NBA's King of Talking

Chapter 127 Interested in Renewing the Contract

After ending the call with Sharapova, Kemba Walker gave Jia Fei a meaningful look and said, "Jia, go back and tell us about your sister!"

Jia Fei nodded and readily said, "No problem!"

Back at Kemba Walker's house, Jia Fei told his two teammates about his relationship with Sharapova. Afterwards, the two teammates actually applauded...

"Wow, Ja, you've managed to snag a tennis queen-level beauty without making a fuss. Considering your status in the tennis world, she's way better than you!" Kemba Walker said.

Art Mayork said, "I think she was attracted to Ja's good looks too! Ja, does having a handsome appearance mean you can do whatever you want?"

Jia Fei smiled and said, "Sometimes it is possible, but most of the time it isn't. For men, money is more useful than beauty."

Art Mayor looked somewhat dejected: "Alas, I have neither beauty nor money, what should I do?"

Kemba Walker handed him a box of tissues: "You figure it out yourself!"

"Go to hell!" Art Mayor threw a napkin on the sofa and pretended to cry.

Jia Fei, standing to the side, laughed so hard his penis hurt.

The next day, Jia Fei went to the airport to see Sharapova off. The two met again at the airport, and she reluctantly boarded the plane to Paris.

Jia Fei knew that separation was inevitable. As an adult, you first need to accept separation and parting. After being single for a long time, you'll accept everything. What's there to be afraid of without a girlfriend? With good buddies and basketball, there's really nothing to fear.

Feeling nostalgic? Time to relax! When you enter a state of deep reflection, longing is like a breeze, quickly passing by...

On the day Sharapova left, Lamb and Reggie came to New York to visit Jia Fei.

Even Jia Fei didn't expect that his group of buddies would arrive so soon after he saw his girlfriend off. Did you guys plan this? Sometimes things just happen so coincidentally that you can't help but be amazed.

The following day, they went out to sea fishing on a yacht with Kemba Walker and Art Mayok.

Jia Fei's fishing skills were average. He followed the example and cast his line, keeping an eye on the float, ready at any moment.

Lamb, standing nearby, sighed, "While others are playing in the Finals, we're fishing. They say that players who are eliminated from the NBA go fishing, just like we are now!"

"Stop your damn babbling! You scared all my fish away!" Jia Fei couldn't help but complain to Lamb.

"It's clearly because your skills are bad..." Lamb swallowed the rest of his words as soon as he saw Jia Fei's murderous gaze.

"Look, a mermaid! I caught a mermaid!" Art Mayork shouted excitedly.

Everyone looked at him, and saw him frantically shaking the spinning wheel. Soon, the mermaid was caught and brought aboard the boat.

When everyone took a look, they were stunned. This was a mermaid? It was clearly an inflatable doll!

"Art, so this is your kind of thing!" Lamb patted Art Mayork on the shoulder, his tone full of emotion.

"After being single for so long, even an inflatable doll looks pretty to me. Let's all be understanding!" Jia Fei said, spouting nonsense with a straight face.

Art Mayork was both amused and exasperated. Damn, what a bunch of frenemy friends! They promised to stay together forever, but how come they're teasing each other in such unison? Don't they know how hurtful those words are?

Reggie poured Art Mayork a glass of whiskey, handed it to him, and said, "Art, have a drink. Don't listen to their nonsense. I saw a mermaid from afar just now too!"

Art Mayork seemed to have found a kindred spirit. He accepted the whiskey, his eyes even welling up with tears: "Reggie, you're so kind!"

Reggie smiled, revealing two rows of gleaming white teeth.

"Ah, my fish has taken the bait!" Over here, Kemba Walker, wearing sunglasses, caught a fish. This fish was neither a mermaid nor an inflatable doll, but a large grouper!

"Art, you need to learn how to fish from me, otherwise you'll catch all the ocean trash and really become an ocean cleaner!" Kemba Walker added insult to injury.

Art Mayork is being emo again. You're all bullying me, I'm not happy!

Jia Fei smiled happily; being with this group of people was truly relaxing.

After spending a few days in New York with Kemba Walker and the others, the remainder of May was finally gone. June had arrived…

At the end of May, Jia Fei returned to his hometown, Los Angeles. He renewed the lease on his Los Angeles apartment. No matter what, even though he might not stay there more than a few times a year, having the apartment gave him something to remember it by, a reminder that it was his home.

On June 1st, Jia Fei received a call from his agent, Jeff Schwartz.

"Hello Mr. Jia, I am Jeff Schwartz!" Schwartz introduced himself.

"Hello, Mr. Schwartz!" Jia Fei knew that if his agent called, there must be some new development.

Sure enough, Schwartz said, "Thunder general manager Mr. Presti contacted me, and they showed a strong desire to renew my contract."

"Oh, I see!" Jia Fei wasn't surprised by this news at all. His contract had already expired this summer, and if the Thunder wanted him to stay with the team, they would need to sign him to a new contract.

“The details of the contract haven’t been discussed yet. What I’d like to ask is whether you are willing to renew the contract with them? If so, I’ll go and talk to Mr. Presti in detail!” Schwartz said.

"If you're willing, let's go talk to them first! Let me know if there are any new developments!" Jia Fei still wants to renew his contract. As for how strong that desire is, that depends on the team's sincerity. If it's the same contract as before, then forget about willingness, it's goodbye!

The NBA playoffs are still ongoing, with the conference finals currently underway. Based on the developments of the previous era, the Spurs and Heat will eventually meet in the NBA Finals.

Watching others still playing in the playoffs filled Jia Fei with regret and frustration. He wondered if Coach Brooks was still with the team next season, and if he renewed his contract with the Thunder, would he still be overlooked?

This is a major reason why he is not renewing his contract; he genuinely feels he is not receiving the respect he deserves here.

Agent Jeff Schwartz went to discuss contract extensions with Thunder general manager Sam Presti. Jia Fei specifically checked online and found that the Thunder's total salary last season was $6786 million, while the league salary cap that season was $5804 million, and the luxury tax threshold was $7030 million. In other words, the Thunder did not pay the luxury tax last season.

Jia Fei discovered why the Thunder refused to give Harden those extra millions: it turned out that adding those millions would mean they would have to pay the luxury tax.