Chapter 471: Bitcoin, Big Bets, and a Team Win Over San Antonio
"Come on, man. That's a multi million dollar contract. If you don't want it, you can give it to me."
That was the first thing Azubuike said to Chen Yan the next morning at practice.
Chen Yan's rejection had already hit the news. When you were this hot, the media did not care whether the story was basketball or business. They would run it either way.
Chen Yan laughed. "Sure. I'll send you the company's number."
Azubuike waved him off. "Forget it. They don't want me. If they did, I'd endorse for a million. Easy."
"I only need 500,000," DeAndre Jordan added, leaning in like he was entering an auction.
Chen Yan shook his head, smiling. These 2 could compete in their own fantasy league and still argue over the salary cap.
The truth was simple. Chen Yan did not take the offer because he did not need it.
Last year the financial crisis had swept across the world. Housing prices at home and abroad had dropped hard. Financial assets fell just as sharply. Most people hesitated.
Chen Yan did the opposite.
Through his 3 investment companies in the United States, Hong Kong, and mainland China, he moved decisively, buying high quality real estate in first tier cities while everyone else was scared to touch it. He had been planning for this for a full year. The preparations had started the moment he entered the league.
But real estate was only part of it.
What he cared about most was Bitcoin.
Bitcoin's network generated new coins through mining. What people called mining was using computers to solve complex math problems so the system could keep its distributed ledger consistent. The network adjusted the difficulty automatically, aiming for a new answer roughly every 10 minutes. When a block was solved, the network produced a block reward, and the reward went to whoever found the answer first.
On January 3, 2009, the Bitcoin genesis block was created, and the block reward was 50 Bitcoin.
After that, new coins continued to appear at about 50 every 10 minutes. When the total supply reached 10.5 million, the reward would halve to 25. When it reached 15.75 million, it would halve again to 12.5.
Chen Yan had already entered the mining war.
His 3 companies recruited mathematical elites in China, Hong Kong, and the United States. At the same time, they watched the market closely. If anyone sold Bitcoin, they bought it immediately, always under the company's name, never his personal name.
Chen Yan vaguely remembered the curve from his previous life. Around 2013, a single Bitcoin would surge to about 8,000 dollars. In 2017, during the famous spike, it would touch 20,000. In 2021, it would even break 40,000.
And right now?
A single Bitcoin was worth less than 1 cent.
It was absurd. Chen Yan could not think of a higher return play.
He did not tell many people. Only a few close teammates, and Yao Ming, had heard him mention it.
But clearly nobody took it seriously. When 1 dollar could buy 130 Bitcoin, what wealthy NBA player would look at it and think, this is the future?
Maybe they would regret it later. Maybe they would not. Either way, Chen Yan had already made his choice.
Azubuike and Jordan did buy a few dozen, just for fun.
A few years from now, that "fun" would be worth close to a million dollars. Of course, Chen Yan did not tell them. Even if he did, they would not believe him.
His investment scope was broad enough that he had even started looking at something as ordinary as a pizza shop.
People always laughed at ideas like that. How much could a pizza shop make?
In 2012, LeBron James invested 1 million dollars into a pizza chain called Blaze, buying a 10% stake. Within 5 years, it exploded and was ranked as one of the fastest growing restaurant chains in the United States, with an estimated value around 250 million dollars.
The growth was ridiculous. In 2013 the chain's network revenue was only 6 million dollars. By 2016 it reached 185 million. The CEO even believed the revenue target for 2022 was 1.1 billion.
By 2017, LeBron's stake alone was worth at least 25 million. Add endorsement fees and dividends, and the total return was roughly 35 million to 40 million, at least a 35 times multiplier on the initial investment.
Chen Yan did not understand pizza.
But he had something better than understanding.
He had a god's eye view.
He contacted the owner early, before the brand became famous. In 2009, the business had just started. They could not believe an NBA star like Chen Yan would reach out first.
In his previous life, LeBron paid 1 million for 10%. Timing changed everything. Chen Yan invested the same 1 million and secured 50%.
He was not gambling. He was using memory to turn money into more money.
