1998 NBA Draft
Jake and Eva sat at a table next to Antawn Jamison and Vince Carter and their family, it was a request from them to be together and the organization saw no problem with that, they talked a little and the three were very excited for the NBA draft .
After the order of the teams that would choose the players in the draft was defined, sports commentators began to make guesses as to who would be the 10 chosen first, in these choices Jake was the second pick, Carter being the fourth pick and Jamison being the fifth pick .
With so many commentators saying that Carter and Jamison remembered that Jake said that they would be among the 5 first picks of that draft, that day they just laughed, but now it could be a reality, anyway it was certain that their dream of playing in the NBA would be accomplished .
"Welcome to everyone who came to watch the 1998 NBA draft here at TNT sports, today it will be decided which NBA teams will have 58 young players, we will see who will be the 10 first pick of this draft .
"I'm Ernie Johnson and I'm talking about General Motors Place in Vancouver, British Columbia . "
"With me here today we have sports commentators Hubie Brown, John Thompson, and Rick Majerus who will comment on the chosen players and the teams that will choose them in this draft . "
"Young players are the stars of today and everyone wants to know which teams they are going to, but we must not forget to talk about the possible NBA lockout that could happen on July 1 because the team owners and the players will not reach an agreement . "
"If this happens even this season it can happen with fewer games or in the worst scenario we may not have an NBA season if this happens these young players will not have a debut season this season . "
"That's right, Ernie, because of this situation this NBA season could be canceled and that will be bad for team owners and players, but especially for fans . "
Sponsored Content
"What is being offered by team owners may harm players and more than that, players fear that if they accept bad conditions another NBA lockout may happen in the future when the owners are not satisfied and want to pay less to the players . "
Sports media members and basketball fans were really concerned that this NBA season could be canceled or at least there would be fewer games, players and owners already knew it would happen and were preparing for it .
Media members and fans alike were saddened by this lockout because the NBA was the only major sports league in the United States that had never lost a game because of a work stoppage, and that would change after that season .
"Let's stop talking about the NBA lockout because this NBA draft is about to start, let's listen to the NBA commissioner David Stern . "
"Good night everyone, and welcome to the 1998 NBA draft, I thank all the fans who are following this draft, everyone knows the rules and so let's start this draft with the Los Angeles Clippers team who will have 5 minutes to say who will be the first pick of that 1998 NBA draft . "
"Now the Los Angeles Clippers team will have 5 minutes to decide who will be their chosen player and the first pick of this NBA draft, who do you think they will choose Hubie Brown?"
"I think they can choose Jake Smith or Michael Olowokandi, analyzing the needs of the Los Angeles Clippers team for sure Jake Smith could be the main player for that team in the future . "
"But most likely they will choose Michael Olowokandi, he is a player with a lot of potential and is the Center they want and can be important for the defense and attack of the Los Angeles Clippers team . "
Sponsored Content
"I agree with that too, Michael Olowokandi is the player who seems to best fit the needs of the Los Angeles Clippers team, but I would definitely choose Jake Smith because he can change the future of any NBA team . "
Eva was nervous even though she knew that Jake had an agreement with the Los Angeles Clippers team and the Los Angeles Lakers team, Jake was relaxed because if David hadn't said anything it was because of the Los Angeles Clippers team hadn't changed their minds .
After a while David Stern came back to announce who the Los Angeles Clippers team had chosen, everyone was tense waiting to see who they would choose, the other teams also had 3 players chosen and awaited the Los Angeles Clippers team's decision .
"With the 1998 NBA draft first pick, the Los Angeles Clippers select Jake Smith . "
With the official announcement, Jake and Eva celebrated a lot and the fans who were at the General Motors Place in Vancouver also applauded and liked that Jake had been chosen as the first pick of the 1998 NBA draft, the fans of the Los Angeles Clippers team were very pleased to have Jake as chosen .
Eva was very happy with this and was thrilled because she knew how Jake loved basketball, she knew that Jake didn't need to be a player because of the money because he would earn a lot more by becoming an entrepreneur with so many deals that he did .
Jake's friends were also naturally watching this NBA draft, Matthew, Oliver, Joseph, Clara, Anna, Tiffany, roommates, Kate and many others stopped what they were doing to watch the moment that Jake would join the NBA, and everyone was proud when they saw that he was the first pick of this draft .
Jake put on the Clippers cap and knew it would be for a short time, all the cameras were focused on Jake who was smiling a lot and was even thrilled to make one of his biggest dreams come true before he got that second chance .
Jake went up to David Stern and greeted him and the two took a photo together, it wouldn't be on that day that the Lakers 'team would make the switch with the Clippers' team, they were already thinking about completing the agreement in Los Angeles on Following .
Sponsored Content
"Contrary to what we expected, the Los Angeles Clippers team made the safest choice and chose Jake Smith in the first pick, everyone expected them to choose Michael Olowokandi for what the Clippers team needed, but Jake's choice was right . "
"For sure, Michael Olowokandi has an exciting history in basketball of playing for just 2 years at the University of the Pacific and already becoming one of the most important players in College basketball . "
"He may become one of the biggest stars in the NBA like Shaquille O'Neal, Michael Olowokandi may be one of the biggest names in basketball, but for now he's just a bet on that draft . "
"Jake Smith is already one of the players that we all know will be a great NBA star for years to come, he is a complete player great in attack and good in defense, if he does half the points, assists and steals he did helping team Tar Heels to win the NCAA tournament twice it will already be a good choice for the Los Angeles Clippers team . "
The Clippers team general manager Doc Rivers was in Los Angeles and spoke to Elgin Baylor, as Baylor knew that Jake would not be a player on the Los Angeles Clippers team for a long time he decided to just praise Jake .
