Chapter 557: Forced interview.
Chen Huan could only stop after seeing the increased crowd so he motioned the group of chirping reporters to stop.
Sure enough, after seeing Chen Huan give up, they quickly shut up and it was quiet again.
“I’ll answer six questions in total and Elizabeth will answer none. Then you let us go.” Chen Huan said to them, “If you agree, the deal is done. Otherwise, I won’t say a single word no matter what.”
“Alright.”
The reporters looked at each other before nodding their heads.
The bystanders weren’t there just for show either as some of them said, “We want to ask questions too!”
Elizabeth laughed at that.
Those people were really shameless.
“Alright, you can ask two questions.” Chen Huan readily agreed, “But don’t pester us afterward! I still have to send Elizabeth home!”
“Alright!”
The bystanders also agreed with a smile and said nothing else.
“The first question… you!” Chen Huan pointed at a short reporter who was the closest to him as well as the most active.
“Mr. Chen Huan, are you dating Elizabeth? You guys showed up so early to the theater, were you together last night?” the short reporter was very cunning as he blurted out two questions.
Chen Huan pointed at him and said, “You’re cheating!”
The reporter smiled sheepishly but still stuck his recorder toward Chen Huan.
“I said I wanted to watch a movie last night and that annoying guy Kobe set up a date with Elizabeth, saying that Elizabeth was a local and it would be better if she accompanied me.” Chen Huan helplessly answered, “So she came this morning to the residential area and we decided to watch a movie together.”
“So…”
The short reporter wanted to ask why Chen Huan didn’t respond to the question whether he was dating Elizabeth or not but Chen Huan just asked for the next question.
The other reporters glared at him and seemed to say, “Your question is already answered, are you going to disturb the other?”
With no other solution, he could only shut up in anger.
“Chen Huan, aren’t you closer to Miley Cyrus? Wouldn’t she be jealous if you’re so close with Elizabeth?” The second reporter asked and pointed at the two holding hands.
Chen Huan let go of Elizabeth’s hand and shrugged, “I was afraid you were about to push Elizabeth to the ground. After all, she’s not really Scarlet Witch! If this was Miley, she would probably be the one dragging me out of here.”
Everyone laughed and didn’t expect Chen Huan to be so humorous outside of the court.
No wonder Miley Cyrus and Elizabeth Olsen were laughing when they interacted with him.
“Chen Huan, I hear your contract with the Lakers is only one year with a base salary of 1 million dollars, is that true?” The third reporter asked.
“It’s true.” Chen Huan said, “But I have incentive in my contract, I get 100k for every ten points I score in a game. I got 400k for my first game and 600k for my second game, isn’t that 1 million already?”
“With that record breaking performance, the Lakers wouldn’t lose even if they gave you more than 1 million!” A Lakers fan loudly shouted.
He was talking about the fourth game of the series against the Blazers where he scored 68 points and was held by MJ for thirty years.
He was right.
The NBA was more and more global now and there were increasingly more teams that gave huge bonuses to record breaking performance.
The Lakers were notoriously generous and the fans felt Chen Huan should have gotten more.
Chen Huan didn’t care.
Little Buss already gave him a luxury car so he already received his intent.
“Then if another team gives you the max contract of 30 million or even 40 million, would you leave the Lakers and join them?” The fourth reporter asked, “I heard many teams are preparing to offer you that and the Lakers don’t have the cap space for you at all. The most you’ll get is a middle level exception!”
The people from Los Angeles were shocked by that question.
But it was indeed the case.
The Lakers gave Kobe the max contract.
The second highest earned was Hibbert with 10 million per year and there was Iverson with 5 million. The other players in the Lakers have all varying salaries, which made them close to being capped.
If they wanted to keep Iverson for the next season, they must spend at least 8 to 10 million with his current form. It would be an insult to his good condition if it was any lower.
In that case, how much were they going to give Chen Huan?
10 million?
It would be a bigger insult than Chen Huan’s current 1 million contract!
The 1 million base salary was given because they didn’t know about Chen Huan’s level of play so he only took 1 million for Kobe.
Now Chen Huan had an historical scoring game in a high level game and had the ability to dominate the court, which meant he was on the level of a superstar and a superstar was always the most well paid person on the team.
A superstar to be paid only 10 million was a humiliation to Chen Huan.
