Chapter 1295: Suns Team Changes Ownership

"Yi, has Tiechui talked to you? Which team does he want to go to?"

Ya Lian is still in China at this time, and he was a little surprised after receiving the call. Is Kobe afraid of being traded? He knows Kobe's status in the Lakers and Los Angeles.

"Kobe, I haven't talked to him about this issue, you can ask him yourself."

Kobe hung up the phone, hesitated for a while, and still called Li Ba's mobile phone.

"Kobe?"

"Tiechui, which team do you want to go to? Tell me, so that I can decide whether to leave the Lakers as soon as possible."

Kobe's words made Li Ba stunned. Is this too direct?

"I can only tell you that I have no special interest in Los Angeles. As for which team I will go to, there is no accurate answer to tell you at present." He said.

"Why?"

Kobe didn't understand. Only a few teams were able to give Li Ba a sky-high contract. What was so difficult about this?

"You know that the owner of the Suns, Sarver, wants to sell the team. It is related to this. A buyer promised me that if he took over the Suns, he would give me a contract."

Kobe understood why Li Ba couldn't decide which team to go to?

He also knew that Li Ba didn't want to leave Phoenix. If he could get a contract with the Suns, it would be nice to stay in one team, which was why he didn't want to leave the Lakers.

After Li Ba returned to the United States, Gao Yuanyuan immediately announced to the media that she would hold talks with NBA teams to decide Li Ba's next home.

This news stimulated the fans of the Suns, and the Suns headquarters and Sarver's company were blocked by many fans.

This put Sarver under great pressure, and he had to speed up the pace of selling the team.

On September 2, the Suns changed hands, and TC Investment Fund acquired all the shares of the Suns for US$1.0112 billion.

This price is not low. It is the highest transaction price of an NBA team, setting a record.

In order to reduce the burden on the team, Gao Yuanyuan had already approached Adidas, hoping that Adidas could learn from Nike and bear part of the operating pressure of the Suns.

Adidas got a lot of benefits from Li Ba, and in order to continue to compete with Nike, it readily agreed to provide the Suns with US$100 million in funds every year to help build a competitive lineup.

In this way, this amount of money alone can afford Li Ba's big contract.

If they can get another big broadcasting contract, then these two amounts of money alone can not only afford Li Ba's big contract, but also build a good lineup, at least there will be no problem signing another maximum salary.

So after buying the team at a high price, Gao Yuanyuan and Li Ba are still very confident about the operation of the team, anyway, they will not lose money.

Sarver is also satisfied. His purchase price was 200 million US dollars at the beginning, and later he used more than 500 million US dollars to acquire 30% of Li Ba's shares, which added up to more than 700 million US dollars. In the past nine years, the Suns have been operating well, and he has also made 700 to 800 million US dollars in the Suns. He has recovered his investment, and the current selling price is a net profit of 1 billion.

The Suns, who changed their owners, are in turmoil, from management to players, they are all very uneasy.

At noon that day, after the news was announced, General Manager David Griffin and Chief Operating Officer Ross Bruce and other senior management were waiting in the conference room, because the new boss would be here soon.

They didn't know what was waiting for them. A new emperor changed his ministers, maybe dismissal?

Soon, Hassan appeared in front of everyone.

"Gao?"

Griffin and others were very surprised to see Gao Yuanyuan appearing with Hassan.

"Everyone, let me introduce you. This is Mr. Hassan, the manager of TC Fund and the new owner of the Suns."

Gao Yuanyuan introduced.

After the greetings, she said, "You are surprised why I am here, right?"

"Yes, Gao, why?" Griffin asked.

Gao Yuanyuan smiled and said, "Because Mr. Hassan will give Hammer a contract that matches his worth, and Hammer also hopes to stay in this city."

"Oh, it would be great to renew Hammer's contract!"

Griffin and others were instantly excited, their eyes widened.

"At the same time, you will continue to stay." Hassan said again.

"Yeah!"

This news is even better, and the management and coaching staff present cheered.

The news was released immediately, and the whole Phoenix fell into a carnival.

At the same time, the Lakers and Knicks, Heat, Trail Blazers, Mavericks and other teams that wanted to sign Li Ba were disappointed.

On the morning of September 3, the Suns' special plane picked up Li Ba from San Francisco. Gao Yuanyuan, Hassan, all the Suns' management, and Adidas' president Herbert Hainer went to the airport to greet him.

The team had already released the news, and countless Suns fans went to the airport to greet him. From the airport to the Suns' headquarters, there was a motorcade of fans.

At 11:30, witnessed by a large number of media, Li Ba and the Suns signed his third NBA contract, a sky-high contract.

3+1, the last year is a player option, the total contract amount is as high as 230 million US dollars, and he has the right to veto trades.

Li Ba did not choose the highest five-year contract, he wanted to play for three seasons first.

He knew his body very well, with billions of reproducible nanoworms in his body, his physique could maintain a very long peak period, there was no need to worry about the contract being too short, on the contrary, signing a contract that was too long was not good for him.

All the shares of the team are held by TC Fund. Gao Yuanyuan and Wu Jiehui hold 40% of the fund, Hassan holds 15%, Guoguo and Li Yi and Li Yang each hold 15%. He and Yatou do not hold any shares, but the shares of their three children are managed by them, and they are actually the major shareholders of the team.

The team then hired a new president, Bryan Colangelo, the son of former Suns owner Jerry Colangelo and former Grizzlies general manager.

The Colangelo family has a very high status in the Phoenix sports world, and it can even be said to be the highest. Using Bryan Colangelo as president can also get the greatest help from the local area.

On the 6th, Li Ba came to the Suns headquarters.

Not only did he come, but the management and coaching staff also arrived.

The head coach of the Suns is still Payton. He just ended his vacation and rushed back to Phoenix to discuss the lineup issues for the new season with Li Ba.

Not only the Suns are busy, but teams such as the Lakers and the Heat are also busy.

With Li Ba's return to the Suns, teams such as the Heat, the Lakers, and the Mavericks, which are aiming to win the championship, have begun to strengthen again.

"This is our current roster, all of them have contracts." David Griffin handed Li Ba a list.

Li Ba took a look and found that there were not many old players left after last season.

Lin Shuhao and Nash's contracts have ended and they have entered the free market, with the former being a restricted free agent.