"Now Doc Rivers is with Los Angeles Clippers team general manager Elgin Baylor . "
"Yes, Ernie, I'm here in Los Angeles with Los Angeles Clippers team general manager Elgin Baylor, Elgin, how difficult was it for you to decide to choose Jake Smith in this draft?"
"It was not very difficult, it was a decision that the team had already decided a few days ago that if it were possible we would choose Jake Smith in this draft, he is an excellent player and will be important for our team . "
"It was thought by all commentators that the Los Angeles Clippers team would choose Michael Olowokandi as the first pick in this draft, what has changed for you to choose Jake Smith?"
"We really had a great interest in Michael Olowokandi for our team, but the situation for our team changed and we decided that choosing Jake Smith would be better for our team . "
This change that Elgin Baylor was saying was that the Los Angeles Lakers team offered three players who could greatly improve the Los Angeles Clippers team if they chose Jake Smith and switched with the Lakers' team .
In this situation, it was much more sensible if they got these 3 players than betting on Michael Olowokandi, in addition, it was possible that they could still choose Michael Olowokandi because they had the twenty-second pick yet .
"Craig Sager has the number one pick now, let's go to them . "
"Thanks, Ernie, I'm here with Jake who was expected to be among the top 5 picks in this draft, because of the excellent season you had in your two seasons on the Tar Heels team . "
"But the Los Angeles Clippers team was not expected to choose you as the first pick, what do you think about that Jake?"
"I am very happy to have been chosen as the 1998 NBA draft first pick with so many talented players, I am very happy to have entered the NBA which has always been my dream and I hope I can play well for my team in the coming seasons . "
"You have a very different style of play being a PG who scores a lot of points in three-point shots and often prefers assists and also defends well with steals, do you think that your style of play can help deceive opponents or do you think about defining an attacking style in the NBA?"
"I don't think much about it in games, I'm PG and I organize my team's attacks according to the team's coach's instructions, if I have freedom in the attack I'll choose the best way to score and get my team to victory . "
"If the defense is putting a lot of pressure on me, I can try assistance if a teammate is better able to score or I can get the dribble to get rid of the opponent . "
"I prefer to try the three-point shot in which I am more confident than trying to steal or dunk because I can get more points for my team by shooting from outside, and in defense, I do my best to help the team . "
"So it will depend on the coach of my team if I play in a team that has Michael Jordan or Shaquille O'Neal I would prefer to do assists rather than attack alone . "
"One more question, you had two great seasons on the Tar Heels team winning the NCAA tournament twice and being chosen as the College Player of the Year twice, many say you should stay at the university for two more seasons, what do you think about this?"
"I've said it before, I loved playing for the Tar Heels team and I had great teammates, I had coach Dean Smith and coach Bill Guthridge who taught me a lot, I accomplished a lot of things that several players wanted to achieve and I think my time in university is over . "
"So I want to enter the NBA this season to have new challenges and improve, even more, I want to win the NBA title and become the MVP of a season, I want to break several records in the NBA and for that, I have to risk entering the NBA as soon as possible . "
"Thanks, Jake, good luck to you in the NBA . "
After the interview Jake came back to celebrate with his mother and rarely did he feel as happy as he was now, Jake knew that the next day the Lakers 'team would complete the deal with the Clippers' team and he could sign the contract with the Los Angeles Lakers team before the NBA lockout .
The NBA draft continued and Jake wanted to see if he had changed anything else in this draft besides helping the Clippers 'team that didn't choose Michael Olowokandi as they would, Jake didn't know if another team would choose him or if the Clippers' team would still choose Michael Olowokandi in the twenty-second pick .
"The next team to choose in this draft is the Vancouver Grizzlies team, before the start of the draft it was clear their intention to choose Jake Smith in this draft because they need a PG and they also thought that the Los Angeles Clippers team would choose Michael Olowokandi . "
"But with the Los Angeles Clippers team choosing Jake Smith, they should choose Mike Bibby who was another name that was spoken by the Vancouver Grizzlies team in recent days . "
"That's right, Ernie, the Vancouver Grizzlies team can also choose Vince Carter and Paul Pierce to suit their needs, but Mike Bibby is most likely to be chosen by the Vancouver Grizzlies team . "
With the change in the Los Angeles Clippers' team selection, everyone's draft list changed, but commentators already had an idea of what the other teams would choose, so it was time for David Stern to announce the second pick .
"With the second pick of the 1998 NBA draft, the Vancouver Grizzlies select Mike Bibby . "
Jake saw that Bibby was still selected in second and the scene he saw at General Motors Place in Vancouver the same as he remembered seeing on television with Bibby and his mother celebrating .
Sponsored Content
"Mike Bibby is the second pick to be selected by the Vancouver Grizzlies team as expected, Mike Bibby is a talented PG who can shoot from three points and get smart assists as well as being able to fight opponents to get the layup if necessary . "
After Mike Bibby's choice, commentators were unsure whether the Denver Nuggets team would even choose Raef LaFrentz as they were supposed to do before or choose Michael Olowokandi who could still be chosen .
"I think the Denver Nuggets team should choose Raef LaFrentz as they thought to do before, even though Michael Olowokandi can become a good player he may not be ideal for the Denver Nuggets team as LaFrentz is . "
Just as commentators said, the Denver Nuggets team chose Raef LaFrentz for the third pick, after that the Toronto Raptors team and the Golden State Warriors team chose fourth pick Antawn Jamison and fifth pick Vince Carter and then switched players .