There was no shame in it. Financial freedom meant peace of mind, and peace of mind meant better basketball.
…
On January 29, after 3 days of rest, the Suns hosted an old rival, the San Antonio Spurs.
Tim Duncan opened the game the way he always did, catching a pass from Tony Parker and banking in that familiar 45 degree jumper like the glass belonged to him.
Phoenix started cold, missing its first 4 shots.
But the Suns did not panic. Instead, they adjusted quickly, leaning into ball movement and patient execution. The effect was immediate. Their passes created clean looks, and the misses turned into makes.
On the broadcast, TNT's crew noticed the shift right away.
Kenny Smith said, "That's championship poise. They miss a few, and they don't start freelancing. They trust the pass."
Charles Barkley nodded, then added, "A few years ago, they might've tried to shoot their way out of it in 10 seconds. Now they're playing like grown men."
By the end of the 1st quarter, Phoenix led 26 to 24, and it was not because anyone went crazy. It was because the whole team settled into rhythm.
In the 2nd quarter, Duncan kept putting pressure on the paint. Stoudemire alone could not handle him, and whenever Phoenix sent help, Duncan punished it with the right pass. He was still the same problem the league had been dealing with for a decade, a big who could score and think.
But the Suns answered every bucket.
Their pace was not just run and gun anymore. Their half court offense looked just as sharp, with movement, spacing, and a willingness to make the extra pass.
At halftime, Phoenix pushed the lead to 7.
The 3rd quarter turned into a fight.
San Antonio wanted to make its run before the 4th. Phoenix wanted to break the game open the way it had done to other teams all season, the classic third quarter surge that left opponents staring at the scoreboard like it had betrayed them.
Duncan attacked decisively on the block. Parker and Ginobili got downhill, focusing on high percentage looks.
On Phoenix's side, Nash, Chen Yan, and Diaw organized the offense like conductors. The Spurs could not key in on one creator because all 3 could pass and score. They could run a set, then punish a rotation, then hit you with another action before you even finished the first rotation.
San Antonio stayed alive with a strong finish to the quarter. Ginobili scored 6 straight points in the final minute, and by the end of the 3rd, the Suns were only up 3.
Phoenix answered immediately.
To start the 4th, the Suns ripped off a 7 to 2 run, pushing the lead back into double digits. The home crowd roared, and the pressure ramped up possession by possession.
San Antonio did not fold. Duncan muscled in a put back. Parker hit a short floater out of the pick and roll. Ginobili knocked down a tough step back from mid range. Their Big 3 kept dragging them forward, inch by inch.
The game hit its peak.
With 1:32 left, the Spurs threw a bad pass and turned it over.
Phoenix could not secure the ball cleanly either. Parker reacted first, snatched it, and launched a 3 just before the shot clock expired.
Swish.
102 to 104.
A brutal shot, the kind that made an arena go quiet for half a second before it remembered how to breathe.
Phoenix stayed disciplined.
Nash ran pick and roll, saw nothing, and refused to force it. He circled under the rim and kept the offense alive. Diaw slid to the high post, set a screen, then received the return pass. Nash cut again, Diaw bounced it right back, and their 2 man dance pulled San Antonio's defense inward.
Then Nash fired a no look pass from inside the paint to the baseline.
Chen Yan was waiting behind the line.
Catch, rise, release.
Swish.
A back breaking answer, and the timing was perfect.
Over the final minute, neither team found another field goal. Nash went 3 for 4 at the line and shut the door.
Final score, 110 to 102.
The Suns won with a season high 41 assists.
Nash finished with 20 points and 17 assists.
Chen Yan had 31 points and 7 assists.
Diaw flirted with a triple double, posting 11 points, 9 rebounds, and 8 assists.
After the game, Nash summed it up simply.
"Our ball movement was great tonight," he said. "When we move it like that, everyone becomes a threat, and it's hard to guard us."
Chen Yan, the leading scorer, pointed the spotlight right back at his point guard.
"We played real team basketball," he said. "Steve controlled the whole game. When he plays like that, we're tough to beat."
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