Once August rolled around and the dust of free agency settled, reports on players dwindled drastically, and the NBA entered its annual offseason lull.
While team staffers like Yang Shuai couldn't take time off alongside the players, their workload dropped by more than half.
During this period, Kevin Garnett moved to Los Angeles, purchasing a luxury mansion in Beverly Hills in the very same neighborhood as Kobe.
On his first day after moving in, he invited Yang Shuai over to his new home.
This time, of course, they didn't take a helicopter—they went by car.
After listening to Garnett grumble about the traffic the entire way, they arrived an hour later than expected.
Before even stepping inside the mansion, Yang Shuai could hear booming, rhythmic beats pulsing from the speakers. Once through the doors, he saw guests coming and going in lively celebration.
A party was underway.
Unlike Kobe, who preferred peace and quiet, Garnett seemed to thrive in a bustling, festive atmosphere.
Leaving Garnett to catch up with friends, Yang Shuai wandered around on his own.
The estate Garnett bought was slightly smaller than Kobe's, but its location was even better. Facing southwest, the west side of the villa boasted a massive infinity glass pool with a panoramic view overlooking the ocean.
At that moment, several bikini-clad women with slender curves leaned against the pool's edge. As the breeze rippled the water, the scenery was truly picturesque.
Yang Shuai took a seat on a lounge chair beside the pool. It wasn't because of the women, though, but because he overheard people nearby discussing financial investments.
In Los Angeles, it was hard to avoid hearing about such things.
They were discussing the Web 2.0 boom. Most of those companies were concentrated in Silicon Valley's South Bay—areas across the southern part of the Bay Area, mainly San Jose, Santa Clara, and Sunnyvale—though some were further south in Los Angeles, which was what they were focusing on.
Before long, Yang Shuai caught an overwhelmingly familiar word.
He stood up and walked over to them.
"Were you guys just talking about Twitter?"
Seeing an Asian face suddenly appear beside them—and looking so young at that—the men stopped chatting at once, eyeing him warily.
"I'm Hanson, assistant general manager of the Lakers," Yang Shuai introduced himself.
There were three people chatting. Two of them exchanged glances, clearly never having heard of him.
The last man, however—a white man in a dark blue linen shirt—looked struck by sudden realization. "I've heard Kobe mention you. He said you're the one who brought KG to LA."
As soon as he said that, the wariness in the other two men's eyes vanished, replaced by looks of appreciation.
"Tyler Holland. I'm from Hollywood—I help connect people with investment opportunities." The white man proactively offered his hand to Yang Shuai.
After shaking hands, the other two introduced themselves in turn.
Yang Shuai soon learned that they all lived nearby. Since Garnett was new to the neighborhood, they had been invited to attend the housewarming party.
"Is that Twitter you mentioned just now a social networking platform?" After introductions, Yang Shuai asked again.
"You've heard of it?" Holland seemed a bit surprised.
"I just heard a friend mention it. Aren't social apps pretty hot right now?" Yang Shuai fabricated a friend out of thin air.
"Sounds like your friend has a sharp eye. Facebook dominates the space right now, so naturally other products are emerging. But what allows Twitter to stand out from the pack and catch investors' eyes is mainly that its target audience is completely different from Facebook's."
"Oh?" Yang Shuai showed a look of curiosity.
As a transmigrator, Yang Shuai naturally knew what Twitter was and how massive it would become down the road, but he had to play the part and provide the right emotional feedback.
Sure enough, seeing Yang Shuai's reaction energized Holland instantly, and he launched into an enthusiastic breakdown.
"Right now, every social app on the market is competing with Facebook on features. Admittedly, some are more comprehensive and convenient than Facebook, but users are bound by habit and switching costs. Facebook has been out for three years now; users won't switch platforms just because one feature is slightly better. Twitter does the exact opposite. It directly changes the user base—no longer focusing on connecting friends and acquaintances, but on strangers."
"That's really interesting." Yang Shuai nodded in apparent enlightenment.
Distinguishing between Facebook and Twitter wasn't hard at all. From his perspective, Facebook was like WeChat Moments mixed with Renren, while Twitter was basically Weibo.
So Holland's analysis could indeed be called very professional.
Then again, that was hardly surprising. Anyone who could afford a home in Beverly Hills was a leader in their field.
"It's very creative, but it comes with considerable risk," questioned the man named Weber among the trio. "Users can get attention through real-world acquaintances, but how many strangers are going to like your posts? Chances are, someone posts an update and nobody pays any attention, so their enthusiasm will quickly fade."