To everyone's surprise, Michael Olowokandi still took a long time to be chosen and besides Jake, the other picks in this 1998 NBA draft were the same as it was in Jake's past life, only in the twelfth pick that the Orlando Magic team chose Michael Olowokandi .
So in the twenty-second pick, Michael Doleac that would have been chosen by the team of the Orlando Magic was chosen by the team of the Los Angeles Clippers that was disappointed for not being able to hire Michael Olowokandi .
Apart from Brian Skinner who ended up not being chosen by any team the rest of the draft was normal but probably Brian Skinner would enter the NBA in the future and everything would be as it was before, the Los Angeles Clippers team got rid of getting one of the biggest draft busts in NBA history for having made one of the biggest drafting mistakes by exchanging Jake Smith with the Lakers team .
At least for one season, they would have better players on their team that could be exchanged for other players or at least give some money to the Los Angeles Clippers team .
Jerry West knew he would be criticized for switching three players to Jake, but he thought that in the future he would be praised as he was for getting Kobe Bryant to the Los Angeles Lakers team .
After the end of the draft Jake and Eva went to dinner with Vince Carter and Antawn Jamison and their family, Jake invited them because the next time they met they would be on different teams and would-be opponents .
They all talked happily even though their families didn't know each other . They knew that Jake, Vince, and Antawn were friends after dinner Jake asked Eva to stay with him until he went to Australia, but Eva said she would stay only one day because to come back to help Anna run the restaurant .
Jake arrived in his hotel room and was finally able to relax when he lay in bed, it had been a lively day and many things had happened that year, he won almost all individual awards and managed to win the NCAA tournament with the Tar Heels team .
Jake also started filming for the film The Matrix which was sure to be a big hit and he would be closer to his dream of becoming a successful actor, now he had been chosen by the Los Angeles Clippers team and would play on the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA .
Sponsored Content
All his dreams were gradually coming true, his mother was already very happy and he was already rich as he wanted, there was little to fulfill his dreams in basketball and as an actor and his relationship with Kate was progressing and this year they would start dating if everything went well, thinking about it Jake decided to talk to the system .
"Fate, thank you very much for this second chance, everything that I wanted and always dreamed of is coming true and I am achieving much more than I expected, I really appreciate it because I know that if it weren't for you none of this would be happening . "
[You deserve everything that is happening Jake, I helped you because you deserved it and you are using the skills you have well and intend to even help others and do not forget your gratitude and what you went through . ]
[You will continue to have the things you want because you have the capacity and can still improve, just be careful not to forget what is most important to you . ]
"I'm not going, Fate, can you show me my stats for my first job?"
[Yes, here it is . ]
[Name: Jake Smith]
[Age: 19 years]
[Job: Basketball Player]
[Title: NBA Pro Player]
[Position: PG, SG]
[Height: 2 . 01 m]
[Weight: 103 Kg]
Sponsored Content
[Force 43]
[Agility 42]
[Resistance 45]
[Intelligence 63]
[Luck 99]
Skills Basketball
[Ball Handling A]
[Body Control B]
[Man to Man B]
[Dribble A]
[Layup S]
[Set Shot SS]
[Block B]
[Pass S]
[Rebound A]
[2 Points SS]
[3 Points SS]
[Free Throw SS]
[Steal SS]
[Dunk S]
Jake for a moment thought that nothing had changed after the draft, but soon realized that his job title had changed to NBA Pro Player, his skills had also changed even though his skill levels had not dropped as he expected before .
It made Jake very happy because he didn't have to spend a lot of time trying to improve his skills for the SS rank, and it also gave Jake more confidence because he trusted the system and knew that it meant he was able to perform well in the NBA also .
[Your skills are like I told you if you got the S rank in all your basketball skills you would be a good player in the NBA, and how you got SS in various skills means that you kept improving even while playing at university . ]
[Some of your skills have dropped to rank B because you haven't trained so much on those skills and the skill standard in the NBA is higher, but many of your skills are already worthy of the S rank . ]
[Another thing I have to tell you is that you have reached the maximum skill level that a basketball player can have, this means that your skills that have an SS rank are already the best and can be called the skills of an All-star the NBA and may make you an MVP in the future . ]
Hearing this Jake managed to understand a few things, the system was saying that his mid-range shooting skills and also outside shooting skills were those of an NBA All-Star player, which meant he had a skill close to Ray Allen, Reggie Miller, and Stephen Curry .
This might seem logical seeing that Jake managed to hit 549 three-point shots in two seasons at College basketball, he had an average of 73 . 8 percent hits on his 3-point shots, but Jake couldn't think he was that good like Ray Allen, Reggie Miller, and Stephen Curry because he always admired them .
[Another thing that you have to understand is that even if your skills are in the SS rank they can still improve a lot, your skill in the three-point shot and the mid-range shot has already passed a lot of other players who also had SS rank in these skills.]
Jake understood that too, even if he had SS rank in Layups one day, he wouldn't be as good as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was, even if he had SS dunk rank he wouldn't be as good as Michael Jordan, even if he had rank Blocked SS he wouldn't be as good as Hakeem Olajuwon and even if he had SS rank in rebounds he wouldn't be as good as Wilt Chamberlain.
Of course, Jake had no intention of being better than these basketball legends in all his skills, but he wanted to be the best of the three-point shot that was what he was always best at, Jake also saw the possibility of being the best in steals in his career.
Jake also didn't think he could be considered the best player in NBA history, he knew that even if he scored more points and won more NBA titles than Michael Jordan he still wouldn't be a better player than him.
