Mike's dominance inside and "Godfather's" control outside made for a more explosive combination than Irving and Tang Tian had previously.

In the end, "Godfather" won 5 to 3. Neither of the two NBA lottery picks managed to gain an advantage against the "Godfather" brothers.

After the match, Mike's identity wasn't revealed, which was like fishing, keeping the fans' appetites piqued.

With "Godfather's" popularity soaring, Fagen was finding that more and more companies were seeking endorsements from Tang Tian. And these weren't small companies as before, but many big brands such as Coca-Cola, McDonald's, and Procter & Gamble.

Tang Tian needed to improve his strength, so he had no resistance to endorsements from these large companies.

However, the endorsement fees offered by these big companies seemed insincere, mostly under $1 million.

In the eyes of the advertising departments of these large companies, "Godfather's" popularity was only temporary. Once the NBA season started, and "Godfather" couldn't film, his popularity would decrease. If they offered too much in the contract, they would lose money.

But there were always exceptions. Coca-Cola offered Tang Tian an endorsement contract with an annual salary of over $2 million, and it was a two-year contract.

Tang Tian didn't hesitate and had Fagen sign it directly.

Two million a year, although not particularly large, was more than enough for him.

People are never satisfied, like a snake trying to swallow an elephant. His career hadn't even officially started yet, and he wasn't that greedy yet.

More importantly, Coca-Cola offered the contract before the season started, which was a huge gamble.

Since they were willing to gamble on him, he naturally couldn't let them down.

With the $2 million contract signed, because it was signed under his identity as a basketball player, his氪金值 (kejin value, lit. "spend money value") soared from the remaining 200,000 to 1.4 million. That was enough for him to buy two green skills at once.

But he didn't do that.

He hadn't even fully mastered the catch-and-shoot three-pointer, and buying more skills would be a waste. More importantly, having many low-level skills had limited use. Saving enough 氪金值 (kejin value) to exchange for higher-level blue or even purple skills was a better choice.

A week after the contract with Coca-Cola was signed, it was already mid-November.

At this time, the NBA player representatives and the union executive committee jointly decided to reject the capital side's new proposal, and a new round of labor negotiations broke down again.

Tremendous pressure loomed over both labor and capital. The longer the lockout lasted, the greater the losses for both sides.

The rookies were also under enormous pressure. The NBA's elimination rate was already very high. If there was a lockout for a whole season, it would be like losing a year of opportunity, which could directly change their entire career.

Of course, except for Tang Tian.

Although he hadn't played any official games, his strength had steadily improved throughout the offseason. He was now confident that even on the Spurs, he could quickly secure a rotation spot.

So he wasn't in a hurry, and he also knew that if things went the same way as in his previous life, labor and capital should successfully negotiate by the end of November.

He didn't go to training that day but went to the outdoor location for the new Coca-Cola advertisement shoot at the invitation of the company.

The guest identity for the third episode of "Godfather" hadn't been revealed, and fans' attention had reached a peak. Coca-Cola was striking while the iron was hot, using Tang Tian's influence to shoot an advertisement.

The shooting location was in Hollywood Studios in Los Angeles. The advertisement would combine with a Hollywood background.

Tang Tian's acting skills were already online, and with the experience of shooting the cake advertisement, the work with the director went smoothly.

In two days, his parts were mostly filmed.

Today was the filming of the last shot.

"Cut, ok, perfect!"

After filming, the director couldn't help but give Tang Tian a thumbs up. This was probably the smoothest time he had ever filmed with an athlete.

Tang Tian was also very cooperative. After smiling and high-fiving the director, he went to remove his makeup.

Just after he finished removing it, the director suddenly walked towards him with an old man in his seventies.

The man's face had obvious wrinkles and eye bags. Unlike the 70-year-old he had made up to look like, this was a real old man.

However, his face was kind, and from his light skin tone, it could be seen that he must have been a very elegant gentleman when he was young.

And that face had a lot of British or Irish blood.

"Tang, let me introduce you, this is Mr. Ridley Scott. He heard you were here and came here specially." The director introduced.

Hearing the director mention the old man's name, Tang Tian immediately reacted.

American directors, even though he had experienced a lifetime, he didn't really know many to be honest.

But there were some he knew, such as the name the director said.

Ridley Scott, the most famous British director, without any need for debate. This director, born in 1937, had filmed countless films, and many of them were very well-known, such as *Blade Runner*, *Gladiator*, *Black Hawk Down*, *Matchstick Men*, *Kingdom of Heaven*, and so on.

These films were all epic or classic works. Of course, he was best known for the *Alien* series, which can be said to have created a new category of thrillers.

"Mr. Scott, hello." Tang Tian instinctively respected such a figure, took the initiative to get up and reach out to Scott.

"'Godfather', to be honest, I'm your fan." Scott smiled and shook hands with Tang Tian, his face full of a kind smile.

Tang Tian was very surprised. He didn't expect a well-known director to know him.

Scott said, taking out his phone, opening his Instagram, pulling out his follow list, and pinning Carl's account to the top.

This was to tell Tang Tian that he wasn't just being polite.

"I have friends at Nike, and I really wanted to know who came up with that idea, but they told me it was you. You must be a very smart basketball player." Scott then said.

After hearing what Scott said, Tang Tian suddenly understood.

So it was because of the creative idea.

That made sense. A director was a profession that needed a lot of inspiration, and Scott was attracted to the Godfather's creative idea.

Scott was very humble, and Tang Tian was also good at socializing. The two chatted for a while, and the laughter didn't stop.

When they were done chatting and Scott was about to leave, he took out a business card from the inside pocket of his suit and handed it to Tang Tian.

"If you have any more inspiration like this, or if you need any help, you can contact me at any time."

Tang Tian smiled and took the business card.

Meeting Scott was beyond his expectations, but meeting such a big director reminded him of Olsen.

Olsen had been sending him cakes and playing tennis with him to help him find new training methods, and he had to repay him.

And for the current Olsen, nothing was more valuable than making a movie.