The difference between #1 and #3 in terms of salary is a couple million dollars. National pride is a good thing to preach but if you get half of what Ming gets in his contract, I'd raise hell over that difference... Great yet long link Ottomaton!
Rudy T, CD, and the entire Rocket front office are first class all the way. It took people like Rudy, CD, and Goldberg (genuinely down-to-earth guys) to make incredible inroads with the CBA and the Shanghai Sharks in such short order. Can you imagine how quickly the CBA and Sharks would have been turned off by abrasive personalities like Red Auerbach or Jerry Krause? Negotiations would have fallen apart after 36 hours at the most. Great job, Rocket front office!! And thank you Jeff for the good news. You da man!!
It makes the best sense for all sides to get the deal done before the draft. You want to hit the ground running, and keep the press positive. It he is not signed before or immediately after being drafted you can be sure the press will start cooking up doomsday scenarios. We’d see articles with the phrase “controlled by communist Chinese government” repeated six times. Bad hype and not good for anybody involved. You want to start the story on as positive a note a possible. “After being drafted first overall Yao pulled on his Rockets jersey and never took it off. His signing was announced in the post draft press conference, quickly ending speculation that a trade may been in the works. The Rockets also announced that Yao will be doing a shoot around and interview session for the Houston media, and select member of Clutchcity.net, before heading back to China with several other Rockets players to do several public appearances and exhibitions. The Rockets are eager to introduce Yao and his new team mates to their new fans in China. Yao will be back in the US in the late summer to compete for China in the world championships before joining the Rockets to help them in their quest for another NBA championship … bla bla bla The best way to manage the media, capitalise on the publicity of the first overall pick, and generally maintain and nurture the positive buzz around Yao, is to have him signed before or immediately after the draft, and to head in a positive direction immediately.
Legal question: Does signing a contract really mean anything in this particular case? I mean, if, say, China backs out or doesn't follow through with it's end of the bargain after signing the contract, what court would the Rockets go to? There isn't really one, or is there? Just curious.
There is. A lot of western companies and individuals do business in China now. Their contract law is only about 15 years old, IIRC, but it works quite well I’m told. There was a thread a week or so ago that contains some links to info on Chinese contract law. There seems to be quite a bit of information on it on the web, if you're feeling ambitious.
Goldberg says: <img src="http://www.jcrelease.com/billgoldberg/images/gold002.jpg"> Ming, YOU'RE NEXT!
WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH PETE'S sakE!! Also . . . We should say that HAVING THE MAYOR OF THE CITY speak on your behalf did not hurt either Go Rockets Go Mayor Brown Rocket River
JR, One of the people that need to sign off on Yao's deal is the mayor of Shanghai, who pledged his approval and recommendation after he met with Brown. I don't know what your personal opinions are of Brown, but at least give him credit for helping the Rockets' cause.
Couple of points: First off, Lee P. was important to the process but not nearly as important as he would like us all to believe. China is a country where protocol and honor mean a tremendous amount. Having the mayor of our city there to discuss the situation was very important to the process because it showed how much we respect the situation and honor its importance. Now, I'm sure the mayor will tell everyone (in fact, I saw him do it the other night on the news) that he is proud to have been able to represent the city and be a key element in the process...blah, blah. That's why they call it spin. He helped but they could have done it without him. His presence shouldn't be over OR underestimated. Second, legal agreements ALWAYS have clauses in them that determine arbitration right up front. If there is a problem, they submit to some sort of arbitration. In this case, it would probably be some type of international court proceeding.
Yeah, maybe at the Hague. Baliff: The next case, the Houston Rockets vs. the Shanghai Sharks, the Chinese Basketball Association and the People's Republic of China. somehow I think the letters were a good will thing, were they supposed to be enforc(e)able contracts?