Maybe after leaving the NBA, someone could say that Jake Smith was just like Michael Jordan and that would be the greatest honor that Jake thought he could have in his career, especially since Jake would know he got what he had thanks to the help of the system while these other players did not.
After talking to the system Jake understood his skills more, even so, he couldn't help but be excited about having such good stats, he was more confident about his debut season in the NBA.
Jake spent the next day with his mother until Eva had to go to Miami in the afternoon, Jake told her that he would go home if all went well after finishing the film shoot in Australia, while Jake was happy negotiations were going on NBA.
As agreed on the next day of the draft, the Los Angeles Lakers team general manager Jerry West concluded Jake's exchange agreement with Elden Campbell, Eddie Jones, and Derek Harper, thereby the Los Angeles Clippers team general manager Elgin Baylor was happy because he thought he had made a great deal for his team.
Jerry West had already spoken to Elden Campbell, Eddie Jones, and Derek Harper before the negotiation and the three accepted the change, Elden Campbell was a young and skilled player and knew he was the type of player that the Los Angeles Clippers team wanted.
So he would have more playing time and also have more prominence on the team and with the other players who would go with him the Los Angeles Clippers team would improve a lot, Eddie Jones could play only one year on the Los Angeles Clippers team and then leave for another team.
And Derek Harper was thinking about retiring this season, but he could play another season for the Los Angeles Clippers before retiring, they didn't care that they would be traded in exchange for a new player because they knew the NBA was like that.
So Jake traveled to Los Angeles the same day with David Falk, David had already told the sponsorship companies that they would be in Los Angeles next week and that there would be signing of endorsement contracts, the companies were more excited and confident knowing that Jake would be playing for the Los Angeles Lakers team.
Naturally, everyone in the sports media heard about the news of the exchange of three great players who were featured on the Los Angeles Lakers team to have newcomer Jake Smith, most of the media criticized Jerry West's decision and said he went crazy after the success of the hiring Kobe Bryant.
Of course, many who were smarter realized Jerry West's intentions and secretly praised him, the Lakers' team had Shaquille O'Neal and wouldn't have much room for Elden Campbell to play.
Derek Harper was close to retiring and having a young player like Jake was much better and they wanted to sell Eddie Jones to have more time for Kobe Bryant to play games, moreover, they would free up a lot more space to pay a higher salary for Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant.
Even so because Jake had been the first pick, his salary would be very high and would only increase in other years, but Jerry West was right and Jake Smith was one of the best players on the team in the coming years, it would be worth paying a high salary.
Even with a high salary, the Lakers' team would save 6 million dollars with this exchange and that amount would only be higher if Elden Campbell and Eddie Jones received the salary increase this season.
Jake arrived in Los Angeles and soon went to Jerry West's office to sign the contract, even though David Falk said that Jake could be paid less because of exceptions to his contract, Jerry West decided to pay the salary that Jake would receive as the first pick of that draft.
It was interesting that for at least 1 season Jake would receive a higher salary than Kobe Bryant who would renew the contract only next year, Jake was happy with the respect that the Lakers' team had with him.
"Jake, I am very happy to have a great player like you on our team for the next few seasons, we have hired you because we have a lot of expectations that you will be an excellent player as soon as you make your NBA debut."
"In this team of the Los Angeles Lakers we have Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant who are excellent players, I hope you can help them make more points, as PG we hope you organize the team's attacks and make the points when you think it is necessary."
"Welcome to the Los Angeles Lakers and I hope you can bring some more NBA titles to our team with the team we have."
"Thank you, Mr. West, if I'm a bit as good as you were as a player, I know I will succeed."
Jake's first year of contract with the Lakers team would be $ 2.7 million, and in the possible 5 years of the contract he negotiated with Jerry West he would receive $ 23.5 million, Jake thought it was good because he remembered which was similar to the contract that Mike Bibby would receive in 5 years.
So Jake was officially hired by the Los Angeles Lakers team and knew where he would play for the next 5 seasons at least, with the situation of the possible NBA lockout coming up in the next few days. Jake still wouldn't report to the team for training.
But he would still remain in Los Angeles to sign his sponsorship contracts until the NBA lockout was confirmed and the players were released by the teams and so Jake would go to Australia.
The media continued to talk about the bad business of the Los Angeles Lakers team, but the truth was that fans of the Los Angeles Lakers team and the Los Angeles Clippers team were satisfied with this exchange.
Fans of the Los Angeles Clippers team were happy to have Jake on their team, but they were more than happy to welcome Elden Campbell, Eddie Jones and Derek Harper on their team because even though Jake was a genius he couldn't change the team. Los Angeles Clippers alone.
But with three good players, the Los Angeles Clippers team could improve already this season, and the team had a star who was Eddie Jones who was missing before, and fans of the Los Angeles Lakers team were upset that Eddie Jones and Elden Campbell would leave.
But they understood that with that Kobe Bryant would have more time to play in the games and with the success of Kobe Bryant, they had more confidence that Jake Smith would be an equal success and so they would have three excellent players to try to win an NBA title.
On Jake's second day in Los Angeles, an Adidas representative had come before the other sponsors to sign the official contract with Jake Smith, perhaps the one who was happiest with Jake going to the Los Angeles Lakers team was Adidas.
Of the best players on the Los Angeles Lakers team, one was Kobe Bryant who had a contract with them and the other was Shaquille O'Neal who had a contract with the Reebok company, so if Jake played as well as they thought he would become the third main player of that team and he had a contract with the company Adidas.
