The Best Point Guard-Chapter 81 - 16: [Farm Tractor]

Todolama was a near-top-tier NBA agent. He currently held the representation contracts for seven NBA players, including Baron Davis and Ricky Davis. Marcus Banks was a player he had just signed this year.

He had high hopes for this point guard from Nevada, believing the strong Marcus Banks had the potential to become a Gary Payton-type player.

In fact, that was how he pitched him. Marcus was currently projected as a lottery pick in this year’s draft.

But he was missing that explosive factor.

NBA teams valued his pro-readiness more than his potential. For a rookie, this was by no means a good thing.

So, he had Marcus Banks train at Grover’s training camp, hoping to get a boost from Grover’s immense influence and take things a step further.

Marcus Banks was also scheming with all his might. He was constantly trying to manufacture a rivalry with Su Xi. He believed he could easily defeat Su Xi, but when he called him out in the media, Su Xi completely ignored him. For the past few days, he had been trying to provoke Su Xi at the gym, but Su Xi just treated him like a ball boy and even casually tossed a towel at him.

Banks was furious. He wanted to confront Su Xi, but the staff stopped him, telling him, "You can’t disturb the VIP client over there."

Hierarchies exist everywhere.

Draft prospects should stay in the draft prospect area. Don’t go trying to provoke VIP clients.

Banks considered this a profound humiliation.

"Baron, didn’t Arenas say he wanted to set up a training camp showdown? I hope you’ll pick me. I want to match up against Little Sheep Su Xi. I can demolish him."

Marcus Banks pleaded with the bearded Davis.

Davis frowned. "You can demolish him? And what would that prove?"

"I’ll have the manager from the ’Nevada Agricultural Tractor Factory’ come watch, and I’ll have them film it," Banks said. "It’ll kill two birds with one stone. When they see my performance, they’ll finalize my signing. At the same time, if the tape gets out, it’ll help my draft stock."

"But Grover will be angry," Davis said.

"No, I’ve gone over all the rules. There’s nothing that says no filming," Banks said.

Todolama thought for a moment, then said, "It’s worth a try."

Davis reluctantly nodded. He didn’t want to get involved in these boring and stupid schemes; in his eyes, it was all too low.

’What’s this Nevada Agricultural Tractor Factory? Isn’t it just a 200,000 USD endorsement deal?’

To Davis, who frequently mingled in Hollywood celebrity circles, this was like a childish game of playing house.

So, he stressed that if there really was a training camp competition, he would pick Banks, but that was it. Banks shouldn’t expect him to do anything more.

Banks thanked him profusely.

...

Meanwhile, Arenas was at Su Xi’s apartment, eating some braised dishes that Su Xi had made for his agent, O’Connor, three days ago. It was a thank-you gift for O’Connor making nutritious meals for Su Xi.

There were also some very American-style sweet and sour pork ribs, Kung Pao chicken, and a few other side dishes.

Arenas had high praise for the sweet and sour pork ribs, as well as the braised lotus root and potato slices.

This was evidently a blind spot in a black person’s culinary experience.

Arenas asked Su Xi, "These vegetables taste a bit salty, a bit sweet, and a little spicy. How are they made?"

Su Xi told him it was a family recipe.

But he didn’t elaborate.

When Su Xi’s grandfather first came to the United States, he made a living selling these braised dishes. Su Xi picked it up just by being around him. After his grandfather had an accident, he took over for a while. Because the braised dishes could be preserved for a long time, he would make a batch twice a week to take to school, where he could trade them with other students for other nutritious foods. It was Su Xi’s way of surviving, and also the reason why Arenas liked them so much.

That was because Su Xi’s braised dishes had to be adapted to American tastes. Most Americans have a sweet tooth.

Arenas was a funny guy. After eating Su Xi’s cooking, he said to him, "I’ve got your back from now on, bro."

"Once you get to the NBA, just mention my name. They won’t dare look down on you."

The two chatted about training for a while.

As he was leaving, Arenas insisted on taking Su Xi out to chase some women.

Su Xi pretended to be exhausted.

At this, Arenas roared with laughter. "See! I knew no one’s stamina is better than mine, recovering that fast. You were hiding an internal injury before, weren’t you?"

Su Xi didn’t engage him further on the topic.

But Arenas found Su Xi very interesting. He insisted on giving Su Xi a car, saying, "A man’s gotta have a ride! How can you not have one?"

Arenas was a typical black American: emotional, impulsive, and spent money like water.

Su Xi quickly thanked him for the kind offer, saying he didn’t have a driver’s license.

Only then did Arenas drop it.

Then, he took off the gold chain from his neck—as thick as a pinky finger—and slapped it into Su Xi’s hand with a THWACK. "Here! A little gift for my new little bro."

With that, he swaggered off.

Su Xi gave a resigned smile.

’Arenas’s way of making friends was certainly... unpretentious.’

In reality, Su Xi was much richer than Arenas at this point. He had over ten million USD sitting in his bank account.

Arenas had just finished a two-year, low-paying rookie contract. As a second-round pick, he was considered poor by NBA standards. He was a restricted free agent this summer; only if a team offered him a big contract could he be considered a true star.

Su Xi went home and tidied up for a bit.

Mike O’Connor returned from Cosworth. "I got it done, Boss."

After his salary from Nike was deposited, the first thing Su Xi did was go to the bank and set up an account to purchase a 1.2 million USD fund. Then he had Mike O’Connor go to Cosworth and get the bank account information for Reggie Williams’s mother and Dennis Scott’s mother. Every month, the fund would deposit 5,000 USD into each of their accounts.

"I approached them as a lottery prize promoter. I had them do a ’prize draw,’ and they both ’won’ an apartment, plus a pension of 5,000 USD a month."

O’Connor recounted vividly, "I used to be in movies. My acting is top-notch."

"Excellent. You did a great job," Su Xi praised him.

O’Connor then went over the accounts with Su Xi. The two apartments in Cosworth had cost 280,000 USD.

"When you’re handling things, I have nothing to worry about."

Su Xi gave O’Connor his seal of approval.

O’Connor was thrilled. Then, he said excitedly, "Boss, I think I might be about to land you a second endorsement deal. You know what? I just ran into an old classmate of mine. He’s from Nevada, and he’s trying to promote his agricultural tractors. He’s looking for a strong, somewhat famous athlete for an endorsement. If all goes well, I can make back the money for those two apartments for you."

Er... Agricultural tractors?

Su Xi frowned. ’What does that have to do with me? Do people who drive agricultural tractors even like to watch basketball?’ 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

But not wanting to dampen O’Connor’s enthusiasm, he said, "Go ahead and negotiate. But no TV commercials."

O’Connor quickly lifted his proud chin. "Mission accepted."

He trotted away.

Su Xi watched O’Connor’s retreating back and thought, ’Aside from that smug face of his, the guy’s actually pretty competent.’

...