By the time the game ended, Gay had posted a 29-point, 11-rebound double-double. The Kings claimed their first home win of the new season without breaking a sweat.
As both teams left the court, Snyder and Chen Yilun exchanged glances from opposite ends.
Chen Yilun lifted his right hand and made a "call me" gesture. Snyder gave a subtle nod.
…
"Do we really need to be this dramatic? Feels like we're two secret agents meeting in the shadows."
In a private room of a luxury restaurant in Sacramento, Snyder couldn't help teasing Chen Yilun—who was so covered up that not a single facial feature was visible.
"It's a sensitive period. A lot of people are watching me. If they saw us having dinner together, the rumors would explode."
"Chen Yilun removed his baseball cap and mask, revealing his calm, good-looking features."
"Speaking of which…"
Snyder raised his champagne glass.
"Congratulations, junior. You've officially graduated from being a corporate grunt!"
"It's just a title change."
Chen Yilun lifted his glass and clinked it against Snyder's.
"The higher the title, the heavier the workload. Honestly, I feel like my boss gave me shares just so he could dump more responsibilities on me."
"Don't take your blessings for granted, kid."
Snyder set his glass down with a sigh.
Before the game, he'd already felt that Chen Yilun's future was bright and planned to stick with him. But who could've guessed that right after the game, the news would explode: Chen Yilun was now a shareholder of the team!
At this moment, Snyder was beyond grateful he had chosen the right side.
What kind of luck is this? A few hours ago he'd decided to get on board… and now he learns the ship he boarded isn't just any ship—it's a Star Destroyer?
"So what's our next step?"
Coach Snyder asked curiously.
"Here's what I'm thinking."
Chen Yilun crossed his legs and started speaking.
"The old-school route my mentor took is outdated. Always aiming to become a head coach? In the end you still spend your life watching other people's faces to gauge your future."
The Spurs system built by Popovich was famous in the league for producing head coaches and assistants. Even though Spurs alumni filled nearly half the league, their influence was still limited.
The real power sat with the General Managers, Presidents of Basketball Operations, and Chairs of Operations. Firing a head coach was nothing more than a trivial formality for them.
"I want to expand our team first, then slowly move people into operations roles."
That was Chen Yilun's vision.
"Operations? That's tough. The people we can recruit are basically all coaches."
Snyder frowned, unsure.
"So what?"
Chen Yilun dismissed the concern entirely.
"I came from coaching too—does that mean I can't work in management? And my senior did fine as President of Operations. It's not rocket science."
He leaned forward slightly.
"Bro, widen your perspective. What's so hard about operations? Let assistants handle the details. All I need to do is oversee roster strategy and use my connections to negotiate. You think you can't handle that?"
Snyder froze for a moment.
"That's it?"
"What else?"
Chen Yilun spread his hands.
"Management really is that simple."
"As long as we have enough people in the front office, we'll have enough influence."
Listening to him outline the blueprint bit by bit, Snyder couldn't help imagining the possibilities.
There was no denying it: Chen Yilun hadn't reached this point by luck alone. With just a few sentences, he could get even a seasoned veteran like Snyder fired up.
"Right now, we're still short on people,"
Chen Yilun continued.
"Our main task this season is still expanding the team. Once our numbers grow, we'll be able to do real work."
"Got it!"
Snyder nodded quickly.
…
After confirming the upcoming plans with Snyder, Chen Yilun returned to his office.
"This won't do!"
The moment he stepped inside, he suddenly found everything in the office irritating.
His office was already the best-equipped among all staff.
But now, everything felt wrong.
I'm a shareholder now! And I'm still living like this?
He decided he'd call someone tomorrow to renovate the whole place before sitting down at his desk.
With his promotion, it no longer made sense for him—as a shareholder—to continue serving as GM.
Whether Divac or Blackstone took over, other positions would shift as well. And every shuffle created vacancies… which inevitably led to the messy politics of human relationships.
In his long-term plan, the only candidate for future GM was Divac.
First, Divac was a franchise legend with deep contributions.
Second, Divac was easy to work with.
These days Divac had zero interest in office politics. His entire focus was on Jokić, hoping to revive the basketball scene back home.
As long as Jokić remained under Chen Yilun's system, Divac would support him unconditionally.
With Divac moving up, the open assistant GM role could only go to Peja.
As the two right-hand veterans who had always backed him, it was time to reward their loyalty.
But immediately, another problem emerged—
If Peja got promoted, he'd have no assistant!
Previously, Chen Yilun's assistants—Tang Zhou and Peja—worked in rotation. Now Tang Zhou had left, and Peja would be promoted, leaving him with no one at all.
He needed to hire someone new.
Chen Yilun rubbed his temples in frustration.
After an entire summer spent filling out the coaching staff and management team, he finally had a full roster. And now suddenly—people were missing again.
Back when he served as both President of Basketball Operations and GM, one assistant was enough.
But now the roles were split—
Did Divac need an assistant as GM?
Did he need one as President?
Everyone complained that the big bureaucratic systems were filled with factions and overly complicated. But few analyzed why they became like that.
It was exactly through countless small expansions like this that they grew into massive machines.
That's how these things work—never mind how many bugs there are.
The only question is: Does it run?
If it runs, then it's a good system.
...
(40 Chapters Ahead)
p@treon com / GhostParser