If the Los Angeles Lakers team won the NBA title in any of the coming seasons with two players on contract with them, it would be the glory of Adidas and they would gain an advantage over Nike.
The only thing Adidas regretted was not trying to negotiate a bigger contract with Jake even if they had to pay more money, even so, some directors were against it, they thought to pay a 52 million dollar contract for 5 years to a novice player was taking too many chances.
Even more because Jake would receive 4 percent of the revenue from selling shoes that were related to Jake, that was a large part of the money the company could receive back from the $ 52 million that they would pay in 5 years.
But the company's salespeople didn't care about that because their goal was to sell the shoes but even more was to get a more prominent place in the world of basketball worldwide, and Jake was already very popular in Europe and Asia too.
The Adidas representative was called Mike Morris and he was 1.70 m tall and looked elegant wearing a suit with black hair and eyes, Mike had not negotiated Jake's contract with David, but he was chosen as the company's representative Adidas because he knew how to be polite and David would negotiate deals directly with the company anyway.
Usually, endorsement contracts were made at Adidas with a presentation by the company on the marketing proposals they had for the player they would sign, but David had already seen it all and it was Jake who had asked to sign the contract. In Los Angeles.
Jake would rather have signed with Nike because he knew the future, but he actually liked Adidas very much and wanted to do his best to help the company over the next 5 years that the contract between them would last.
In the meantime he would leave everything to Adidas and David Falk to take care of a tennis brand using his name and also the advertisements, Jake trusted David for this and knew that David was happy because he would receive 10 percent of those 52 million dollars. contract dollars.
"My name is Mike Morris, it is a pleasure to meet you, Jake Smith, I will be the representative of Adidas company to talk to you for years to come and if you have any questions you can call me and I will do everything I can to help."
"We at Adidas expect a lot from you in basketball and also in marathons, so if you need any help in the next marathons we can help and if you think about an advertising campaign we will also listen to you."
"Thanks, Mike, I also hope that we will work together for many years, I already left my coach taking care of the next competitions in the marathon for me, but he will let you know when I am going to compete and so you can prepare."
"Okay, how are you going to play here in Los Angeles so you will probably find a place to live here in the city when you do that we will send you some of our company's products for you to use whenever you want."
"Okay, I'll let you know."
After that the contract that had already been made by David and the Adidas company was handed over to Jake who signed it after reading it carefully, he was happy that David had already negotiated the contract with the sponsoring companies so that they could do things faster.
In the next few days, the other companies came so that Jake could sign the endorsement contract, in the end, no new company decided to sign with him after David increased the contract to $ 2 million a year.
So Jake signed with 4 other companies a 4 million dollar contract for 4 years, the companies were Gatorade, Gillette, Pepsi, and Chevrolet, so Jake managed an additional 16 million dollars in 4 years with these companies and would receive 4 corn of dollars a year.
David Falk was satisfied with these contracts that Jake had signed and knew that Jake did not intend to sign any new contracts that did not pay more than he had asked for before the NBA draft.
Jake knew well that the way to be successful in the NBA was not always to negotiate millionaire contracts with the teams but to negotiate millionaire contracts with the endorsement companies, Jake got Pepsi, Gatorade, and Gillette because of the old contracts sponsorship and because of David's help.
Jake was sure that in the coming years these companies would be happy if he really won 3 NBA titles and he would get new contracts and renew those contracts with much higher values.
Even after signing the contracts, Jake did not leave Los Angeles because there was still one day left before the NBA lockout that would be on July 1, Jake had to wait for the teams to release the players and so Jake would go to Australia.
With all the sponsorship contracts and the Los Angeles Lakers team signed, Jake didn't care about the NBA lockout, even though this season he knew the players would be paid less than he did.
Just as Jake expected in the next few days the NBA lockout actually happened and the Los Angeles Lakers team had to release the players, the same day Jake managed to schedule a flight to Australia and after saying goodbye to David he went to Sydney.
Jake was no longer suffering from the long 1-day trip on the plane and after resting for just one day he was much better and ready to re-shoot the scenes he missed in those weeks.
While Jake was away the actors did more fight scenes than Jake's character would not participate, Jake really wanted to see the footage of those scenes in person, but he couldn't ask the directors for it and had to settle for seeing the footage later.
Some more complicated scenes took days to shoot and some stuntmen were actually injured during the shoot, Jake suffered no injuries because he had a better physique than many stuntman's and also had faster reflexes.
Of course, Jake was lucky that his character didn't have to be thrown away in any scene, the scenes like when Neo was thrown into the phone booth the stuntman could get hurt, of course, part of that was the directors' consideration knowing that Jake was a professional basketball and did not have a stuntman.
While filming Jake can befriend Keanu Reeves and also Laurence Fishburne, Keanu and Laurence were not basketball fans, but they knew that Jake had been the first pick of the 1998 NBA draft and would play for the Los Angeles Lakers team and so they naturally they were more interested in him as a player because it was clear that if Jake did that he was a talented player.
Jake also couldn't help looking at the two of them as a normal fan would do, luckily he was a calm person and the two didn't bother with it, as the filming went on for weeks, Jake can calm down and treat them like friends himself.
Filming continued and Jake did all the fight scenes very well and also his performance was highly praised, so the Wachowskis brothers enjoyed working with Jake very much and intended to work with him again in the future if they were able to schedule the filming for the vacation of Jake in NBA.
Soon more time passed and the month of August had arrived, the filming was close to the end, but they would not end in August because Jake delayed the recording a little, but it was also because with the entry of his character in the film they had more scenes for the record.