As long as the other team had cap space, any offer below 30 million would be an embarrassment.
But if the Lakers wanted to give Chen Huan a max contract, they would have to pay the same amount in luxury tax so they would have to spend more than 60 million per year on Chen Huan per year.
Although the Lakers were rich and the salary cap would be increased next year, whether the team could bear with the salary pressure was still a legit question.
Everyone was eager to hear Chen Huan’s answer.
But they were also nervous about it at the same time.
“I’m not thinking about that for now and I’ll think about it when the season is over.” Chen Huan answered, “This isn’t an excuse but I really haven’t thought about it. Concentrating on the next games is something that a professional should do.”
“Nice!”
The reporter hadn’t said anything yet before the fans and bystanders cheered.
They reminded him of those bystanders from China who acted the same.
Most reporters weren’t satisfied with such an answer but Chen Huan already declared so loudly so they couldn’t find any fault in it.
They wanted to create controversies about Chen Huan being dissatisfied with salary and thus opening a path for the other team in the NBA.
This would be a trending topic they could hype around for the entirety of the summer.
It was Chen Huan’s reply in such a cliché way and didn’t give them a chance to speculate.
There was one last question remaining and it was given to a female reporter standing at the edge of the encirclement.
“Mr. Chen Huan, some people say you lack respect for the opposition and tend to be violent, what’s your opinion on this?” That female reporter asked quickly.
She was definitely bold for asking this.
The other male reporters looked at each other and thought she was definitely bold to not be afraid that Chen Huan would just leave directly after that.
Chen Huan didn’t get angry and said, “Am I not on the court to play the game? Do I have to be like some Japanese and apologize with a bow after the game and say I’m sorry for dribbling past you, dunking on you, scoring on your face… Do I have to be sorry for that? Just watch me play and stop caring about that much.”
“As for being violent, I’ll say it like Kobe, there are things you know it’s wrong but have to do as a man. I wouldn’t strike back if there weren’t so many fouls against me.”
“In that case, did you intentionally retaliate against Davis?” The female was unrelenting.
Chen Huan smiled and turned toward the bystanders, “Now it’s you guys turn to ask questions… alright big man ,you, you screamed the loudest earlier.”
Everyone immediately turned toward the big man with reddened cheeks in his thirties.
The female reporter was ignored.
She gritted her teeth in anger but couldn’t force Chen Huan to answer so she could only hold it back.
The big man saw he was lucky so smiled ear to ear as he said, “Chen Huan, I love seeing you play basketball! Do you think the Lakers can get the championship this year?”
“Why can’t we?” Chen Huan said.
“Yeah!!!”
That big man and the other bystanders immediately got excited as he cheered.
The reporters were also stunned.
They didn’t expect Chen Huan to be so confident.
Even if they eliminated the Blazers, there was still the Spurs ahead as well as the last year Champion and the regular season record breaker Golden State Warriors!
Even if they won against the Warriors, their opponent at the finals would be the Cavaliers with Kyrie Irving and Lebron James.
To win against strong opposition like that, was the Lakers going to fly?
The fans didn’t care about that and only care that Chen Huan made them a promise and that this superstar who fell from the sky was the hope of the Lakers!
“Chen Huan, let me ask you a question, do you have a girlfriend?” A female fan wasted a chance to ask this question.
“I have.” Chen Huan laughed, “My girlfriend is in China so Elizabeth and I are just friends so you can let her go!”
“Alright, I wish you happiness!” The fans looked at the easygoing Chen Huan and were very happy.
“Chen Huan, Chen Huan…”
The group of reporters refused to let Chen Huan go and hoped he would answer a few more questions.
Not mentioning anything else, just the topic of the Lakers could certainly win the championship could be a big headline.
But now without Chen Huan speaking, the big man with his friends squeezed into the crowd and fiercely pushed the reporters away.
“What? What? Didn’t we agree on 5 questions, why are you going back on your words!?”
“Disperse, disperse now or I’ll show you what’s up!”
The few of them looked quite fierce and with their roughness, the reporters could only retreat.
Those people were ordinary folk and weren’t celebrities so they obviously didn’t care if those reporters wrote anything about them.
The reporters couldn’t do anything to these normal people.
Chen Huan and Elizabeth were able to leave with their help.
The teenager didn’t forget to give them a thumb up to the big man before getting into Elizabeth’s car and drove away.
