Author: Zen, PANews

This summer, Tristan Thompson (nicknamed TT), who had played in the NBA for 14 years, essentially said goodbye to his career. At 34 years old, it was difficult for this veteran, a blue-collar center, to find another job in the NBA.

For many fans, TT's fame mainly comes from following LeBron James to win the championship for the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016, as well as his on-again and off-again relationship with Khloe Kardashian, and the gossip about him constantly appearing on shows to ask for forgiveness for his cheating.

Last September, although TT was no longer in competitive form, his former team, the Cavaliers, out of gratitude for their old friendship, still signed him to a one-year veteran minimum contract worth approximately 3.3 million US dollars.

With the season over, TT, a free agent, was nowhere to be found on the market. He had foreseen this situation and had long since begun planning his transition to an unexpected arena: cryptocurrency.

Support decentralized science and launch crypto podcast to share blockchain knowledge

On June 26, 2025, in an exclusive interview with People magazine, TT revealed that he would serve as Chief Advisory Officer for the decentralized science platform AxonDAO, hoping to empower the public to control their own medical data. He stated that he is "very drawn to things that can truly help society" and praised the crypto and blockchain sectors for "creating amazing things that change the world every day."

Compared to last summer's "meme token craze," TT expressed a greater focus on applying AI and blockchain to practical scenarios like healthcare. He said projects like AxonDAO, which integrate AI and health, are of great significance to him because his brother Amari suffers from severe epilepsy, a concept he deeply resonates with. He hopes to help patients like his brother gain easier access to global treatment options and "ensure that everyone has control over their own health data."

Talking about the trend of athletes seeking career transitions, he said: "This is why athletes nowadays are not willing to be just athletes... We want to be businessmen, creators, developers. Personally, I want to be an innovator and always be a few steps ahead of the times."

In recent years, the NBA has seen a surge in podcasts, with everyone from current All-Stars Paul George and Draymond Green to retired legend Steve Nash. This year, TT also launched its own podcast. Unlike others that focus on basketball games and anecdotes about athletes, TT's podcast, "Courtside Crypto," focuses on sharing blockchain knowledge with other athletes and fans, encouraging young players to understand the opportunities and risks of the crypto industry.

On August 4, 2025, TT also visited the White House as a podcast host and interviewed Bo Hines, then Executive Director of the White House Digital Asset Council. Hines mentioned that when President Trump declared that he would become the "Crypto President of the United States," he and many grassroots people around him were "very excited."

In an interview, TT said the public has misunderstandings about the crypto field: "When people hear 'cryptocurrency', they still only think of scams or speculation. But they don't see how blockchain can affect healthcare, education, and even the way we buy houses. This is an infrastructure revolution, and we need to help everyone understand this."

He further described his vision of crypto technology being integrated into daily life: "I hope my children will use stablecoins to buy their first house in the future - no bank wire transfer, no ten forms to sign, just send a transfer and settle it directly, it's that simple. This is the future we are building."

According to TMZ, on August 11th, TT was appointed Chief Digital Equity Officer of World Mobile, a telecommunications and blockchain company, dedicating himself to its mission of "connecting billions of unconnected people around the world." He stated that he would be committed to World Mobile's vision of providing affordable internet services using peer-to-peer distributed nodes, aiming to address connectivity challenges in remote and impoverished communities.

As part of his responsibilities, TT also launched the Community Connectivity Fund, investing millions of dollars to strengthen internet infrastructure and pilot projects in disadvantaged communities. TMZ jokingly stated that his multi-faceted approach, juggling preparing for his 15th NBA season, participating in World Mobile, and navigating multiple AI startups, made him one of the busiest individuals in sports that year.

Building an on-chain basketball fan interaction platform Basketball.fun

Perhaps a return to the NBA is hopeless. On September 18, 2025, TT announced the launch of Basketball.fun, an on-chain basketball fan engagement platform, before the start of the new NBA season. Based on the new public blockchain Somnia, which launched in early September, the project aims to tokenize NBA player performance and fan sentiment, enabling real-time player valuation and enhancing fan engagement with the game through gamification.

TT said: "This is how we experience those moments together. It's not just about basketball itself. We are creating a space for fans that goes beyond the game, where your participation, passion and performance are truly valuable." It is reported that Basketball.fun will not issue platform tokens, but will focus on underlying chain infrastructure and user experience innovation to avoid falling into a model that relies solely on token prices.

However, there are already numerous pioneering projects that utilize fantasy sports mechanics to create fan tokens. Basketball.fun, in both its name and gameplay, is reminiscent of the short-lived Football.fun. These types of games seem to be plagued by the fate of being short-lived.

In a recent interview, TT discussed his latest views and plans for the crypto industry. He emphasized that he has been deeply involved in the crypto field for over a year, adopting a long-term investment strategy, refusing to issue any personal tokens, and instead focusing on promoting financial education and investment innovation.

TT revealed that its on-chain basketball project Basketball.fun is already in preparation, integrating fantasy basketball games and prediction markets, improving player value assessment through fan interaction, and enhancing fan participation in a new way.

"Given my current understanding, I would have definitely insisted on receiving my salary in Bitcoin." In May 2025, TT told Cointelegraph Magazine that after securing his big contract, friends urged him to buy Bitcoin, but he hesitated due to the volatility. "If I had done so, it would have been the best bet in American sports history," TT added.

During the 2015-2016 Cavaliers championship season, he averaged nearly 8 points and 8 rebounds per game at the start of the season, earning him a massive contract worth nearly $82 million. Fans believed that TT was able to secure such a premium contract because LeBron James, known as the "King James," considered him a confidant and helped raise his price. Chinese fans therefore nicknamed him the "Eight Wise Kings."

Compared to NBA legend Scottie Pippen's abstract propaganda of "Satoshi Nakamoto appeared in my dream" and "Bitcoin quickly reached one million", TT was relatively pragmatic.

In terms of market prospects, he boldly predicted that "by the end of 2025, the price of Bitcoin could reach 150,000 US dollars", and believed that if this goal is achieved, the altcoin market will also rise accordingly, which can bring considerable year-end returns to investors.

In addition, he expressed his hope to become an executive at a top crypto company within the next six months, working full-time to "promote industry change" and help blockchain technology achieve large-scale user adoption.

Although the former NBA player's journey in the encryption field has just begun, its development prospects remain to be tested by time.

Reactions to TT's transformation have been mixed, but there's widespread interest in its future. Fans and industry insiders alike are eager to see if the former basketball champion can achieve new success in the blockchain and cryptocurrency space.