"You're right. Most users won't get that many strangers following them." Rather than disagreeing, Holland nodded. "But Twitter isn't betting on 'everyone having followers'—it's betting on 'everyone wanting to follow.' You don't need thousands of followers yourself; you just follow the people you're interested in. Whether it's athletes, singers, politicians, or journalists, whenever they post, you see it."
He paused, took a sip of his whiskey, and summed it up: "Facebook is people you know telling you what they're doing. Twitter is people you don't know telling you what's happening in the world."
Holland's words won over the other two and made Yang Shuai nod in agreement as well.
Top-notch expertise and eloquence—this Holland guy was quite something.
"Twitter is currently in its Series A funding round. If any of you are interested, feel free to talk to me." With that, Holland began handing out business cards.
The other two took the cards and soon walked away. Pitches like this were an everyday occurrence for them; Holland was just one of many.
Yang Shuai, however, stayed behind and continued chatting with Holland.
In the conversation that followed, he learned that Holland was also a Lakers season ticket holder, which drew them even closer.
It was then that Yang Shuai asked about the specifics of Twitter's financing.
"I have contacts at the company. As long as you have proof of a million in assets or an annual income exceeding two hundred thousand, I can find a way to get you in on the ground floor."
Hearing that, Yang Shuai froze for a moment. "Let me think about it. If I need to, I'll contact you."
"Then you'd better hurry. Their round will be closing soon."
Leaving the poolside, Yang Shuai grabbed some food and found a quiet corner to sit down.
He hadn't expected investments to have wealth threshold requirements; he had assumed having some cash on hand was enough.
Sure enough, outside one's own field, everything was foreign territory. When it came to investing, he was an absolute novice.
Still, investing was something he truly needed to learn. Otherwise, he'd be doing his status as a transmigrator a disservice.
Besides, on the front-office track, his ultimate goal was bound to be owning a team.
Clearly, relying solely on a salary would never make him an owner. Even becoming the king of wage earners paled in comparison to a single strand of capital.
After all, someone as legendary as Jerry West had left the Lakers back then simply because Jerry Buss refused to pay him a two-million-dollar annual salary.
Fortunately, he didn't necessarily have to bet on Twitter. According to Holland, Twitter's target for its Series A round was five million dollars, which was considered a major project in this era.
Where there were major projects, there were bound to be smaller ones. At any rate, he now had Holland's contact information, so he could stay in touch moving forward.
He didn't even have to restrict himself to Web 2.0. The stock market was another option. If nothing else, stocks like Apple and Amazon were destined to skyrocket; he could buy in with his eyes closed and just sit back and watch the money roll in.
Of course, whatever approach he took, Yang Shuai had to study the rules of the game thoroughly, set a modest initial target for his investments, and take things step by step.
Just as Yang Shuai's mind was wandering, Garnett suddenly pushed through the noisy crowd, phone in hand, striding quickly over to him.
"Did you see the news? They actually traded for Marcus Camby!" Garnett looked thoroughly pumped up.
Hearing this, Yang Shuai pulled out his phone as well. He had been so engrossed in his chat with Holland earlier, coupled with the racket at the party, that he hadn't noticed any notifications.
Checking his phone, he saw that Kupchak had indeed called him and followed up with a text message.
The trade between the Lakers and Nuggets had gone through. The speed at which the deal was finalized was completely beyond Yang Shuai's expectations—it had only been a single week.
Not only had Kupchak listened to his advice once again, but his efficiency had also been staggering.
Yet after reading the details of the trade, Yang Shuai's feelings instantly turned complicated.
The Lakers sent out Kwame Brown, Jordan Farmar, and a 2010 lottery-protected first-round draft pick to acquire Marcus Camby from the Nuggets.
Even though the first-round pick would lose value after trading for Garnett, Farmar had also been a 2006 first-round rookie. The Lakers had essentially traded two first-rounders for Camby!
No wonder the Nuggets agreed so quickly. Nuggets general manager Mark Warkentien had probably greenlit the trade overnight for fear Kupchak might get cold feet and back out.
Then again, considering that back in the day Kupchak had attached a first-round pick just to dump Gary Payton's expiring contract on the Celtics, this didn't seem completely incomprehensible.
Even in that earlier four-team trade, if not for Yang Shuai's suggestion, the Lakers wouldn't have even gotten Delonte West.
All that could be said was that Kupchak's negotiating skills were truly something to behold.
Chapter 51