Chapter 557: Forced interview.
Chen Huan could only stop after seeing the increased crowd so he motioned the group of chirping reporters to stop.
Sure enough, after seeing Chen Huan give up, they quickly shut up and it was quiet again.
“I’ll answer six questions in total and Elizabeth will answer none. Then you let us go.” Chen Huan said to them, “If you agree, the deal is done. Otherwise, I won’t say a single word no matter what.”
“Alright.”
The reporters looked at each other before nodding their heads.
The bystanders weren’t there just for show either as some of them said, “We want to ask questions too!”
Elizabeth laughed at that.
Those people were really shameless.
“Alright, you can ask two questions.” Chen Huan readily agreed, “But don’t pester us afterward! I still have to send Elizabeth home!”
“Alright!”
The bystanders also agreed with a smile and said nothing else.
“The first question… you!” Chen Huan pointed at a short reporter who was the closest to him as well as the most active.
“Mr. Chen Huan, are you dating Elizabeth? You guys showed up so early to the theater, were you together last night?” the short reporter was very cunning as he blurted out two questions.
Chen Huan pointed at him and said, “You’re cheating!”
The reporter smiled sheepishly but still stuck his recorder toward Chen Huan.
“I said I wanted to watch a movie last night and that annoying guy Kobe set up a date with Elizabeth, saying that Elizabeth was a local and it would be better if she accompanied me.” Chen Huan helplessly answered, “So she came this morning to the residential area and we decided to watch a movie together.”
“So…”
The short reporter wanted to ask why Chen Huan didn’t respond to the question whether he was dating Elizabeth or not but Chen Huan just asked for the next question.
The other reporters glared at him and seemed to say, “Your question is already answered, are you going to disturb the other?”
With no other solution, he could only shut up in anger.
“Chen Huan, aren’t you closer to Miley Cyrus? Wouldn’t she be jealous if you’re so close with Elizabeth?” The second reporter asked and pointed at the two holding hands.
Chen Huan let go of Elizabeth’s hand and shrugged, “I was afraid you were about to push Elizabeth to the ground. After all, she’s not really Scarlet Witch! If this was Miley, she would probably be the one dragging me out of here.”
Everyone laughed and didn’t expect Chen Huan to be so humorous outside of the court.
No wonder Miley Cyrus and Elizabeth Olsen were laughing when they interacted with him.
“Chen Huan, I hear your contract with the Lakers is only one year with a base salary of 1 million dollars, is that true?” The third reporter asked.
“It’s true.” Chen Huan said, “But I have incentive in my contract, I get 100k for every ten points I score in a game. I got 400k for my first game and 600k for my second game, isn’t that 1 million already?”
“With that record breaking performance, the Lakers wouldn’t lose even if they gave you more than 1 million!” A Lakers fan loudly shouted.
He was talking about the fourth game of the series against the Blazers where he scored 68 points and was held by MJ for thirty years.
He was right.
The NBA was more and more global now and there were increasingly more teams that gave huge bonuses to record breaking performance.
The Lakers were notoriously generous and the fans felt Chen Huan should have gotten more.
Chen Huan didn’t care.
Little Buss already gave him a luxury car so he already received his intent.
“Then if another team gives you the max contract of 30 million or even 40 million, would you leave the Lakers and join them?” The fourth reporter asked, “I heard many teams are preparing to offer you that and the Lakers don’t have the cap space for you at all. The most you’ll get is a middle level exception!”
The people from Los Angeles were shocked by that question.
But it was indeed the case.
The Lakers gave Kobe the max contract.
The second highest earned was Hibbert with 10 million per year and there was Iverson with 5 million. The other players in the Lakers have all varying salaries, which made them close to being capped.
If they wanted to keep Iverson for the next season, they must spend at least 8 to 10 million with his current form. It would be an insult to his good condition if it was any lower.
In that case, how much were they going to give Chen Huan?
10 million?
It would be a bigger insult than Chen Huan’s current 1 million contract!
The 1 million base salary was given because they didn’t know about Chen Huan’s level of play so he only took 1 million for Kobe.
Now Chen Huan had an historical scoring game in a high level game and had the ability to dominate the court, which meant he was on the level of a superstar and a superstar was always the most well paid person on the team.
A superstar to be paid only 10 million was a humiliation to Chen Huan.