Jake was fortunate enough to follow the scene where Neo and Trinity invade the agents' building to rescue Morpheus and they have one of the coolest shooting and fighting scenes that Jake had seen in which the two fight with dozens of policemen and win.
This scene took 10 days to be filmed because the visual effects were practical and not done by the computer, it was interesting for Jake to see how the scene was actually filmed and he was praised by the directors because his character was not in that scene and even then Jake was there every day to follow the recording.
Perhaps seeing the scene like this only the Wachowskis and Jake brothers could know what this scene would be like when going through post-production, Jake had brought one of Matthew's company digital cameras and whenever he could he took pictures of the actors and places of Australia that were close to where he was filming.
That was how after a little over 1 month the last scene was finally recorded and they had officially finished the recording period before the post-production started, a party was prepared to celebrate the end of filming.
At this party, they had farewells from the actors who would have different jobs and they weren't even sure if they would meet again, especially Jake that for everyone would go to the NBA games, only Jake knew it would still be a few months before the season really started.
"You did a great job, Jake, I confess I didn't expect you to be such a good actor, in the action and fight scenes you were also very good, I hope to work with you again."
"I have to thank you, Director Larry Wachowski, I appreciate this opportunity that you and your brother gave me and I also hope to work with you again, if you can organize the filming period for the season that does not have NBA games, I would certainly I will participate."
"Yes, I am confident that this film will be a success and so we will see each other in the recording of the sequence of this film, if there is an upcoming film I guarantee that you will have many more fight scenes to show your talent, Hahaha."
"I am also sure that this film will be a success, I hope to have time to watch the film premiere together with all of you."
After talking to Larry Wachowski, Jake went to talk to Keanu Reeves, just as before Keanu was surrounded by people because besides being a famous actor Keanu showed that he was very kind and charismatic in these months of recording and made friends with many of the film crew.
But this time Jake had an easier time approaching Keanu Reeves to talk to him because they became friends after filming, Jake thought that maybe they would have to shoot one more movie together at least if the sequel to The Matrix really happened.
"Keanu, it was a great pleasure to work with you these past few months, I am a big fan of yours before this film and seeing your dedication to the recordings I admire you even more."
"Hahaha, thank you, Jake, you also did an excellent job in this film, you were better than me in the fight scenes and in the action scenes, and for your first film without having an experience you did as well as the other actors in the scenes and did not make a mistake."
"This is nothing, I may have been better in the action scenes because you just had surgery, I'm sure in the future you will be one of the biggest names in cinema in action films like this."
"I hope we can work together again, and good luck to you at the NBA games."
"I also hope that we can work together again, I hope that you are very successful in your next films and that everyone knows more about your talent, I also hope that you are going to watch some game on my team, I send the tickets to you on the front row."
"For sure, if you send the tickets and I'm not working, I will watch your games."
Jake was very happy to befriend one of his idols Keanu Reeves, he can also work with Tom Cruise, but he was unable to be as close to Tom Cruise as he was able to with Keanu Reeves, afterward Jake still spoke with other actors and especially with Laurence Fishburne who became friends with him too.
Jake also talked to Carrie-Anne Moss, she was very kind, but Jake was shyer around her because he was also a fan of her because of the movie The Matrix, but Jake didn't know how to make friends with beautiful women.
He befriended Tiffany, Clara, and Emily because he worked with them and met them when he was a child, but with Carrie-Anne Moss, he was unable to talk as well as he talked to others.
Jake would try to solve this problem because otherwise, he would have a hard time making friends in society, luckily it seemed that it was only with her that he was most famous, because he managed to talk to the other women on the film crew who were also beautiful.
After filming Jake had finished his work, he would have to do the audio recording of his scenes in the film after editing because when recording the scenes the audio of the actors was very noisy, but this he could do in Los Angeles.
Jake has not yet been to Miami or Los Angeles after finishing filming, Jake had to go to the Silicon Valley in San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California, because after the end of filming Emily asked Jake to go there.
Jake naturally accepted it because he had things he wanted to do in this region anyway, it seemed that the technology company that Charlie's team ran there was in need of more employees and more resources to do what Jake had asked.
Of course, even though Jake trusted Charlie and his friends who made the prototype of the smartphone with the touch screen, Jake still asked them to sign some confidentiality and intellectual property contracts.
That's because even if they were the ones who developed the technology it was at Jake's request and the idea for the products was Jake's and the most important points for development were passed on to Charlie's team by Jake.
In the past, Jake invested a few million dollars in the company they worked for and equipment to develop touchscreen and multi-touch technology, but although Jake accepted that they had some temporary employees he did not want anyone else to work on the development of the product.
But this time just money wasn't enough and Charlie's team needed more programmers to create the new technology's algorithms for creating the Android system, as that was an important subject Emily who knew Jake had finished filming decided to ask that he himself decided.
"Hi, Emily, how long have I not seen you, are you all right?"
"Yes, Jake, I have had a lot of work taking care of your companies, but all of this is very rewarding seeing the growth in the value of the shares and also the patent processes that you have requested that are progressing well and without much competition in the market and neither many barriers."
"This is good, thanks for the work you are doing, Emily, I can only go to the shoot and also soon go to Los Angeles because I trust you and your work."
"Thanks, I called you here because of Charlie's request, he says that to make the Android system he needs more employees and more developers."
"I understand, I was hoping for that when I asked him to create this operating system, you can let me talk to him, you can prepare more restricted contracts for the employees who will work at my company."
"So you will allow the hiring, I understand, I will prepare everything, you have to ask Charlie to take care of the hiring because I don't have time for that, then I will send you the budget."
