Chapter 367: Locker Room Celebration, Rewards Claimed
The broadcast cameras never missed a thing.
The clip of Chen Yan crouching down in the tunnel, patting Bronny's head, then saying something that made the kid cry even harder, was replayed everywhere within minutes. Fans online laughed until they wheezed. Chen Yan was ruthless, they said. He made the father cry, and then he made the son cry too.
Inside the visitors locker room, the mood was pure chaos in the best way.
A bottle of champagne sat at every seat. Cigars were passed around like party favors. It was the winner's kit, the standard celebration for champions, and the Suns were more than ready to act like it.
The moment Chen Yan walked in, he felt the air change. Every teammate turned toward him with the same dangerous look, like a pack of wolves spotting the one guy who thought he could stay dry.
Stoudemire gave a single glance. That was enough.
Champagne bottles rose in unison.
On the court, Chen Yan had used world class footwork to dodge the Gatorade bath. In here, there was no out of bounds line to save him.
"Swish!"
More than a dozen bottles sprayed at once. Champagne blasted him from every angle. It was an instant soak.
Chen Yan squeezed his eyes shut and screamed like he had just taken a charge from Shaq.
Then he started laughing.
If he could not escape it, he might as well enjoy it.
The locker room erupted. The trophy ceremony had been in Cleveland, so the Suns had kept their celebration respectful and controlled. In private, they let everything loose. Shouting, singing, yelling nonsense, hugging, dancing, spraying champagne like they were putting out a fire.
After the first wave of madness, the locker room doors opened to the media.
Reporters flooded in, microphones and cameras up. Chen Yan leaned back in his chair, completely drenched. His hair was slicked back, a cigar hanging from the corner of his mouth.
He did not smoke. The cigar was purely for the aesthetic.
It worked. Photographers snapped like crazy. That shot was going on front pages.
A reporter stepped forward, eyes wide. "Chen, it looks like you had a wild celebration. Rookie season, championship, Finals MVP. How does it feel?"
Chen Yan smiled. "It's incredible. This is the best reward for everything we did all season. Honestly, I might sleep with the Finals MVP trophy for the next few days."
The reporter laughed. "What about Taylor? Where are you making her sleep?"
Chen Yan's grin widened. "The trophy on the left, she sleeps on the right. If she wants to hold the trophy while sleeping with me, I'm not going to complain."
More questions followed, half basketball, half entertainment.
"Are you working on new music this summer? Are you going to show up at Taylor's concert?"
Chen Yan shook his head, amused. "I've got a lot of inspiration, and I'd love to be on stage with her. But I probably won't have time this summer. I've got something more important to do."
Another reporter pushed the obvious one. "Are you going to play in the Beijing Olympics?"
Chen Yan only smiled, mysterious, and did not answer. Tonight was not for the future. Tonight was for the moment.
Across the room, Nash was crying again, quiet tears he made no attempt to hide.
"I've waited for this," he said, voice trembling. "I don't know how much longer I can play. But I did it."
Chen Yan walked over and put an arm around Nash's shoulder. He understood what this meant. Nash entered the league in 1996 and did not lift a trophy until 2008. That kind of wait carved grooves into a player's soul.
Compared to Chen Yan's rocket start, Nash's path had been all bruises and near misses. Even so, compared to legends who never got one, he was still lucky.
Stoudemire shouted from the side, eyes shining. "Dream come true. If this is a dream, I never want to wake up."
Azubuike faced the cameras with a sincerity that cut through the champagne fumes. "I want to thank Chen. He was there all the time, on the court and off it. Extra workouts, fixing my mistakes, encouraging me. He's younger than me, but on the court he's like my big brother."
A year ago, Azubuike was fighting just to stay in the league. Now he was part of a championship rotation. The difference was not luck, it was structure, belief, and a superstar who pulled everyone forward.
Around the locker room, more Suns echoed the same point in their own interviews. Everyone knew what this team looked like before Chen Yan arrived. Western Conference Finals was a ceiling. A title was a different universe.
Chen Yan wanted to stay low key, but his résumé refused to cooperate.
