Basketball Terminal

Chapter 69 I accept
Dazzling colored lights cleaved through the darkness of the hall, revealing alluring and voluptuous bodies as they sat on the players' bodies and legs, writhing energetically. A few slivers of cloth tempted the men to tear them off to complete the final step of the dance.

This is a well-known strip club in Brooklyn. After the game against the Magic, James Harden brought his close teammates and friends here to release excess energy amidst music, drinks, and sex. It's also a popular place for professional athletes to unwind.

Li Wei was facing a Thai girl, who was much slimmer and more beautiful than the other women around him who were muscular and capable of posting up their opponents in the low post. One good thing about New York is that you can see beautiful girls from all over the world, representing various races and cultural backgrounds, which greatly helps promote national unity and multicultural integration.

The girl entered wearing a pink, tight-fitting long dress that accentuated her beautiful figure while completely covering her body. This is precisely the allure of striptease; you know what you'll see in the end, but you begin with a vague sense of anticipation, finding satisfaction as that anticipation is gradually realized.

Just like reading a novel, readers know that the protagonist is likely to win, but the author still needs to use their writing style to subtly reveal the process of victory and present the result at the last moment in order to enjoy the thrill of victory.

Of course, it cannot be ruled out that some works end with the protagonist failing or deliberately dying. This is like stripping down to the last bit and revealing a huge penis. Most readers are scared and run away, cursing, while a small number are pleasantly surprised and like this kind of thing.

Li Wei only allowed the Thai girl to perform after confirming she was a legitimate woman. At the end, she swayed and twisted like a snake to the music, showcasing the graceful beauty of a Southeast Asian woman. The whole experience was enjoyable, and Li Wei gave the girl a $20 tip.

The girl, however, didn't want it. She sidled up to Li Wei, saying she wanted to go out with him and spend the night together. Li Wei smiled and refused, saying he could take the $20 back if she really didn't want it. The girl reluctantly took the money and stuffed it into her white bosom, a hint of disappointment in her eyes as she glanced at Li Wei, but he remained unmoved.

Going out to have fun is fine, and for professional athletes, it's a way to release stress. But taking people out overnight is a different matter, and Li Wei is extremely cautious about it. He wouldn't even go back to his own place, let alone book a hotel room. Exposing his body and valuables to strangers is very dangerous.

When Li Wei came out of the nightclub, he noticed that Harden, who had brought a woman back from Los Angeles, was also all alone, without anyone by his side. Was he being more cautious now that he was back in his home court? No wonder there's a Chinese saying: "Go to prostitutes far away and gamble nearby."

Harden explained, "I need to go home and be with my family." Li Wei thought to himself, "You're not married, so did you bring your parents to Brooklyn?" But their relationship wasn't that close, so he didn't ask any further questions, and everyone dispersed.

The team didn't have practice scheduled for the 26th. That evening they were flying to Texas for away games – one against the Spurs and one against the Rockets – before returning in March to play the Mavericks. Li Wei slept in late, then took his younger brother out to the bank to run some errands.

After signing the new contract, the Nets required him to create a TD Bank account, where his salary would be deposited in the future. TD Bank is an important partner of the Nets, based in Canada, and the team naturally needs to cooperate with its partners for financial settlements.

This is the same as in China. When you join a large company, you need to change your bank card to the one that the company partners with so that they can handle your settlement, personal savings, and loan business.

In the United States, ordinary customers may need to make an appointment a week in advance to open an account at certain banks. Li Wei is a VIP customer and can open an account at any time. The two brothers are getting ready to go out.

Li Manshun stopped the two of them and said, "Son, Dad has something I want to discuss with you."

"I haven't been paid yet, I have no money. I've already collected all the bills, if anyone doesn't give them to me, I'll have to go to their door to ask for them myself, I don't have time right now. There are dumplings cooking in the pot, make some yourself if you want to eat them, the vinegar is the second to last one on the far left of the cabinet. I'm out of lard."

"No, no, it's not about the money!"

"You still want to marry your cousin-in-law?"

“What the hell is that? It’s that… you know about the Chinese Laundry Association in Flushing, right?” Li Manshun was getting anxious, and his Jiaxing dialect started to come out, which sounds a lot like Shanghainese.

"I know, it's a group of laundry workers who get together to help each other. But they don't include our family, most of them are from Taiwan. What's going on, now that they're here, they suddenly remember our family?"

"Oh dear, they did come over yesterday, trying to recruit us. They even offered us a vice president position and an honorary chairmanship."

Li Wei waved his hands repeatedly. As far as he knew, the Cage Washing Association had the support of powerful figures behind them, and he absolutely could not associate with them. Besides, what was he, a regular NBA player, doing as the honorary chairman of the Cage Washing Association? He wasn't an equipment manager.

"You should stay away from these people in the future! When they held their group meeting before, they excluded most of us from China. Now they're practically begging to come over. You need to figure out why. Are you out of your mind?"

Li Manshun nodded obediently. Li Wei then reminded Li Yue that he must distance himself from these messy forces in the future and must not be bribed by small favors, or he would get himself into trouble.

"Hey, wait a minute, there's also... a few stores have come over recently. They know you're an NBA player and want you to be their spokesperson, take some photos or something. There's an endorsement fee."

Li Wei looked at Li Yue, who quickly shook his head and said, "I didn't act as a matchmaker! It wasn't my suggestion; they came to us on their own."

