Homecourt Advantage Read Online Free PDF

“Hightower Enterprises has offered an obscene amount of money for the team. And as much as I hate to admit it, as far as my attorneys and advisers are concerned, that’s really the bottom line for them pushing me in this direction. But from what I’ve heard, Hightower plans on building a brand-new state-of-the-art arena, buying a new team jet, and offering a chauffeured car service for each player to and from the home games. We all know the Mecca is way past its day. We’ve needed a major renovation for the past twenty years.”
    “Well, that sounds like the first good news I’ve heard today,” Coach Mitchell said with wide eyes. “I think he did that with the Wolverine football team.”
    Hal looked over at the lawyer, and Brent noticed the silent communication between the two. Tom accepted his cue and once again performed Hal’s dirty work.
    “There is one last part to this offer,” Tom began. “It’s probably the only negative part of the deal.”
    “It can’t be any worse than having to work for Leonard Hightower,” Brent muttered.
    “Hightower Enterprises plans on relocating the Flyers to Albany, New York,” Tom said, taking a deep breath.
    “Oh, hell, no!” Brent shouted as his temples throbbed. He shot up from his chair and turned to Hal, enraged. “This is un-fucking-believable! Move the team? Hal, come on! It’s one thing to put us up for sale, but move the Flyers to Albany? You can’t even be considering that asshole’s offer. The fans would never forgive you and every local sponsor would pull out so fast, they’d leave our heads spinning. And you know what else. I can guarantee you, the players would never forgive you either. The Flyers are New York. You might as well ship us off to Siberia!”
    “Brent, Brent, come on, that’s enough,” Jake said. “Let’s not get too upset. The Flyers haven’t been sold yet, and you know Hal would never do anything to hurt you guys,” Jake said in an obvious attempt to smooth things over.
    “It’s not about whether or not Hal’s trying to hurt us. Nobody said Hal is trying to hurt us.” Brent jammed his hands in his pockets and started pacing back and forth behind the table.
    He knew he had to regroup. The Flyers were not going to be sold. It couldn’t happen, not to his team. Brent began to feel fueled by his anger. Nobody was going to move the New York City Flyers. The city would be devastated by the loss. And although it wasn’t Brent’s main concern, most of his teammates would be hit hard in the pockets. Brent, as the captain of the Flyers, knew that he spoke for his teammates, who were conveniently excluded from this private meeting.
    “How could it not hurt all of the players?” Brent started. “Besides the whole team’s life being turned upside down, which is hurtful enough, most of us have endorsement deals, some worth millions of dollars, that would be yanked away the moment we left Manhattan. Hell, we’re in the marketing capital of the world, and you think our being moved to Albany won’t hurt us?
    Think again … And what aboutthe city? How much money does the city stand to lose if they no longer have a pro basketball team attracting thousands of people into the city three to four days a week?”
    “If the city cares that much, then they should cut the Flyers some breaks, but they’re not doing that, Brent,” the lawyer said. “The city will only step in when it’s going to work in its favor and improve its public image. Hightower, on the other hand, has some major holdings in Albany. Hell, he probably owns the city. He’s guaranteed to make a fortune even if the Flyers’ profits suffer.”
    Brent saw Coach come to attention at the mention of public image. Everything was about perception to the debonair Flyers coach, whether it be the image the ruthless New York City sports writers depicted of Coach Mitchell or how the other coaches in the NBA viewed him. Coach wanted to conduct his orchestra in only one way—his