章 40: 027: Penny unhappy? Make him even more unhappy!_2

This time, Roger was invited by Nike to Miami for a vacation and to discuss sneaker contract matters.

Nike had certainly caught wind that their supreme deity might be leaving.

So this summer, they launched an aggressive campaign to snatch up some highly promising rookies, and Stern wasn't the only one looking for Jordan's successor.

Just a day ago, Nike had snatched Penny Hardaway from Converse.

Converse had offered Penny a contract worth seven million, attempting to dazzle the young player with a string of zeros at the end of the check.

But Penny outright refused Converse because Nike had offered him more than double the price—fifteen million for five years.

Last year, Nike let Reebok snatch Shaq, making many brands think Nike had gone timid.

But in reality, Shaq didn't matter to Nike. After all, everyone knows that guards sell sneakers.

And indeed, when it came to battling over guards, Nike was relentless.