As long as the other team had cap space, any offer below 30 million would be an embarrassment.
But if the Lakers wanted to give Chen Huan a max contract, they would have to pay the same amount in luxury tax so they would have to spend more than 60 million per year on Chen Huan per year.
Although the Lakers were rich and the salary cap would be increased next year, whether the team could bear with the salary pressure was still a legit question.
Everyone was eager to hear Chen Huan’s answer.
But they were also nervous about it at the same time.
“I’m not thinking about that for now and I’ll think about it when the season is over.” Chen Huan answered, “This isn’t an excuse but I really haven’t thought about it. Concentrating on the next games is something that a professional should do.”
“Nice!”
The reporter hadn’t said anything yet before the fans and bystanders cheered.
They reminded him of those bystanders from China who acted the same.
Most reporters weren’t satisfied with such an answer but Chen Huan already declared so loudly so they couldn’t find any fault in it.
They wanted to create controversies about Chen Huan being dissatisfied with salary and thus opening a path for the other team in the NBA.
This would be a trending topic they could hype around for the entirety of the summer.
It was Chen Huan’s reply in such a cliché way and didn’t give them a chance to speculate.
There was one last question remaining and it was given to a female reporter standing at the edge of the encirclement.
“Mr. Chen Huan, some people say you lack respect for the opposition and tend to be violent, what’s your opinion on this?” That female reporter asked quickly.
She was definitely bold for asking this.
The other male reporters looked at each other and thought she was definitely bold to not be afraid that Chen Huan would just leave directly after that.
Chen Huan didn’t get angry and said, “Am I not on the court to play the game? Do I have to be like some Japanese and apologize with a bow after the game and say I’m sorry for dribbling past you, dunking on you, scoring on your face… Do I have to be sorry for that? Just watch me play and stop caring about that much.”
“As for being violent, I’ll say it like Kobe, there are things you know it’s wrong but have to do as a man. I wouldn’t strike back if there weren’t so many fouls against me.”
“In that case, did you intentionally retaliate against Davis?” The female was unrelenting.
Chen Huan smiled and turned toward the bystanders, “Now it’s you guys turn to ask questions… alright big man ,you, you screamed the loudest earlier.”
Everyone immediately turned toward the big man with reddened cheeks in his thirties.
The female reporter was ignored.
She gritted her teeth in anger but couldn’t force Chen Huan to answer so she could only hold it back.
The big man saw he was lucky so smiled ear to ear as he said, “Chen Huan, I love seeing you play basketball! Do you think the Lakers can get the championship this year?”
“Why can’t we?” Chen Huan said.
“Yeah!!!”
That big man and the other bystanders immediately got excited as he cheered.
The reporters were also stunned.
They didn’t expect Chen Huan to be so confident.
Even if they eliminated the Blazers, there was still the Spurs ahead as well as the last year Champion and the regular season record breaker Golden State Warriors!
Even if they won against the Warriors, their opponent at the finals would be the Cavaliers with Kyrie Irving and Lebron James.
To win against strong opposition like that, was the Lakers going to fly?
The fans didn’t care about that and only care that Chen Huan made them a promise and that this superstar who fell from the sky was the hope of the Lakers!
“Chen Huan, let me ask you a question, do you have a girlfriend?” A female fan wasted a chance to ask this question.
“I have.” Chen Huan laughed, “My girlfriend is in China so Elizabeth and I are just friends so you can let her go!”
“Alright, I wish you happiness!” The fans looked at the easygoing Chen Huan and were very happy.
“Chen Huan, Chen Huan…”
The group of reporters refused to let Chen Huan go and hoped he would answer a few more questions.
Not mentioning anything else, just the topic of the Lakers could certainly win the championship could be a big headline.
But now without Chen Huan speaking, the big man with his friends squeezed into the crowd and fiercely pushed the reporters away.
“What? What? Didn’t we agree on 5 questions, why are you going back on your words!?”
“Disperse, disperse now or I’ll show you what’s up!”
The few of them looked quite fierce and with their roughness, the reporters could only retreat.
Those people were ordinary folk and weren’t celebrities so they obviously didn’t care if those reporters wrote anything about them.
The reporters couldn’t do anything to these normal people.
Chen Huan and Elizabeth were able to leave with their help.
The teenager didn’t forget to give them a thumb up to the big man before getting into Elizabeth’s car and drove away.
