Chapter 81: Lucrative Deals and Tang Lei’s Grand Ambition

After seeing Caroline off, Tang Lei stood at the airport for a moment before returning to his apartment. Once home, they exchanged a few texts to confirm each other's safe arrival, and then Tang Lei finally opened his inbox to review the sponsorship offers that had come in.

Rich Paul had narrowed down the choices to five major brands: Nike, Adidas, Reebok, Li-Ning, and Anta. It was clear that Paul had carefully considered Tang Lei's Chinese heritage, recognizing the potential significance of domestic brands alongside international giants. The final decision was left to Tang Lei, but Paul had highlighted the most relevant contract details, especially their core terms and annual offers:

 • Nike: 4 years, $30 million

 • Adidas: 5 years, $40 million

 • Reebok: 4 years, $35 million

 • Li-Ning: 7 years, $75 million

 • Anta: 10 years, $100 million

Tang Lei raised his brows, slightly impressed. The offers from the three international brands were fairly even, averaging about $8 million per year, but all of them had limited the term lengths. Clearly, they were hesitant about his long-term potential, likely due to lingering biases about his durability and race, as well as general uncertainties about new players.

In contrast, the domestic brands had offered both longer contracts and higher annual rates. Li-Ning and Anta saw Tang Lei as a unique homegrown star capable of driving brand loyalty and sales on a massive scale. Their bids averaged over $10 million per year, with Anta even stretching to a decade-long contract worth $100 million.

"These are essentially superstar-level deals," Tang Lei noted to himself. He knew the type of contract a high-profile rookie like Zion Williamson had signed in his original timeline—Zion's 7-year, $75 million Jordan Brand deal averaged $10.7 million per year, even before he had played a single NBA game. But despite Tang Lei's impressive resume—records, All-Star votes, contest wins, and even the All-Star MVP—his offers mirrored Zion's, making him feel somewhat undervalued.

Tang Lei was aware that these companies had reasons to be cautious: health risks, questions about durability, and perhaps underlying doubts about his potential in a league dominated by American stars. But Tang Lei knew something they didn't—he had a safeguard against injuries thanks to the system, and he was confident his conditioning would only improve with time.

After some thought, he composed a straightforward email to Rich Paul, who had brokered the offers:

"First, let's remove Nike and Adidas from consideration. For Reebok, double the offer. For Li-Ning and Anta, reduce the term by half but keep the annual rate. I'm also willing to consider including injury clauses if needed. Let's see what they say."

Tang Lei wasn't setting an unreasonable bar. With the system's support for health, and conditioning, and his growing recognition, he believed he had the leverage to secure a more substantial deal. But he was also thinking about his longer-term ambitions, which was why he leaned toward a four- or five-year contract at most. He wanted flexibility to start building his own brand once he'd established a name for himself and gained financial backing.

To Tang Lei, endorsements were ultimately about working for someone else, building their brand. He saw value in it for now, but he had no intention of making it his end goal. His ambitions reached far beyond that. With the system enhancing his skillset and marketability, he envisioned a legacy rooted in basketball but expanding far beyond it. He wanted to leverage his unique position to create a business empire that would last well beyond his playing days.

He knew the path wouldn't be simple, but he wasn't aiming to just be a successful player; he wanted to be a brand in his own right. Tang Lei's vision was one of ownership, with dreams of eventually standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the major brands he was now negotiating with.

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