Chapter 306: Donation, A Fun Warm Up
The next day, the Chen Yan Moment was not on the front page of the major sites.
A massive geological disaster had struck the country.
The butterfly effect caused by Chen Yans reincarnation had changed many things, but some events still seemed carved into fate.
He walked into the practice facility with a heavy heart.
In the past, all he could do in moments like this was pray for his compatriots. Now, he could actually move the needle.
Chen Yan wired 10 million RMB to the disaster zone.
For a billionaire that would be nothing. For him, it was basically his entire annual salary after tax.
His choice said everything about how big his heart was, even if most of his real money now came from endorsements.
"Chen Yan did the right thing."
"This is what a real role model looks like."
"I just became a fan today."
"Full support from now on."
The reaction back home was pure respect.
Right after that, Chen called his agent, Bill Duffy, and had him donate a shipment of Flame One sneakers and his personal line of training gear through his studio.
He did not just want to send materials. He wanted to send strength.
Chen hand signed pairs of sneakers, wrote encouraging messages, and even recorded two short video messages for the people in the disaster area.
He knew there were a lot of fans there.
If his game could not help them directly, then his spirit had to.
And he did not stop with himself.
He pulled in everyone around him.
Coach Little Beard, Nash, Stoudemire, Grant Hill, other Suns teammates, even notoriously stingy owner Robert Sarver all made personal donations after he reached out.
His brother in the league, Kevin Durant, immediately sent 200,000 dollars and a batch of childrens supplies, saying it was his way of standing with his brothers hometown.
At that point Durant was still on his rookie deal. For him, 200000 was a serious number.
His childhood had been rough. He, his brother, and their mother were constantly moving, never sure where they would sleep next, never sure where the next meal was coming from.
So when he donated, Durant made it clear. Helping kids in desperate situations mattered to him more than anything.
Chens girlfriend, Taylor, added 1,000,000 dollars of her own and filmed a blessing video for the victims.
All of this had been set in motion by Chen Yan.
He refused to let grief swallow him. He would not let that weight drag his mind into a dark place.
He knew he still had a job to do.
Game 6 between the Phoenix Suns and the San Antonio Spurs would be played 1 day later at ATT Center in San Antonio.
Phoenix led the series 3 to 2 and held match point, but no one in the building thought this would be easy.
...
At the pre game press conference, Popovich was as low key as ever.
"We are standing at the edge of the cliff with nowhere to retreat," he said. "They are a very strong opponent, and we have to be ready for a real fight."
A reporter asked, "Coach, are the Spurs making any special preparations for this one?"
"We have rehearsed some things," Popovich replied, expression unreadable. "But it is not time to talk about them yet."
On the other side, Suns head coach Mike D Antoni was busy stacking good karma.
"I have been reminding our guys to forget the series score and focus only on this game," he said. "The Spurs are resilient. They are not a team you can beat easily. We are prepared for the hardest possible situation."
When a reporter asked Chen Yan who he would rather face next, the Charlotte Hornets or the Los Angeles Lakers, Chen grinned.
"I think after tonight the Spurs front office will thank us," he said. "Because I am going to save them the cost of buying tickets to Phoenix."
The room erupted. The King of Bragging had dropped another one.
He could not have been clearer. He planned to finish this in 6.
...
"Will this end tonight, or are we going back for a Game 7?" Mike Breen asked from the broadcast table. "Either way, it is going to be a brutal night for both sides."
"This is as high tension as it gets," Jeff Van Gundy answered. "In terms of atmosphere, the Spurs have the edge, this is their building. In terms of momentum, Phoenix has it, they just pulled off an all time comeback."
"Jeff, what did you think about Chen dropping 13 in the final 33 seconds last game?" Breen asked with a smile. Before tip, the booth was always a little looser.
Van Gundy shook his head. "It was unbelievable. Absolutely historic. When I coached the Rockets, I had a front row seat for the T Mac Moment. For the fans in the arena that night, I promise you, they will remember it for the rest of their lives. This was that kind of night."
While they talked, the players were already deep into warm ups.
Swish.
Swish.
Swish.
Swish.
Chen Yan turned the floor into his own personal logo shot exhibition, casually dropping 4 deep threes in a row in front of both the fans and the Spurs.
One of them was from the tunnel.
In this era, nobody treated warm ups like that.
The fans around the lower bowl were stunned.
On the Spurs side they all saw it too.
They knew they would be under heavy pressure the moment the game started.
They just did not expect the pressure to show up before the opening tip.
For the first time, the Spurs players felt genuine fear from a shooter standing that far behind the three point line.
"Is he planning to shoot from the tunnel tonight?" Tony Parker said, pointing in Chens direction.
"If he does that, the only answer is to call arena security," Ginobili replied with a crooked smile. "I do not think anyone else can stop him."
"No, no, security will not be enough," Parker added. "You might have to call the police."
Their jokes sounded light, but the bitterness underneath was obvious.
All series long, Chens long range bombs had been the Spurs worst nightmare.
Even now, they still did not have a real answer for it.
Maybe there was only one hope left.
Pray his touch finally went cold.
...
"Phoenix, are you ready for a big win?"
In the visiting locker room, Chen clapped his hands together and raised his voice.
"Send them home," someone yelled back.
"End this series tonight," another teammate shouted.
"Eliminate them on their own floor," someone else added.
The responses were loud and full of fire.
Everyone in that room was ready to ride the wave from the last game and try to bury San Antonio once and for all.
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