"Shaq, do you believe in fate?" Tang Long asked O'Neal, "I believe that besides people from Long Country, you people from Hua Qi Country also believe in fate. To be honest, I think this Meipu is quite reliable. If you have spare money, you can also invest some in it."
Tang Long hadn't planned to involve O'Neal initially, but O'Neal's kind gesture earlier had earned him Tang Long's favor, so he intended to let O'Neal get rich with him.
Unexpectedly, O'Neal shook his head like a rattle drum. "Forget it. If you want to, invest it yourself. I'm not willing to give my money to others." O'Neal refused without thinking.
Tang Long was about to persuade him further, but seeing O'Neal's resistant expression, he gave up trying to convince him.
"Meipu, tell me about your foundation." Meipu nodded. "I plan to invest in technology. In the future world, technology will be the primary productive force, so my investment direction will mainly focus on technology."
"How much money do you need?"
"Twenty million." Meipu had been a senior executive for ten years and had saved quite a bit. He originally intended to test the waters himself, so he invested in Twitter. It was only after Tang Long became a shareholder in Twitter that Meipu heard Tang Long's name from Jack.
"No problem." Tang Long agreed without hesitation.
As soon as he said it, Tang Long suddenly exclaimed. Meipu looked into Tang Long's eyes and asked, "Tang, are you going back on your word?"
"Not exactly. It's just that my agent has very seriously told me that if I invest, I must inform him," Tang Long said, unable to suppress a chuckle. "If he finds out I've invested another twenty million without his knowledge, he might go crazy."
Meipu was stunned for a moment and then started laughing too. He was now very sure that Jack was telling the truth when he said Tang Long was a very interesting person.
O'Neal was not interested in these investments. Jack saw that Tang Long and Meipu were chatting happily and did not disturb them. He got up, sat next to O'Neal, and started talking to him. Soon, the two developed a sense of mutual admiration. O'Neal also agreed to join Twitter and set up his social media account.
What Tang Long didn't expect was that Jack had the same idea. Using the dinner as an opportunity, he managed to get a large number of celebrities to join Twitter. Soon, Twitter transformed from a small website with only tens of thousands of registered users into a large website with millions of users.
As Twitter developed rapidly, the games were also progressing in full swing. After the All-Star break, the Celtics and Doc Rivers were pestered by the media, which directly affected the team's performance. After the All-Star game, the Celtics suffered a three-game losing streak, making the Cavaliers, their direct competitors, the undisputed top team.
Following the Celtics were the Pistons and the Magic. As the league entered the second half of the season, the Pistons inevitably showed signs of fatigue. Who would have thought that the Magic would gradually fall out of the playoff picture in the subsequent seasons?
In the Western Conference, the Lakers maintained their strong momentum. After three playoff games, the Lakers remained at the top, followed by the Hornets led by Paul. The Spurs were steadily ranked third in the West, but no one dared to underestimate the playoff prowess of the veteran Popovich. The fourth-ranked team in the West was the Jazz, with their old rival Rockets ranked fifth.
In March, the Cavaliers maintained their strong momentum. After consecutively defeating teams like the Trail Blazers and Pacers, the Cavaliers lost on the road to the Nets. Immediately after, they lost a back-to-back road game to the Wizards. However, the Celtics also lost to the Jazz, and the Cavaliers maintained a two-game lead. In the last game of March, the Cavaliers played at home against the 76ers, and the Celtics played at home against the Heat. The Cavaliers easily defeated the 76ers, and the Celtics also defeated the Heat.
However, the focus of this game was not the Heat's loss, but that the entire Heat team only scored 62 points, which left Wade extremely frustrated. Since the NBA entered the era of pace and space, even the bottom-dwelling teams that were tanking had not scored so few points in a single game. This led Wade to express his desire to leave the Heat for the first time in a post-game interview.
Upon receiving this news, Tang Long immediately found LeBron James. "LeBron, have you heard about Wade's criticism of the team?" LeBron, who was training, took off his headphones and looked at Tang Long in confusion. He had just heard about Wade's criticism of the management, but judging by Tang Long's expression, he looked quite smug.
"Oh my, why are you so indifferent?" Tang Long stopped LeBron's treadmill and pulled him along. "Come on, let's go see the boss."
"Gilbert?" James looked at Tang Long in confusion. "Why are we looking for him?" James had some dissatisfaction with Gilbert. Although Gilbert had built a new training facility immediately after acquiring the Cavaliers, he was a loan shark, which was really annoying.
"Don't you want to be teammates with Wade?" James stopped and looked at Tang Long. "Tang, you're not planning to leave the team, are you?" The Heat's tanking this season was clearly for next year's draft. If the Heat picked a decent rookie, plus Tang Long, then the Heat would soar next season. James looked at Tang Long vigilantly. As long as this guy had thoughts of leaving, James decided to scold him severely first.
"What are you talking about? You and I going to the Heat?" Tang Long glared at James. "You're thinking too small. Why don't you be bolder and let Wade come to our team? Imagine, you, me, and Wade. Who will be our opponent next season? From now on, we will start our own dynasty. All those Celtics Big Threes will be nothing."
James was fired up by Tang Long's words, envisioning the Cavaliers' dynasty. "Will the stingy boss agree to it?"
"He definitely will." Tang Long felt there was no reason for Gilbert to disagree. In fact, it was just as Tang Long had guessed. Upon hearing that Tang Long and James intended to invite Wade to join the Cavaliers next season, Gilbert thought for a moment and felt that Tang Long was simply a genius.
"Tang, James, you don't need to be so excited. This is just our own internal discussion," Gilbert said, looking at the two. "Even if I agree, Coach Mike has to agree. Moreover, the Heat must be willing to let him go. If you were the owner of the Heat, would you let Wade leave?"
"I'll talk to the coach," James volunteered. For a head coach, who wouldn't want more star players on the team?