One Year Left to Play-Chapter 308 - 102: This Is Not a Multiple-Choice Question

Zhang Hao didn’t put down Le Lin either; holding the little girl felt quite nice. Following the secretary, beside him, Aprile Clark’s eyes were flickering...

...

"Aix, Le Lin seems to get along with you really well."

"Yeah..."

Zhang Hao placed Le Lin in a seat and sat down.

Zhang Hao and Aprile Clark didn’t stand on ceremony too much. After a brief greeting at the dining table, they sat down and accepted the hot towels handed by the waiter to wipe their hands.

Even though it was only the second time meeting Le Lin, because they were going to work together, Zhang Hao had met Howard Schultz a few times during the summer, and Aprile Clark was there too, so they were quite familiar.

Howard Schultz, the host, said, "It’s such a surprise; I didn’t expect you, Aix, to be traded back to Los Angeles. From now on, we can meet more often."

"I didn’t expect it either; I got traded all of a sudden," Zhang Hao said with a wry smile.

"Haha, don’t be upset. What’s there to hold onto in that lousy place? How wonderful it is to return to Los Angeles. I even prepared a gift for you; you’ll definitely like it."

A gift? Zhang Hao looked around; where’s the gift?

Henry Thomas laughed, "Howard meant the gift isn’t an object; he’s about to become a sponsor for the Lakers."

Zhang Hao thought for a moment but didn’t understand: "What do you mean? Am I also a sponsor for the Lakers?"

Howard Schultz shook his head and replied, "No, no, no, you’re one of the owners of Starbucks China, but not the owner of Starbucks. The NBA doesn’t allow players to become sponsors.

I proposed a condition to the Lakers that to get my sponsorship, they must guarantee you a starting position and at least 24 minutes of playtime per game, except in special circumstances."

Even though Henry Thomas and Pelinka had heard Howard Schultz talk about this before, they still felt excited hearing it again.

Zhang Hao is undoubtedly the player among the agency’s athletes with the best potential for a high salary in the future. Playing in a big city like Los Angeles, especially for the Lakers, just yesterday, they received meeting requests from several brands they had previously rejected. If Zhang Hao can secure a starting position with the Lakers and deliver performances like he did with the Brooklyn Nets, the attention will certainly be completely different!

For both of them, Howard Schultz’s move was nothing short of a divine assist!

Feeling the excitement of the two agents, Howard Schultz was also pleased: "No need to thank me too much. I’ve long wanted to test the waters of investing in an NBA team. Since I’m going to try it out, it’s just a small favor to help Aix play for the Lakers."

Zhang Hao was startled for a moment earlier; now, he regained his composure, twitched his lips slightly, quickly controlled his expression, and said with a smile, "I really appreciate it. I was thinking about how to secure more playing time, but now it’s much less of a hassle."

Even as he said this, Zhang Hao felt a strong urge to cough up blood!

He suddenly understood the series of incidents that happened when facing head coach Del Harris this afternoon.

Del Harris was so indifferent towards him, yet during the afternoon practice, he specifically emphasized Zhang’s importance in the tactics and kept an eye on him during tactical training, also indicating that tomorrow’s pre-game preparation would include further tactical adjustments.

Originally, he thought it was a display of Del Harris’s professionalism.

But thinking about it now, Kobe, in his third year and already an All-NBA-caliber player at 20, had his playing time suppressed to about 25 or 26 minutes by Del Harris, just because he was upset about Divac being traded. Obviously, Zhang wasn’t yet at an All-NBA-level strength, plus Kobe had been playing under Del Harris for two years, so how could Zhang expect better treatment than Kobe?

"The Silver Fox must hate me more now, huh? Oh well... whatever, he still has to give me playing time. My style is off-ball anyway, so it doesn’t matter if I don’t get ball control. A starting position! Moving to a new team as a starter, I really need to thank Schultz..."

...

In a wealthy district on the outskirts of Inglewood, transportation is incredibly convenient, just a 15-minute drive to the airport, and it’s close to Inglewood or Los Angeles County.

In front of an almost brand-new villa, Aprile Clark exclaimed in delight, "This house is so beautiful!"

"Yeah, Mr. Schultz is really generous. This house seems to have been built just a few years ago, yet he rented it to me so cheaply. If you like it here, you can pick a room; there should be plenty of bedrooms."

Aprile Clark raised an eyebrow—"Sure, I’ll take a look first."

The villa area is not just houses; the road is wide enough for two cars to pass side by side, with open space on one side and some flowers and plants on the other, a very large yard, and even an outdoor basketball court at the back.

Quite a luxurious villa.

"Of course there are many. This is Le Lin’s house. Since Big Bamboo Stick brother got nowhere to live in Los Angeles, I’m renting it to you." The little landlord girl said smugly, tilting her chin upwards... If it weren’t for being in Zhang Hao’s arms, it would have been very imposing.

Zhang Hao patted the little girl’s head and said, "Hmm, I really appreciate it."

The little girl wanted to struggle, but couldn’t, so she resigned herself to it and leaned towards the direction of the door: "Big Bamboo Stick brother, this way..."

Zhang Hao quickly held her steady and headed toward the door, with the secretary already opening up the villa.

Carrying the little girl, Zhang Hao entered the villa with Aprile Clark, led by the little girl to the second floor.

"Big Bamboo Stick brother, this is my room; you can’t just come into this room!"