Chapter 370: Crazy Fans, National Team Tension?
Besides building chemistry with his new teammates, Chen Yan also had to adjust to FIBA basketball as fast as possible.
Compared to the NBA, international play came with a long list of differences.
FIBA quarters were 10 minutes, not 12.
The court was slightly smaller at 28 by 15 meters, compared to the NBA's 28.65 by 15.24.
The 3 point line was the biggest visual change. In the NBA, the arc was about 7.25 meters. In FIBA, it was 6.75. For NBA shooters, international 3s could feel like long 2s.
Even the ball felt different. FIBA used a 12 panel synthetic leather ball, while the NBA ball used 8 leather panels. The weight range was also broader, 567 to 652 grams for FIBA, compared to roughly 624 grams in the NBA.
The paint markings were different too. FIBA's lane and restricted area layout did not match the NBA's exactly.
Still, the biggest gap was not the lines or the leather.
It was the rulebook.
The NBA had a defensive 3 second rule. FIBA did not.
In the NBA, if a defender lingered in the paint without actively guarding someone, the whistle came quickly. The league wanted space, drives, and dunks. Nobody was paying for 48 minutes of giants camping under the rim.
FIBA did not care about entertainment in the same way. They were more traditional, more tactical, and the lack of defensive 3 seconds was one of the main tools international teams used to survive against Team USA. When the other side had monsters who were both skilled and physically overwhelming, the only way to keep the game from turning into an exhibition was to build a wall.
For Chen Yan, that rule change did not hurt much. A large portion of his scoring already came from 3s and high post jumpers off pick and rolls. If anything, international play pushed him to lean even harder into that style.
But for players who relied on raw power drives and shaky shooting, the paint being crowded all night could be a nightmare.
…
After a 10 hour flight, Chen Yan landed at Capital International Airport.
The basketball association staff had prepared for his arrival, but the first thing he saw stepping off the plane was not a clean welcoming line.
It was a sea of fans.
At first, Chen Yan planned to sign a few autographs, take a few photos, and move on.
After only a handful, he realized he had made a terrible miscalculation.
More and more people surged toward him like a tide. Signing became impossible. Walking became difficult. Even breathing felt like work.
With staff and security trying to form a moving shield, Chen Yan and his parents could only shuffle forward inch by inch.
"MVP!"
Someone shouted it from somewhere in the crowd.
That single word lit the fuse.
"MVP!"
"MVP!"
"MVP!"
The roar swelled until it felt like it could rattle the ceiling.
This was Chen Yan's first time returning to China after joining the NBA, and even he had not expected this kind of madness.
On the court, he was used to double teams.
Off the court, he was getting trapped too.
Kids who looked 6 or 7 chased alongside older fans with gray hair. Everyone pushed forward with the same desperate energy, as if a glimpse of him counted as a medal.
Airport order started wobbling under the pressure.
Reporters caught reactions from fans who did not get what they came for, yet still sounded satisfied.
"Sign for everyone? No chance," one fan said. "He wouldn't finish before the Olympics."
"I just wanted to see him in person," another added. "Photos and autographs can come later."
"This is a public place," a third said. "If he tried to sign everything, the whole airport would collapse."
They were understanding with their words.
Their bodies did not cooperate.
The crowd kept compressing.
To avoid getting swallowed, Chen Yan eventually chose to exit through a back route.
He dodged the fans.
He did not dodge the staff.
Several ground crew members and flight attendants who had just gotten off work spotted him and reacted like they had won the lottery.
Chen Yan could only sigh and do the polite thing, photos, autographs, quick smiles.
A few flight attendants leaned in close for the pictures. One or 2 even tried to quietly ask for his contact information.
Chen Yan's appeal was not just about basketball.
A tall, built young man over 190 cm with confident posture and good style drew attention anywhere.
And of course, fame and money did not exactly make the attention smaller.
…
The next morning, Chen Yan went straight to the national team training gym.
He was genuinely excited to reunite with the group.
Inside, Yao Ming led the welcome, clapping first and setting the tone.
"Chen Yan, welcome to the national team."
Yao's position mattered. He was the leader, the core, the voice everyone listened to.
Coach Du stepped forward smiling. "We've finally got you here."
Zhu 8 patted Chen Yan's shoulder. "Little Chen, we have to get some drinks and skewers sometime."
Players came one after another with greetings.
Yi Jianlian bumped fists with him and grinned. "Finally on the same team as you."
"Didn't we play together in the rookie game?" Chen Yan shot back instantly.
Yi scratched his head, embarrassed. "My bad. I only played a few minutes. I almost forgot."
Chen Yan patted his shoulder. "You'll get plenty of minutes here. Keep pushing."
Yi nodded hard. "Yeah. Let's work."
Besides Yao, Yi was the teammate Chen Yan knew best. They had talked plenty back in the United States, so there was no awkwardness between them.
But the happiest person in the gym might have been the head coach, Jonas.
He had been waiting for Chen Yan like someone waiting for rain during a drought.
