity into fervent purchasing power.
We're out.
Phil Knight leaned back wearily in his chair, closing his eyes. "Let's get ready for the LeBron James signature shoe launch for the new season. As for the Kobe line... let's stop there."
September 21, afternoon, in the study of a townhouse in Boston's Back Bay.
Autumn rain tapped against the windowpanes, and the pine wood in the fireplace emitted a calming, subtle fragrance.
Gregg Stone, Vice President of Basketball Business for Converse North America, sat on a leather sofa, opened his briefcase, and reported the latest data, "Mr. Lin, Foot Locker and other retailers have added three million pairs of order intent for the first quarter. But the biggest problem now is that consumers are asking when Kobe's signature shoes will be released, and retailers are pressing hard for delivery."
Lin Qi sat behind a large walnut desk, holding a cup of warm tea in his hand, looking calm and composed.
"Sneaker development must never be rushed."
Lin Qi put down his teacup and gave clear instructions. "The signature shoe is the foundation of our business, especially the forefoot cushioning technology and outsole traction tuning. They must be refined strictly according to Kobe's high-intensity performance standards. We'd rather postpone the official release until mid-November when the regular season starts than risk damaging our reputation with a half-finished product."
Lin Qi tapped his finger on the table, pointing to another path.
"But we can't waste the current market hype. Inform the design and supply chain teams to focus on Black Mamba -themed merchandise before the official sneakers are released. Expedite the expansion of the apparel product line, focusing on heavyweight hoodies, training sweat-wicking T-shirts, windproof jackets, and compression arm sleeves and baseball caps with the metal snake head logo. These items have short production cycles, quick turnover, and high profit margins. Immediately coordinate with the contract manufacturers to operate on two shifts to quickly fill major shopping malls and department stores, so that young people can wear this symbol on the streets and basketball courts first."
Gregg quickly jotted down notes in his notebook, nodding repeatedly. "Understood. I'll have the design director send over the confirmation slips for the first batch of sample garments tonight, and I guarantee the mass production will be completed within a week."
Standing nearby, Margaret promptly handed over an urgent internal report and whispered, "Boss, things are getting tense in Chicago. Jerry Reinsdorf filed a complaint directly with David Stern this morning, accusing Boston of unfair competition using off-court capital. Mark Cuban of Dallas and the Simon Brothers of Indiana have also jointly protested in the management committee's email group, demanding that the league office intervene and investigate."
Gregg stopped writing and looked over with some concern. "Mr. Lin, having made such a big fuss, won't the league be able to withstand the pressure and initiate an anti-circumvention review of our contracts?"
Lin Qi leaned back in his chair, his expression calm, his gaze fixed on the rain-washed streets outside the window.
"If David Stern can pretend he doesn't see this huge commotion, he wouldn't be the league president."
Lin Qi's tone was calm, carrying a composure that indicated a thorough understanding of the situation. "Each team owner has been secretly giving players commercial subsidies; this has been an unspoken rule since the 80s and 90s. But in the past, everyone did it behind the scenes, not openly. This time, Converse directly bought out primetime in the NFL and promoted it extensively. Reinsdorf and Cuban joined forces to put pressure on them, and Stern, in order to maintain the league's facade of order, will definitely take some action."
"I'm very interested to see what kind of strategy David Stern is going to come up with to deal with those noisy bosses this time."
Lin Qi dared to make such a big fuss because he was certain that Stern couldn't touch him now.
Stern owed him a favor, and Stern would never break off relations with him at this critical juncture.
Having carefully calculated the alliance office's considerations and concerns across various dimensions, Wizards allowed Converse to reap the commercial benefits of this round.
" Gregg, go back and get the production schedules in the surrounding area sorted out. Don't worry about what's going on in New York."
"Now that the team owners have taken their complaints to Manhattan, let's just wait for David Stern's call."
Now, the pressure is on David Stern.