…
The Suns did not linger in Cleveland.
They flew back to Phoenix overnight. Cleveland was not exactly the city you celebrated in for long, and the team preferred to bring the real party home.
On the plane, players laughed, talked over each other, replayed moments, argued about who got sprayed the worst, and who screamed the loudest.
Nash found a quiet seat and fell asleep with the Larry O'Brien trophy in his arms, like a man afraid it might disappear if he blinked too long.
Chen Yan held his Finals MVP trophy. He was still buzzing, too wired to sleep.
Then, a familiar sound rang in his mind.
"Ding! Congratulations, Host, on winning your 1st championship trophy and completing the main quest, Road to Championship!"
"Ding! Congratulations, Host, you have unlocked the reward, All Star Gift Pack!"
"Host, would you like to open the All Star Gift Pack immediately?"
"Open," Chen Yan answered without hesitation.
His excitement shifted instantly. Winning the title was one kind of thrill. This was another. Like opening a blind box when you already knew the prize could change your life.
A flash of gold filled his vision.
Skill icons appeared across the interface.
"Congratulations, Host, you have obtained Nowitzki's signature skill, One Leg Fadeaway. When the Host uses One Leg Fadeaway after a post up, defensive interference is reduced by 20%."
"Congratulations, Host, you have obtained Tony Parker's signature skill, Classic Floater. When the Host uses this skill, Classic Floater accuracy increases by 10% to 17%, with fluctuation based on the Host's feel."
"Congratulations, Host, you have obtained Gary Payton's signature skill, Magnetic Gloves. Passive skill, greatly improves the Host's defensive awareness and 1 on 1 pressure, increasing steal and interception success rate by 5%."
"Congratulations, Host, you have obtained Rodman's signature skill, Rebounding Beast. Passive skill, greatly improves the Host's rebounding instincts."
2 offensive skills. 1 defensive skill. 1 rebounding skill.
Chen Yan exhaled slowly. His toolkit was getting deeper, more complete. Closer to the kind of superstar who could dominate both ends.
But he also understood the tradeoff. More weapons meant more workload. More workload meant more stamina.
He opened his personal panel.
After the Western Conference Finals and the NBA Finals, he had 176 honor points.
He converted 80 honor points into attribute points immediately and dumped them all into Stamina.
He kept the rest. He had a plan.
"Name": Chen Yan
"Height": 198 cm
"Weight": 94 kg
"Wingspan": 218 cm
"Standing Vertical Leap": 105 cm
"Running Vertical Leap": 117 cm
"Ball Handling": 91
"Speed": 96
"Stamina": 95
"Vision": 86
"Driving": 91
"Layup": 91
"Mid Range Shot": 93
"3 Point Shooting": 97
"Free Throw": 86
"Passing": 86
"Off Ball Movement": 91
"Stealing": 89
"Strength": 86
"Rebounding": 86
"Defense": 86
"Blocking": 81
"Mentality": 98
"Skills": God Tier Steal, The Answer Crossover, Magic Shadow Maze, Hot Start, Perfect Hand Shape, Juggling Finish, Godly Pull Up Jumper, Passing Master LV3, Sam Good, Iron Will, Mamba Step LV2, Post Moves LV2, Fingertip Floater, Divine Shot Baptism, One Leg Fadeaway, Classic Floater, Magnetic Gloves (Passive), Rebounding Beast (Passive)
Honor Points: 96
Overall Rating: SS
Some attributes and skills had upgraded on their own from the grind of the playoffs.
And now, with this gift pack, Chen Yan felt even more prepared for what was coming next.
Diaw leaned over, squinting at him. "Chen, why are you smiling by yourself?"
Stoudemire looked over too. "You're smiling so hard you're about to drool."
Chen Yan laughed. "I just had a really beautiful dream."
Stoudemire's eyes lit up. "Oh yeah? What was it?"
Chen Yan said, "I dreamed the Suns won the championship, I won Finals MVP, and a whole city was waiting for us at the airport to bring us home."
Diaw and Stoudemire stared at him for a second, then looked at each other.
That was not a dream.
That was the present.
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