"Okay, I'll see you soon Emily."
Jake naturally hoped that Charlie's team would not be able to create the Android system easily, he hoped that Charlie needed help because there was still no smartphone that the system he had to create.
So Charlie's team had to do this on computers that weren't quite that powerful and the operating system that Jake was asking for was more advanced than the system Apple and Microsoft used for computers.
The worst was that with Jake saying the most important points and how it worked Charlie realized that it was possible and the way Jake spoke it seemed even simple, but he had no idea how to do it without help.
"Hi, Charlie, it's good to see you, I came because Emily said you need to hire more employees?"
"Yes, Jake, it's good to see you too, I can't even begin to create the codes for the Android system you told me, it's very complex and it seems more difficult than creating an operating system for a computer."
"That's right, it's really more difficult than creating an operating system for a desktop, after all, it's the same principle, only that it has to work with fewer components, I came here to approve that you hire employees."
"But you have to do an interview and choose only the best and everyone has to sign the exclusive contracts and they cannot sell this idea to other companies."
"Thanks, Jake, I will be able to successfully do what you want with more help."
"I believe in you, but I came here to better explain to you how you can start creating this operating system."
So Jake started explaining to Charlie that he had now studied much more about operating systems after those months, Jake explained that he needed hardware to make the Android system work.
He needed a RAM memory, a smaller motherboard the size of a smartphone, BIOS, battery, a small microprocessor like the cache memory, data storage device and the other things that were important for a smartphone to work and the system Android would have to make this work.
Now that Charlie understood a little more about what Jake was talking about he understood how much work they would have and how difficult it would be to do what Jake had asked for, luckily he knew a few things after making the smartphone and he understood a little of what Jake was thinking.
Jake told Charlie in the future to think about putting a Sound Card and a video card that would be very important, but now he wanted him to create a smartphone that would work as a regular cell phone and had it work with a touchscreen.
And for that he had to create a Software using the Linux kernel and the C and C language, Jake explained that he wanted only simple things and with that Charlie finally knew what he and his team could do to start.
After that conversation, Charlie said that for now he would not need employees and Emily knew that, Jake was confident that Charlie could do this with his team and so he was willing to invest a few million dollars.
"Charlie, you and your friends studied at Stanford University, can you arrange a lunch with some of the students at that university? I need to talk to them about something."
"Sure, I can do that, what's their name?"
"It's Larry Page and Sergey Brin."
Jake knew since he hired Charlie that he had studied at Stanford, so he had thought for many years to meet Larry Page and Sergey Brin who were the creators of the Google company with Charlie's help.
Of course, Jake thought about meeting with them a few years earlier, but Jake knew he would be very busy and would not have time to do almost anything, Larry Page and Sergey Brin had already created the Google company and started a business.
So Jake thought that this could be the ideal time to talk to them, after all, he knew the story that the two tried to sell the company Google in 1999 to the CEO of Excite, George Bell for 1 million dollars.
So Jake, who was smart, thought about investing a few million dollars right after they failed to sell the company, so they would certainly accept it because they were even thinking about selling the company, and Jake would get a large percentage of the company.
Of course, Jake would not ask for much and would still make several deals to ensure that Larry Page and Sergey Brin always continued with many shares in the company and thus he would ensure that the future he knew for that company happened.
If Jake achieved this he could even pass on the development of the Android operating system to Google in the future as it was originally, but of course, it would always be his patent and his idea.
In a company like Google, helping to develop the company was sometimes more important than just investing money in the company, so Jake would ensure that he would always have some authority in the company even if he didn't think about doing anything to change how things were.
So Jake went to a hotel near his company, Charlie was very prestigious at Stanford University because he was always a good student and was working on developing important products.
In the future Charlie's team would be known for developing touchscreen and multi-touch technology, creating the prototype of the smartphone and also developing the Android operating system that would be the most used by smartphone companies worldwide in the future.
Just as Jake hoped Charlie got the meeting Jake wanted with Larry Page and Sergey Brin, he said that Jake was a very important businessman who invested in various areas of technology which was true and so the two agreed to come over to where Jake was to find with him.
Jake had to be careful because first, he wanted to make friends with the two and make them understand that Jake was able to invest and also understood technology, Jake didn't need to meet Larry Page and Sergey Brin many times because next year he could do the investment and become their partner.
Of course, even though Jake planned it all out calmly and just talked to Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the two could never imagine that Jake knew what would happen in the future and was just waiting for them to try to sell the company to invest.
Naturally, Larry Page and Sergey Brin did not expect Jake to know their company and just hoped that Jake was looking for opportunities to invest, but they were looking for an investor now that their company was starting.
The truth was that Jake always saved a few million dollars thinking about making this investment that he knew would be more important in the future than investing in shares of the company Cisco, it was the same when he decided to invest in the company Amazon.
After getting this investment, Jake would no longer have to worry about saving money, especially since he would start receiving money from his NBA contract and sponsorships that would give him over 16 million dollars a year.
Especially since the year 2000 was approaching and Jake could sell his shares of the company Cisco and would have a few billion dollars to receive after that Jake would not have to worry about making any more investments.
Of course, Jake still intended to make some millionaire investments that he knew would make a profit just to keep his investment company and maintain his employees' and Emily's salaries.
Emily was already receiving a salary of hundreds of thousands of dollars a year and Jake intended to further increase her salary after he sold his shares in the Cisco company, she was always by his side helping him with all his investments and would always be she wanted to continue working with him.
