Austin's living room.
"Mr. Steven, what brings you all this way?"
Austin asked after pouring Steven a cup of coffee.
"Thank you."
Steven took the coffee, set it on the table, and got straight to the point.
"Mr. Austin, naturally, I came here today because of Blake."
"Mm."
Austin nodded. He wasn't surprised in the slightest, so he waited for Steven to continue, curious to hear what kind of offer he had brought.
"Uh..."
Steven thought for a moment before continuing.
"My offer to Blake is naturally no different from the other teams in one respect. A max contract is an absolute given.
"On top of that, Blake doesn't seem to have a girlfriend yet. My niece Anna is around his age. She's fair-skinned, beautiful, and a well-known model.
"She's extremely popular in the basketball modeling scene.
"If Blake is willing to join my Hawks, I can introduce the two of them. I'm confident that, with a little help from me, Blake will be able to win her heart."
"Wait, what?"
Austin was completely caught off guard. He gave an awkward smile.
"Mr. Steven, are you saying you want to use your niece's youth as a bargaining chip to get Blake onto your team?"
"No, no, no!"
Steven hurriedly shook his head.
"How can you call that a trade? I genuinely like Blake, and I honestly think he and my niece would make a great match. I think the two of them dating would make them very happy."
"Oh."
Austin acknowledged him, but inwardly, he was thinking, Isn't that still basically offering your niece to get Blake?
"Oh, right."
Steven paid no attention to Austin's reaction and continued.
"If Blake goes to the Knicks, the Magic, or another team like that, he'll have to compete with players like STAT, Anthony, and Howard for the role of team leader.
"But if he joins our blue-collar Hawks, he'll immediately become the face of the team.
"The one and only leader.
"So... I sincerely hope you'll pass my message along and ask Blake to seriously consider this opportunity to have fame, fortune, and love all at once."
"Heh."
Austin smiled.
"I'll pass everything along to Blake. But before we can give you an answer, you'll have to wait."
"Of course, of course. No problem!"
"Then I won't take up any more of your time."
Having gotten the response he wanted, Steven didn't linger. After exchanging a few final words, he left.
Once Steven was gone, Austin couldn't help marveling yet again at just how crazy NBA front offices had become in their pursuit of Blake.
Then he immediately called Blake.
At that moment, Blake was still vacationing in Korea with Mia. Mia happened to be resting, so Blake answered the call.
Austin told him about the offer Steven had just made.
Blake shook his head with a helpless smile.
"They're going that far? Just to get me, he's even willing to use his own niece as a bargaining chip?
"That's insane.
"I can't agree to something like that. If I ever start playing badly, I wouldn't even know how to deal with the fallout."
"I was thinking the same thing."
Austin nodded before continuing.
"I'll send you a file later with the offers I've gone through and narrowed down from the different teams.
"You can take a look.
"Also, the Suns' owner wants you to give him one last opportunity before you make your decision. He says he'll definitely give you an offer you'll be completely satisfied with.
"He wants you to stay with the Suns."
"Okay."
Blake nodded.
"Staying with the Suns is my first choice too, but... obviously, that'll depend on what the Suns are willing to offer."
"I understand."
"Oh, and don't send me the file yet. I'll be back in a few days. We can go over everything in person and make a decision then."
"Alright, got it."
...
Helicopters, high-speed rail, supercars, even a beautiful woman...
Whether openly or behind the scenes, the league-wide battle for Blake had already reached a fever pitch.
And every offer had one thing in common.
A max contract.
That's right.
Every team trying to sign Blake was prepared to give him the max, and the debate surrounding just how large that maximum salary should be soon gave rise to a new buzzword.
What was it?
The [Blake Rule].
Originally, after "D-Rose" won the regular-season MVP that year, his extraordinary performance prompted the league to establish the [Rose Rule].
But now Blake had stolen the spotlight, so naturally, there would no longer be any talk of a [Rose Rule].
In its place came the [Blake Rule].
And there was a reason for its creation.
Under the existing salary cap rules, even if a team was willing to pay the Luxury Tax, the largest contract it could offer Blake was only around $30 million per year.
But after Blake had led his team to a championship as the sole superstar while collecting countless honors in a single season, his overwhelming ability and popularity had convinced countless fans that he was worth far more than a mere $30 million max contract.
The salary cap had originally been established to prevent superstars from demanding outrageous salaries that could hurt team owners financially.
However, as more and more fans began arguing that Blake would actually be underpaid at that level, the league itself came to agree after extensive evaluation and consideration.
Of course, David Stern also played a part in that.
He believed that Blake not only possessed elite ability and popularity, but had also used that popularity to help the NBA expand rapidly into the global market.
Blake had helped broaden the NBA's reach even further.
All of that was more than enough reason for the league to give Blake special recognition.
And so, after extensive consideration by Commissioner David Stern and the NBA's leadership, the [Blake Rule] was created.
So what exactly was the [Blake Rule], and what conditions did it have?
Before getting into that, it was worth first looking at the requirements of the [Rose Rule].
The [Rose Rule] applied to a player who, while on his rookie-scale contract, had either won MVP, been voted an All-Star starter twice, or been selected to an All-NBA Team twice, regardless of which team.
Three conditions.
Meeting any one of them was enough to trigger the rule, allowing that player to receive a max contract worth 35 percent of the team's salary cap instead of the original 30 percent.
That might sound generous with three different ways to qualify, but the requirements were actually extremely demanding.
Even to this day, only Derrick Rose, Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin, Paul George, and Damian Lillard had met them.
That's right.
Out of all the extraordinarily talented players who had entered the NBA, only five had satisfied the requirements.
As for the [Blake Rule], it stipulated that if a player, while still on his rookie-scale contract, won the regular-season MVP, All-Star Game MVP, and Finals MVP in the same season, sweeping all three major MVP awards, he would be eligible for a max contract worth 45 percent of his team's salary cap.
Just how demanding was that requirement?
Only three players in NBA history had ever won the regular-season MVP, All-Star Game MVP, and Finals MVP in the same season.
The first was the "God of Basketball," Michael Jordan, in the 1995-96 season, his first season back after retiring following his first three-peat.
The second was "Shaq" O'Neal. The second player to win three consecutive Finals MVPs swept all three awards in the 1999-2000 season.
The third was Willis Reed, who accomplished the same feat back in the 1969-70 season.
But the [Blake Rule] added one more requirement.
The player had to accomplish all of that while still on his rookie-scale contract.
And with that condition added, there was only one player in the entire history of the NBA who qualified.
"The Emperor" Blake.