Chapter 12: Human Relationships
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Liam quickly walked to the corner of the gym, took out his cell phone, and called Curry.
The call was connected quickly, and he said directly, "Stephen, I have something to ask you."
"What's up, Coach?" Curry replied on the other end of the line, putting the phone on the table. He was about to start his training for the day, changing his jersey in his room before heading to school.
"Is your father in a good mood now?"
"What?" Curry asked, wondering if he'd heard it right. His coach had called to ask if his father was in a good mood? What was going on?
"I mean, how is your father feeling now?" Liam lowered his voice, looked around, and his eyes showed a hint of guilt.
"...Wait a moment." Curry heard him clearly this time.
He put his phone down, walked out of his room, came down from the attic, and went to the landing between the second and first floors, looking down.
Dell was sitting on the sofa watching the morning news, stroking the back of his American Shorthair cat with his left hand, chuckling occasionally, and seeming to be in a good mood.
Curry returned to his room, picked up his phone, and said, "Coach, my dad is in a good mood."
"Very good. Is it convenient for him to answer the phone?" Liam continued.
"Do you have something to talk to him about? I can just give him the phone," Curry wondered.
"No, no, no," Liam quickly stopped him. "You need to train, right? Go ahead. I just want to talk to him about something small. Come on, you're the best, Stephen. Go!"
After saying that, he hung up.
Curry listened to the "beep beep" sound in his ear and put down the phone, feeling a little strange.
Why did the coach's encouragement sound so perfunctory?
Liam, unaware of Curry's complaints, found Dell's contact information in his address book, took a deep breath, and called him.
Soon, the phone was picked up, and Dell's gentle voice came from the receiver: "Hello, Coach Liam."
"Hi, Dell, you're being too polite. Just call me Liam," Liam said with a smile.
"How come you have time to call me? Is there something you want to talk to me about?" Dell went straight to the point.
"It's nothing. I'm just concerned about Stephen's training. Has his shooting form improved?" Liam asked knowingly.
"The effect is very good. He has passed the most difficult period. After some time of practice, his shooting will definitely improve greatly. Thank you, Liam. I never thought that the one-motion shooting would have such a good effect," Dell smiled.
"Haha, that's good, that's good..." Liam laughed dryly.
"What's wrong, Liam?" Dell felt that Liam's voice was a little strange and couldn't help but ask.
"Ahem...well, I do have something I'd like to ask you for help with." Liam hesitated for a long time before finally speaking up.
"What's the matter? Just tell me. Without you, Stephen wouldn't know where he would be playing now. I will help in any way I can." Dell found it a bit amusing, thinking it was a big deal.
Liam thought for a long time and finally spoke carefully, "I've encountered some problems recently, and I need money urgently. I want to borrow some from you."
"So you want to borrow money? How much do you want to borrow?" Dell was straightforward.
After Curry joined the Bulldogs, Dell had used his various connections to get to know Liam better and learned that he had signed a one-year, $300,000 contract with Butler University. Although he didn't know why Liam needed the money, he was confident Liam could repay it.
Liam looked around and saw the players training seriously under the guidance of the coaching staff. There was no one around, so he spoke with a guilty conscience: "Not much, two million... no, one million dollars is enough."
"Oh, only one million dollars is needed. Is this enough? Wait! How much money do you want to borrow? One million dollars?!" Dell's casual voice suddenly grew louder, and he asked in shock.
"Yes, one million dollars," Liam replied cautiously.
"Hoo..." Dell's heavy breathing could be heard on the other end. Liam didn't say anything else, and the two of them fell into silence for a while.
After a while, Dell finally spoke: "Liam, I appreciate your support for Stephen, but one million dollars is too much. Stephen's goal is the NBA. If he gets involved in a black money scandal, he will be banned, and no team will choose him. Sorry, I can't take that risk."
Liam was stunned, realizing Dell had misunderstood him. He thought Liam was accepting black money from him as a "reward" for recruiting Curry.
Once such a thing is revealed, the team's head coach might not face serious consequences, but the players would definitely be banned by the NCAA committee. And without college games, how could players get noticed by NBA teams?
Even in his previous life, Wiseman had played only three games in college, showcasing top physical talent before being selected by the Warriors with the second pick.
Liam smiled and said, "Dell, I really want to borrow money from you, not for anything else. You're overthinking it."
"Okay, can you tell me how you plan to use this one million dollars?" Dell was still full of concerns.
One million was a huge sum. Even though his career salary was close to 20 million dollars, after tax deductions, he only got about 12 million. He also purchased some real estate and made several investments. One million dollars was half of his cash.