For years, Jonas's biggest headache had been the guard rotation. Lack of explosion. Inconsistent shooting. Slow transition pace. Poor passing. It was the same list every tournament.
Chen Yan's arrival patched almost every hole at once.
Jonas did not waste time with long speeches. After a simple warm up, he split the roster into 2 groups for a scrimmage.
He had seen Chen Yan in Summer League a year earlier, but that version of Chen Yan belonged to another lifetime.
Jonas wanted to see the upgrade up close.
The 12 man group, Yao Ming, Wang Zhizhi, Yi Jianlian, Wang 7, Zhu 9, Chen Yan, Li Nan, Liu Wei, Sun Dasheng, Du Feng, Wang Lei, and Zhang Qingpeng, were divided and the 5 on 5 started.
First possession after the tip, Chen Yan caught the ball 2 steps beyond the 3 point arc and rose immediately.
Swish.
The ball snapped through the net before anyone had time to process what was happening.
Yao Ming smiled. "Nice touch."
Chen Yan spread his hands. "Just warming up. I picked a closer one."
Wang 7 and Zhu 8 froze for a second.
Both were respected shooters on the national team, but neither of them had ever seen someone warm up like that.
Chen Yan was not trying to show off. The FIBA line was shorter. That shot was basically an NBA distance 3 with an extra half step. For him, it really was not far.
As the scrimmage continued, Chen Yan started to feel something else.
A quiet pressure.
The guards were competing with him.
He had just won a championship in the best league in the world. He had just taken Finals MVP. He walked into the gym carrying an aura that made people straighten their backs.
Some guys wanted to test it.
Some wanted to challenge it.
Some wanted to beat it.
The clearest example was Sun Dasheng.
Sun had the kind of natural athletic talent perimeter players envied. He had received an invitation from the Los Angeles Lakers last year and was preparing to chase the NBA this season. Deep down, he believed he could be bigger than Chen Yan if he only had the same stage.
Chen Yan understood that mindset. He did not take it personally.
If anything, he considered it normal.
And if the lesson needed to be taught, he was fine teaching it.
After an NBA playoff run, the intensity in this gym felt light.
During a fast break, Chen Yan grabbed the rebound, pushed from the backcourt, and went straight at the rim.
Time to sweat.
Sun Dasheng chased from behind. Chase down blocks were his calling card.
Chen Yan felt the footsteps. He did not panic. He just gathered and exploded.
Slam.
Chen Yan finished with a powerful dunk, and Sun could only arrive a beat late, stuck as the background in the highlight.
Even LeBron James had not been able to chase him down cleanly in the Finals.
Sun Dasheng was not doing it here.
Sun stayed stubborn. Next possession, he picked up Chen Yan full court, pressing tight.
That kind of defense might bother domestic guards.
Against Chen Yan, it was a gift.
The closer you crowd him, the easier it is to blow past you.
A step beyond the arc, Chen Yan stopped, then burst.
Then he yanked the ball back between his legs, sharp and sudden.
The stop and pullback wrecked Sun's footwork.
Sun tried to adjust his center of gravity, tried to recover.
Chen Yan snapped back into another burst.
Sun's feet tangled, his balance vanished, and he slid straight onto the floor.
The fall alone was humiliating.
What came next was worse.
As Sun went down, he reached out and grabbed Chen Yan's calf.
The assistant coach called timeout immediately.
That was not basketball.
Chen Yan only smiled, shook his head, and walked away.
If this were an NBA game, he might have responded with a little something extra.
Here, with the Olympics coming, he was not about to poison the locker room.
Jonas saw Sun losing control and subbed him out on the spot, protecting both Chen Yan and Sun.
Sun did not see it as protection.
He saw it as disrespect.
He started arguing with Jonas on the sideline, voice rising, frustration spilling out.
Then, in the middle of his anger, a deep voice cut through everything.
"If you walk out that door," Yao Ming said, calm but heavy, "I will make sure you don't play in the Olympics."
Sun Dasheng stopped.
He turned and looked at Yao.
The gym went quiet.
Sun hesitated by the doorway, pride wrestling with reality.
Then he came back.
After the scrimmage, Sun cooled down enough to apologize to Jonas and Chen Yan.
Some players were disciplined by nature.
Others needed a strong hand to keep their talent from turning into chaos.
Sun was that kind of player.
High ceiling, hot emotions.
In this national team, Yao Ming was the one who could hold the room together.
Yao's words did not just wake up Sun.
They reminded everyone that the Olympics were coming, and the only way forward was together.
…
After 2 days of practice, Chen Yan made his national team debut.
June 22, 7:30 PM.
China vs Lithuania.
It was a warm up game. The goal was simple, adapt to the rules, the court, the ball, and the rhythm.
Chen Yan played 25 minutes and posted 20 points, 5 assists, and 4 rebounds.
China won comfortably, 95 to 81.
Over the next month, the national team had 8 more warm up games scheduled.
For Chen Yan, it was training through games, building chemistry possession by possession.
Jonas kept minutes controlled. He did not push the starters too hard. Warm ups were for shaping form and testing lineups, not for revealing real tactics or draining legs before the main event.
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