One sum was Dio's money, 55 million, which after taxes amounted to about 33 million.

And another sum was Nike's dividends.

The sales of the Godfather series this year saw a significant increase compared to last year.

Tang Tian's dividends were 54 million, a full 12 million more than last year!

The money he received was also about 32 million.

These two top-up values, plus Coca-Cola's endorsement fees, and the 10 million top-up value left over from before.

Tang Tian's total top-up value added up to 80 million+!

This also broke his top-up value record again!

However, he was still nearly 20 million short of his goal of 100 million.

Tang Tian called Carl, and like when he asked Fagan, asked him to try to get a short-term burst of endorsement fees.

But at this time, Carl's disadvantage was revealed. He didn't have very good advice.

In terms of experience, he still needed time to accumulate.

But this wasn't entirely his problem either.

The biggest income for basketball players comes from shoe endorsements, and Tang Tian has already maximized this area with Nike.

Unless the Godfather series can immediately break away and become an independent brand like the Jordan series, but that is obviously not something that can be achieved overnight.

After trying for a few days, Tang Tian had to accept a reality.

He was still 20 million short, but he couldn't solve this 20 million in the short term.

So his Plan A was difficult to achieve, and he could only choose Plan B and wait until next summer to redeem the golden skill.

But 80 million top-up value was enough for him to redeem at most one red and one orange skill, which was already enough.

After opening the system and browsing through all the skills, Tang Tian finally focused on the red skill.

And what attracted him was the Stone Buddha (Duncan) skill.

After redeeming Infinite Range (Curry) before, thanks to the passive skill "Elementary School Students' Carnival," the Pelicans were always able to create offensive climaxes in the game.

Even when they were behind, Tang Tian's super long three-pointer activated the passive skill, like blowing the horn of counterattack.

That kind of skill that buffs the entire team's attributes was far more outstanding than imagined.

His technique was basically flawless now, and adding anything else except for a golden skill would just be icing on the cake with limited effect.

So when there were options available, the skill that could improve the entire team's attributes was the most cost-effective.

Stone Buddha was a similar skill.

Although his passive skill "Head Pat Kill" didn't improve the entire team's attributes like "Elementary School Students' Carnival," his skill effect could also be used on other players.

And most importantly, its activation condition was much simpler than "Elementary School Students' Carnival."

Hitting a super long three-pointer in actual combat wasn't easy, but patting someone's head was very easy.

After staring at Stone Buddha's skill for a long time, Tang Tian finally chose to redeem it.

Stone Buddha (Duncan): Increases performance stability by 40%, gains the passive skill "Head Pat Kill," increases the performance stability of the person being patted by 10%, the head-patting target can include oneself, condition: must redeem Low Post Master (Al Jefferson).

Unlike all the skills he had redeemed before, this skill had neither technical understanding nor attribute bonuses.

Its function was to improve performance stability.

This stability involves many aspects, such as shooting stability, passing stability, and even defensive stability.

In short, it can keep a person's performance above average.

Or to put it another way, it can improve the lower limit of a player's performance.

This would have an explosive effect for Tang Tian.

Of course, there was also the passive skill "Head Pat Kill" that attracted him.

Davis was simply the first beneficiary.

And Tang Tian could now pat other people's heads in a justified manner.

Because patting you is for your own good!

However, this skill, like the previous Infinite Range, also had a prerequisite skill.

Low Post Master, which is for low post offensive footwork, was a bit of a waste for Tang Tian, who played as an outside player.

But at least it was also a purple skill, and maybe it could be used in certain games.

The skill was redeemed, and then it was time to use it.

The Pelicans' next game was on the road against the Clippers, which was a big challenge for them.

The last time the two teams played each other was back in January.

Although the Clippers lost at the time, the two teams fought until the last moment to determine the winner.

Butler was playing consistently, Doncic's performance was also exceptionally mature, plus Gallinari, Beverly, and Louis Williams, a group of strong players.

Now the Clippers were surprisingly ranked fourth in the West, ahead of the Warriors and Rockets, relying on more than just luck and schedule.

Of course, there was also the Pelicans' wave of "assists" at the trade deadline.

No one knew what method the Clippers used, but Dedmon quickly regained his touch after being traded there.

He played 7 games for the Clippers, averaging 10.3 points and 7.2 rebounds, with a 37% three-point shooting percentage, and had regained his competitive form from last year.

The contrast in this performance perfectly embodies the saying "a tree dies when moved, but a person lives."

Including Crowder, who was also playing well after going to the Jazz.

Looking back at the four-way trade at the trade deadline, it was a win-win for everyone.

Against a strong enemy, Tang Tian had just redeemed his skills, so naturally he couldn't waste them.

Before the pre-game training session started, he walked towards Davis.

Since Gasol arrived at the team, Davis' performance had declined somewhat.

Especially after the All-Star game, Gasol's performance was getting better and better, but Davis hadn't scored over 20 points in several consecutive games.

On the one hand, the two inside players needed time to integrate, and on the other hand, there was something wrong with Davis' own performance.

And this kind of problem was normal, just like women always have a few days when they don't feel well.

Under normal circumstances, this could only be adjusted slowly by the players themselves.

But Tang Tian was now ready to give Davis a shortcut.

"AD, how about it, get ready to play well tonight, matching up against Gallinari is an opportunity."

Tang Tian went up and patted his head as he spoke.

Davis didn't dodge at all, he was already used to Tang Tian's way of caressing and encouraging him.

And what Tang Tian said was right, Gallinari was the main player at the three position, and he would have many opportunities on the offensive end tonight, especially in the paint.

Tang Tian smiled and nodded when he saw Davis' reaction, but suddenly felt a little bored.

This was too unchallenging.

He looked around and finally locked his eyes on Parker.

Parker was an experienced player, Ginobili was patted miserably in the Spurs back then, but he was unscathed.

Including when Tang Tian tried to touch him before, he didn't succeed.

And more importantly, Parker's performance wasn't very good now, and his playing time had decreased a lot compared to the beginning of the season.

Whether it was out of challenge or out of kindness to a friend, he had to give it a try.

ps: Alas! I didn't even get in the top five for monthly tickets, my passion was extinguished!