"What store?"

"Uh... let me see." Li Manshun pulled out a small notebook with a pencil tucked inside. It was a notebook he used when he was doing odd jobs. "There's... Wanwei Mobile Phone Repair, it has two 'Wei' characters in it, which matches your name well. And... Lao Li Shenyang Chicken Frame, Lao Li, we're from the same clan. Feiyue Sports Brand Store, they sell sporting goods, which is related to your profession. I rejected the rest that weren't relevant."

Li Wei becoming an NBA player was a big deal in Flushing. He was already somewhat famous in Flushing for his scoring challenges, and now, with his NBA debut and the series of reports about Scott Mitchell, he'd become a local sensation. Everyone wanted to get involved. Besides the laundry association, various other Chinese organizations, advertising collaborations, and of course, loans all came knocking. Since Li Wei was away playing and training, his parents, Chen Lihua and Li Manshun, naturally took care of him. Chen Lihua was busy with her laundry business and knew her son didn't need these things, so she didn't bother with them. Li Manshun, however, was easily swayed and readily accepted everyone's requests.

Li Wei knew that Li Manshun meant well, but looking at these stores, was he really reduced to being only a spokesperson for them?
With a deep sigh, Li Wei pulled his younger brother out the door. Li Manshun called out, "Is there anything else? Think about it. Even a small thing is still something! Our business is just starting out, don't be so picky! We have to take things one step at a time!"

Upon arriving at the TD Bank branch near Barclays Center, Levi was warmly greeted by a client manager. Without having to wait in line, he was ushered into a VIP room where coffee and two desserts were served.

The service was indeed very good, but the speed was really slow. The account manager asked a lot of questions and I filled out a lot of forms. Even NBA players like Levi get a dedicated financial advisor who can provide advice on financial management, investment, and tax filing.

Li Wei doesn't need bank advice on investing; he'd rather roll dice than listen to them. However, he does need to listen carefully to tax matters, as filing taxes in the US has always been a hassle. Li Wei remembers his mother going crazy before each tax filing, because laundromats involved many small cash transactions and were once a hotbed for money laundering, making tax filing extremely complicated.

Li Wei's financial advisor was of Chinese descent, and it seemed he had specifically hired him. He told Li Wei that all income, including contracts, endorsements, business activities, and even money given to him by others, is subject to federal taxes. Federal taxes are levied in tiers, with different tax rates for different income brackets.

Are you married?

"Me? No, I'm single."

"This is a tax ladder for income for single people."

"Holy crap... are they going to start a singles tax?"

"No, it's not that. Singles are listed by individual, while married couples are listed by family, or they can be listed by individual. There are different forms for each."

Li Wei looked at the tax rates and found that the tax rate was 10% for the portion of annual income from $0 to $9875, 12% for the portion up to $4000, and then increased to 22%, 24%, 32%, and so on up to 37%. The amount in question was $518,000, and the portion exceeding that was taxed at 37%.

Levi's pre-tax income this year, including guaranteed contracts, G League contracts, and money earned from unrewarded scoring challenges, certainly exceeds $51. This means that Levi will have to pay approximately $12 in federal taxes alone.

"This is the tax rate table as of April 15, 2021. A new one will be released in the second half of the year, with new figures. Income earned after April 15 will be calculated according to the new table."

This is just federal tax; next comes state tax. Unfortunately, New York has the highest state tax rate in the country, so the remaining income will be cut again.

"State tax is determined by where you compete. If you compete in Brooklyn, you pay New York tax rates on your earnings. If you compete in Texas, you don't pay state tax; Texas doesn't have state tax."

Thinking about the upcoming game in Texas, Li Wei felt a bit better; he could earn a lot more money in one game. No wonder everyone says Texas teams offer better value contracts—they can make a significant amount more in taxes alone. Remembering he hadn't discussed the contract more thoroughly with Nelson, Li Wei felt a little regretful.

"This is the tax part. As an NBA player, the league also takes 10% of your income as a fund to be deposited into a common account. There's also a portion for retirement, and a portion for health insurance. Finally, there's your agent; if you have an agent, they usually take a 2%-4% commission."

"My agent is extraordinary, but negligible."

After considering everything, Li Wei realized that his previous idea of ​​cutting taxes in half had underestimated Americans' ability to pay taxes; the actual amount needed to be cut by more than half. If his annual income was 50, he would only take 20 after taxes. After adding daily expenses such as rent, hiring a coach, and household necessities, he wouldn't be able to save much money in the end.

No wonder many Black athletes go bankrupt after retirement. Their contracts look impressive, often worth tens or even hundreds of millions, but once the money is deposited into their accounts, a large portion is already gone. Yet some people still spend money based on the mindset of "I have a total income of 100 million," coupled with unscrupulous agents who betray their teams, inevitably leading to bankruptcy.

After completing all the formalities, listening to a lot of advice, and spending more than an hour, they were told that the bank card would have to wait another week to be mailed to their home. Leaving the branch, Li Wei and Li Yue both sighed.

Li Yue looked at Li Wei and said, "Brother, how about..."

"Stop talking, I'll take the call. Call Dad and ask him how much Old Li is offering for the chicken carcass. No matter how much, raise the price by 50%."

"50 is too low, I'll raise it to 80, watch me."

　With the kids not home, my sleep schedule is completely messed up... I need to recharge after a long day of sleep. I'll try to keep updating regularly.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)