"I found a great investment opportunity," Liam said, unable to tell Dell he planned to use the money for football gambling.
The other end of the phone fell silent again.
"Dell, I know this request is sudden and difficult, but only you can do me this favor. I only need to borrow it for one month. After one month, I will return you $1.2 million. If you agree, I will fly to Charlotte tomorrow to write you an IOU," Liam said slowly, with a very sincere tone.
There was still silence on the other end of the phone. Liam knew that Dell was considering, so he didn't push him, but his right hand holding the phone grew more tense.
"Liam, you gave Stephen a chance, and I am willing to believe in you this once," Dell finally said.
He couldn't forget Curry's despair after being rejected by bigger colleges.
It was Liam who gave Curry an opportunity to play in the NCAA, and Dell had always kept this favor in mind.
One million is not a small amount, but his son's future was more important.
Moreover, Liam was willing to write an IOU, so even if he delayed repaying it later, it wouldn't be considered black money and wouldn't affect Curry's future.
Liam felt like a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He breathed a sigh of relief and said cheerfully, "Thank you, Dell. I will come to Charlotte tomorrow. Don't worry, I will give you the full amount of $1.2 million in a month."
"No need, just pay back what you borrow, and the term can be extended to one year," said Dell.
Liam was stunned for a moment, and quickly replied, "Thank you. I'll be in Charlotte tomorrow afternoon. Are you free?"
"Yes."
"Alright, see you tomorrow," Liam said sincerely.
"See you tomorrow," Dell said slowly.
"Yes!"
Liam hung up the phone, clenched his left hand into a fist, and growled excitedly.
He could hardly suppress his excitement. A million dollars was in his hands, and with the help of football betting, it would soon become tens of millions. The capital he had always dreamed of was within reach.
"Today is a good day~" Liam hummed a cheerful tune with a smile and returned to the sidelines to supervise the players' training.
It was indeed just supervision. With Stevens guiding the players' techniques, Liam only had to point out when the players made tactical mistakes. At most, he would praise the players who trained hard and scold the listless Julian Beko. He didn't need to put in any effort, which was in stark contrast to the sweaty Stevens.
Julian Beko, after throwing a ball, nudged Mike Green next to him with his elbow and whispered, "Look, the coach looks very happy."
"What does it have to do with you? Just focus on your training," McGlynn said, giving Liam a glance.
"When he came this morning, he looked like someone owed him money... OK, I'll start training right away." Julian Beko noticed Stevens looking over and quickly shut up.
…
The next day, Liam flew to Charlotte alone, leaving the team training to Stevens.
He found Curry's home according to the address Dell gave him, wrote a promissory note, and Dell handed him a pre-filled personal check for one million dollars.
That afternoon, Liam flew back to Indiana and went to the bank to cash the check. Three days later, he received a notice from the bank confirming an extra million dollars in his account.
At this time, the Bulldogs' training came to an end, and the players welcomed a long summer vacation.
In the office, Liam was packing up his things. Stevens knocked on the half-open door and walked in, saying, "Trish made pizza today, do you want to come?"
"Of course, I'll be responsible for buying beer," Liam said with a smile.
"You still owe me a pack of Budweiser," Stevens reminded him.
"OK, I'll bring two dozen today, okay?" Liam said as he packed his things.
He put piles of basketball playbooks in After finishing cleaning up, Stevens took the initiative to pick up a cardboard box, walked forward and said:
"Haven't you read these books?"
"I saw it when I was an assistant coach. Now I want to look at it again from a head coach's perspective," said Liam
"..." Stevens pursed his lips and picked up the pace, "What are your plans next?"
"I've booked a flight to Las Vegas," Liam said.
Stevens stopped, turned around and looked at Liam seriously:
"You're not going to the casino?"
"No." Liam shook his head.
Stevens turned around:
"I guess you wouldn't either."
"I'm going to bet on soccer." Liam said quickly under his breath.
"What did you say?"
"I said, what kind of pizza did Trish make today?"
"Tomato and beef. You didn't say that much now did you?"
"You heard wrong, let's go."
"How is that possible? I've always had a keen ear. Coach Likrit once sent me to spy on the opponent's tactics..."
At that moment, the sky had turned dark blue and the sun was about to set. There were few pedestrians on the Butler University campus. Liam and Stevens walked side by side in the distance. The street lights came on, making their shadows longer and longer.
Butler University's actual vacation period is at the end of May. For the needs of the plot, some changes have been made.
End of this chapter
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