NBA participant and actuality tv character Tristan Thompson signed an $82 million NBA contract in 2015… a dream deal on the time. However now that he’s develop into a Bitcoiner, he desires of an alternate historical past the place that cash was paid by way of BTC.
“What I do know now, I might have positively pushed to receives a commission in Bitcoin,” Thompson tells Journal.
“It’d be a lot, I’d be laughing and kicking, being like ‘that is the very best gamble in American sports activities historical past,’” the longtime crypto fanatic says.
On the day Thompson signed his $82 million contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers in October 2015, Bitcoin was buying and selling at round $270. Had that cash been paid in Bitcoin as an alternative, it could be value roughly $31.75 billion at present. In reality, had he even used a small share of his payment to purchase Bitcoin, he’d be a billionaire by now.
Simply don’t inform Thompson the precise numbers. “I’ve by no means appeared,” the 34-year-old laughs.
“I could be much more pissed after I calculate the numbers.”
Thompson, who can be identified worldwide for his many appearances on Protecting Up With the Kardashians, says lacking out on the Bitcoin deal stings much more as a result of he was already occupied with Bitcoin on the time.
“It was humorous as a result of throughout that very same time, an excellent buddy of mine from Toronto, we had a basketball group chat, and he was like, “Guys, purchase Bitcoin.” This was when Bitcoin was 200 or one thing. It was pennies on a greenback,” Thompson laughs.
Thompson just isn’t certain he might’ve dealt with Bitcoin’s ups and downs
However Thompson can be trustworthy sufficient to confess he isn’t certain he would have been capable of face up to Bitcoin’s volatility over the previous ten years.
“Who is aware of if I took a contract in Bitcoin after which, after we had the bear market and after we had COVID-19 and all the things plummeted, who is aware of?” he displays.
“Would I’ve the schooling and data to face up to that storm? Clearly, now the issues I do know and the data and energy that I’ve gained through the years, in fact.”
“I believe all the things has its time,” Thompson says. Nonetheless, Bitcoin by no means dipped beneath $270 after the deal, so he wouldn’t have been worse off. Simply 9 months later, it had greater than doubled to round $577, that means his $82 million might’ve already became over $175 million [That’s enough rubbing salt in the wound – Ed]
Thompson, who nonetheless holds the Cavs’ file for many consecutive video games performed at 447, has been getting extra hands-on with crypto in an expert approach.
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He hosts his personal crypto podcast referred to as Courtside Crypto, he’s a model ambassador for the crypto betting platform Sportsbet.io, and now he’s the lead adviser for TraceyAI, an AI agent constructed on Digital Protocol that teaches followers about basketball analytics.
Thompson is attempting to orange-pill the NBA
Over the previous few years, a number of US athletes have taken all or a part of their wage in Bitcoin. Thompson “offers quite a lot of credit score” to his buddy Odell Beckham Jr., an NFL participant signed to the Los Angeles Rams, for opting to obtain his wage of $750,000 in Bitcoin in 2021.
NBA stars Klay Thompson and Andre Iguodala additionally took parts of their wage in Bitcoin.
Thompson says he’s been doing his half to orange-pill different NBA gamers and get them into Bitcoin.
“What I all the time inform guys on my group, and possibly I’m simply rambling loads, however I simply all the time inform guys on my group stepping into crypto, the very first thing you need to do is go to the OG, which is Bitcoin,” he says.
“As a result of the best way that Bitcoin runs is a runaway; all the things has to comply with. It’s a head hunter,” he provides.
Thomson admits he’s crypto-obsessed. “I’m like a man within the trenches,” Thompson says.
“I’m on Crypto Twitter like degenning and searching all the things up,” he laughs.
Why Thompson won’t ever create a “celeb memecoin”
Thompson likens his outlook on crypto now to loads like when he was first drafted into the NBA by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2011, at simply 20 years previous.
“The best way I’m coming into the house is not any completely different than me being a rookie within the NBA; for me, it’s about being a part of the ecosystem,” Thompson says.
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Given his profile and love for crypto, launching a star memecoin may seem to be the apparent subsequent transfer, however he’s completely in opposition to it.
“I might by no means need to launch a Tristan Thompson token,” he says. “It all the time comes with a sense like a darkish cloud.”
Thompson is nicely conscious that there are grifters within the crypto trade who’d like to money in on his identify.
“Each time somebody meets me, I already know if he’s simply attempting to make a token or drop a meme,” he laughs.
“One factor my mom all the time taught me is that quick cash just isn’t good cash.”
“I believe, sadly, too many athletes or celebrities have come into this house and extracted and brought away as an alternative of studying and turning into a vessel or turning into an asset to assist the house develop,” Thompson says.
Apart from, Thompson doesn’t want the cash. He won’t be a Bitcoin billionaire, however he’s doing nice. “Not in an conceited approach, however I’ve made some huge cash, and I’ve executed very nicely for myself in my taking part in profession and off the court docket,” Thompson says.
That mentioned, he’s all for buying and selling memecoins and admits he was fairly pissed off he didn’t leap on US President Donald Trump’s memecoin TRUMP coin when it launched in January.
Thompson explains he was out having dinner with fellow NBA participant Anthony Edwards when the Trump coin launched, and he regrettably missed the notification.
“The half I’m kicking my ass about probably the most is that quite a lot of these tokens had been locked. Like 80% had been locked, so even when persons are getting out, like early dumpers, the charts are nonetheless going to be fairly wholesome,” he says.
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Ciaran Lyons
Ciaran Lyons is an Australian crypto journalist. He is additionally a standup comic and has been a radio and TV presenter on Triple J, SBS and The Undertaking.