Chapter 100: Fame! Domestic Sports Brands Compete for Talent!
After the press conference, the Suns headed to a nightclub to celebrate.
Chen Yan invited the entire team, including the coaching staff. The Suns' locker room was tight-knit—no cliques, no drama—and Chen Yan got along with everyone. Even Grant Hill and Steve Nash, who typically avoided nightclubs, showed up to give Chen Yan some respect.
After all, nights like this didn't come often. Witnessing history? That was worth toasting to.
Once they stepped into the VIP lounge, Stoudemire frowned.
"Chen, where the hell are the girls at?" he asked, clearly disappointed.
Chen Yan gave him a smirk and patted him on the shoulder. "This setup's chill. Those girls you brought last time? Not a single one was decent."
"Since when does being decent matter?" Stoudemire shot back bluntly. "We're here to have fun, not find a wife."
Typical Stoudemire. Like most of the league's Black players off the court, he wasn't shy about what he wanted.
Chen Yan shook his head. "Too much trouble afterwards."
Stoudemire shrugged. "Throw some money their way, man. Shaq does it all the time."
Chen chuckled. "Yeah, well... if it works, you're Shaq. If it blows up, you're Mamba."
He wasn't taking shots at Kobe—but the point stood. Kobe's off-court scandals had become a cautionary tale for the next generation of NBA players.
Stoudemire just shrugged again, carefree. "Doesn't bother me."
It was different for Chen Yan. He didn't just represent himself—he represented China. One bad headline could wreck his rep, ruin his chances with the national team, or worse, derail his whole career.
---
Meanwhile, at NBA Headquarters in New York...
"What? Chen just broke the rookie single-game scoring record?"
David Stern sat up straight, the fatigue suddenly gone from his face.
"And," Adam Silver added eagerly, standing at his side like a loyal advisor, "he also became the youngest player in history to drop 60 points in a game!"
Silver knew how much Stern backed Chen Yan. He'd been tracking the kid's every move.
Stern turned to the window, eyes gleaming. In basketball, nothing sells like scoring.
Jordan, Kobe, T-Mac, Iverson—every scoring champ had fans lining up around the world.
Chen Yan's explosion only reinforced Stern's belief: the NBA had found its next global sensation.
---
Back in China, Chen Yan's buzzer-beating, 61-point performance against the Wizards lit the country on fire.
"Natural-born killer! Two buzzer-beaters in one week!"
"Youngest player ever to hit 60!"
"He shattered Chamberlain's 47-year-old rookie record!"
"Legend in the making! Did you see his celebration after the buzzer?"
"Unreal efficiency! Tonight belonged to Chen Yan!"
"The strongest rookie ever? What's the next record he'll break?"
The media lost its mind.
Every major site featured Chen Yan's name front and center. Sports headlines looked more like a tribute page than actual news.
Even Sports Express devoted half its entire segment to his performance. They broke down every highlight from the game, then followed it with a recap of his last few matchups. It basically turned into The Chen Yan Show.
Fans were loving it.
Some joked they hadn't watched Sports Express—they'd watched Chen Yan Express.
With that monster performance and non-stop media hype, Chen Yan's fame in China exploded overnight.
And it wasn't just hardcore basketball heads anymore—middle-aged aunties and high school girls who had never touched a basketball knew the name Chen Yan.
Granted, most people's understanding of him was still surface-level.
"Oh yeah, I've heard of him—he's that basketball guy, right?"
He wasn't quite as big as Yao Ming or even Yi Jianlian just yet, but to gain this much clout so fast? That was insane.
Still, if Chen wanted to cement himself as a household name in China, dominating the NBA wasn't enough.
He had to show out on the international stage.
Because while only basketball fans watch the NBA, the entire country watches the national team.
---
And back in the business world? The sharks smelled blood.
Domestic sports brands went into a frenzy trying to sign Chen Yan.
Anta, Li-Ning, and Peak—China's Big Three—were all throwing their hats in the ring.
All of them had their eyes set on breaking into the NBA market, and signing Chen Yan would be a massive win.
Li-Ning had kicked things off in 2006 by signing Cavs shooter Damon Jones, marking the brand's first NBA foray.
Then they shocked everyone by locking down Shaquille O'Neal—a true superstar move.
Peak leaned into the Rockets fanbase in China, launching their strategy with Shane Battier.
Fujian-based Anta took a slower, more deliberate approach, eventually landing Luis Scola in early 2007.
Now that word had leaked that Chen Yan was open to working with a domestic brand, all three companies went all-in.
They were tossing serious money at him—massive endorsement fees, full creative control over his own sneaker line, even equity deals.
To them, signing Chen Yan was like landing an active NBA superstar.
And because he was local, the benefits went way beyond visibility—he was China's own, and that made him priceless.
So, the brands stopped playing nice.
They brought out the tricks.
Anta tried to play the hometown card, since both Chen Yan and the company hailed from Fujian. Executives even visited Chen's parents in person, trying to win them over.
Chen Yan didn't say yes, but he respected the effort.
Li-Ning and Peak had their own plays, making it clear they were just as serious.
No one wanted to lose.
And honestly? No one doubted Chen Yan anymore.
A highlight-machine of a shooting guard, flashy as hell, youngest player ever to hit both 50 and 60 in a game, rookie record breaker—it didn't matter if you were a fan or a skeptic. The tape didn't lie.
These companies had analysts and scouts evaluating talent all day. And they all agreed—Chen Yan was worth every damn cent.
This wasn't about the money anymore.
It was about legacy.
Because if you didn't grab Chen Yan now?
You might be waiting a lifetime for another player like him to come out of China.
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