So Jake would hire Haruto who was his friend at the university, so Emily would have fewer responsibilities and be less stressed about her responsibilities, Jake had intended to give her some well-deserved vacations for some years.
So the other day Jake went to the restaurant to meet Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the two had arrived before him at the restaurant and had some reports that could be from their company.
"Good afternoon, my name is Jake Smith and I asked you to meet with the two of you."
"Yes, Mr. Smith, it is a pleasure to meet you, they called us from the university and said that you wanted to talk to us, could I ask what it would be about?"
"I heard you were doing a doctorate at Stanford University, I have a technology company that has Stanford University students as its main developers."
"So knowing how great they are at computing, I was curious when I found out, did you create a company based on your research project?"
Larry Page and Sergey Brin were surprised when Jake appeared in front of them when they heard that the head of one of the most important students at Stanford University and that he was a major investor wanted to speak to them, both thought it was an excellent opportunity.
But seeing how young Jake was if they didn't know the information that he was an investor before they probably wouldn't believe it, even if Jake was really wealthy and wanted to invest they just needed money and an investor who didn't get involved in the development of their company.
What happened was that as Larry Page and Sergey Brin were very busy with the university and their company, they didn't keep up with the news and sports and didn't know who Jake was, if they knew he was an athlete who won a gold medal and several marathons and was an NBA player they would not be surprised that Jake was so young.
Jake also didn't want to explain who he was and didn't intend to invest after this conversation with them, he just wanted to make friends with them and show that he was interested in the company, so after they tried to sell the company they wouldn't be surprised that Jake invested a few million dollars suddenly.
Jake wanted to guarantee making an investment of $ 1 million to earn a percentage of the company that was developing now, but he feared that it would change the future a lot if he made that investment and Larry Page and Sergey Brin might not think about selling the company for Excite CEO George Bell for $ 1 million.
If that happened, Jake could miss the investment opportunity and could own more than 25 percent of the company without changing the company's future too much, after all, Larry Page and Sergey Brin would get a few millions of dollar investments a few months after failing to sell the company for George Bell.
"Yes, Mr. Smith, we have a company whose main product is a search engine, it is a search algorithm in which when you type something to search the internet it shows the most searched and accessed sites and the most used search words."
"It is based on the PageRank algorithm that we created, and we realized that this search engine based on PageRank produces better results than the existing techniques."
"We are against the use of advertising pop-ups on a search engine and we think that after we have more active users on our website we can create several methods to earn revenue even without using pop-ups."
After that, the conversation continued and the two said several things that were important to explain the use of the search site that Jake actually knew better than they did, then Jake said some opinions of him about the search site that he had studied in the future that very impressed Larry Page and Sergey Brin.
"I was really impressed with your company and the proposal you have for the internet, as you know I am investing in an electronic product development company and I have invested in some technology companies."
"But probably next year I can invest in your company if the site shows better results, I cannot make a promise, but I will look for you when I decide to make the investment."
When Jake said that Larry Page and Sergey Brin thought for sure that Jake had decided not to invest in their company and they were upset about it, of course, if Jake really wanted to invest he would give some time or say some amount to make a commitment.
But Jake was happy with this conversation and if the future didn't change he could make his investment next year and thus secure another society that would be worth billions of dollars to him in the future.
Jake was also sure that if they ever saw him in the newspapers or on television they would recognize him and at the next meeting they would know exactly who he was, Jake knew that they had received an investment from Jeff Bezos and so it would be easier for him to negotiate when he revealed that he was an Amazon partner.
After talking to Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Jake said goodbye to Charlie and traveled to Los Angeles, soon Jake would have to come to Los Angeles again to start training, so he wanted to buy the house now so he could stay home with his mother until the Los Angeles Lakers team called him.
Jake had a house in Miami that was actually the house that Jake gave to his mother, but Eva didn't accept it so Jake didn't tell her that that house was hers, so Jake thought that this house in Los Angeles would be the first house of himself that he would buy.
Jake received, after signing the sponsorship contracts, the annual value of all the companies, so Jake received 14 million dollars, David Falk received 1.4 million commission and thus Jake got 12.6 million dollars.
With more money that Jake had already saved after making the investments he had $ 43 million in the bank, thinking about the investment he would have to make next year in the Google company, Jake still had a lot of money that he could finally use as he wanted.
So he spent two days looking for a mansion for him in Los Angeles in upscale neighborhoods, Jake didn't think it would be a bad investment even if he happened to not be in Los Angeles too long because he could change teams.
After all, in the future, he knew that because of inflation and other things, real estate would appreciate more than 100 percent in value, so it was a good investment even if Jake wasn't going to use the house in the future.
Jake hired a real estate agent just to close the house deal and show him the houses he wanted, the real estate agent happily knew Jake and knew he would play for the Los Angeles Lakers team.
As the agent was a fan of the Los Angeles Lakers team he thought that since Jake was buying a house in Los Angeles it meant that he intended to play for many years on the Los Angeles Lakers team.
As the agent knew Jake was rich he had no hesitation in taking Jake to the neighborhoods with the most luxurious mansions in the city just as Jake had asked, he knew that players liked to spend millions of dollars buying houses when they started playing in the NBA.
"Mr. Smith, we have several wonderful houses that are for sale in several upscale neighborhoods in Los Angeles, I will show you these mansions first and if you don't want to I can show you the mansions that are not for sale, but then you will have to pay much more for them."
What the real estate agent wanted to say to Jake was that there was no house that wasn't for sale, he just had to offer a lot more for the real price that the house was worth to buy it, many rich people didn't like to hear that they couldn't buy one House.