NBA star Tristan Thompson misses $32B in Bitcoin by taking $82M contract in cash

NBA player and reality television personality Tristan Thompson signed an $82 million NBA contract in 2015… a dream deal at the time. But now that he’s become a Bitcoiner, he dreams of an alternate history where that money was paid via BTC.

“What I know now, I would have definitely pushed to get paid in Bitcoin,” Thompson tells Magazine.

“It’d be so much, I’d be laughing and kicking, being like ‘this is the best gamble in American sports history,’” the longtime crypto fanatic says.

On the day Thompson signed his $82 million contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers in October 2015, Bitcoin was trading at around $270. Had that money been paid in Bitcoin instead, it would be worth approximately $31.75 billion today. In fact, had he even used a small percentage of his fee to buy Bitcoin, he’d be a billionaire by now.

Just don’t tell Thompson the exact numbers. “I’ve never looked,” the 34-year-old laughs.

“I might be even more pissed after I calculate the numbers.”

Thompson, who is also known worldwide for his many appearances on Keeping Up With the Kardashians, says missing out on the Bitcoin deal stings even more because he was already interested in Bitcoin at the time.

“It was funny because during that same time, a good friend of mine from Toronto, we had a basketball group chat, and he was like, “Guys, buy Bitcoin.” This was when Bitcoin was 200 or something. It was pennies on a dollar,” Thompson laughs.

Thompson is not sure he could’ve handled Bitcoin’s ups and downs

But Thompson is also honest enough to admit he isn’t sure he would have been able to withstand Bitcoin’s volatility over the past ten years.

“Who knows if I took a contract in Bitcoin and then, when we had the bear market and when we had COVID-19 and everything plummeted, who knows?” he reflects.

“Would I have the education and knowledge to withstand that storm? Obviously, now the things I know and the knowledge and power that I’ve gained over the years, of course.”

“I think everything has its time,” Thompson says. Still, Bitcoin never dipped below $270 after the deal, so he wouldn’t have been worse off. Just nine months later, it had more than doubled to around $577, meaning his $82 million could’ve already turned into over $175 million [That’s enough rubbing salt in the wound – Ed]

Thompson, who still holds the Cavs’ record for most consecutive games played at 447, has been getting more hands-on with crypto in a professional way.

Thompson is trying to orange-pill the NBA

Over the past few years, several US athletes have taken all or part of their salary in Bitcoin. Thompson “gives a lot of credit” to his friend Odell Beckham Jr., an NFL player signed to the Los Angeles Rams, for opting to receive his salary of $750,000 in Bitcoin in 2021.

NBA stars Klay Thompson and Andre Iguodala also took portions of their salary in Bitcoin.

Thompson says he’s been doing his part to orange-pill other NBA players and get them into Bitcoin.

“What I always tell guys on my team, and maybe I’m just rambling a lot, but I just always tell guys on my team getting into crypto, the first thing you want to do is go to the OG, which is Bitcoin,” he says.

“Because the way that Bitcoin runs is a runaway; everything has to follow. It’s a head hunter,” he adds.

Thomson admits he is crypto-obsessed. “I’m like a guy in the trenches,” Thompson says.

“I’m on Crypto Twitter like degenning and looking everything up,” he laughs.

Why Thompson will never create a “celeb memecoin”

Thompson likens his outlook on crypto now to a lot like when he was first drafted into the NBA by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2011, at just 20 years old.

“The way I’m entering the space is no different than me being a rookie in the NBA; for me, it’s about being part of the ecosystem,” Thompson says.

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Given his profile and love for crypto, launching a celebrity memecoin might seem like the obvious next move, but he’s totally against it.

“I would never want to launch a Tristan Thompson token,” he says. “It always comes with a feeling like a dark cloud.”

Thompson is well aware that there are grifters in the crypto industry who’d love to cash in on his name.

“Whenever someone meets me, I already know if he’s just trying to make a token or drop a meme,” he laughs.

“One thing my mother always taught me is that fast money is not good money.”

“I think, unfortunately, too many athletes or celebrities have come into this space and extracted and taken away instead of learning and becoming a vessel or becoming an asset to help the space grow,” Thompson says.

Besides, Thompson doesn’t need the money. He might not be a Bitcoin billionaire, but he’s doing fine. “Not in an arrogant way, but I’ve made a lot of money, and I’ve done very well for myself in my playing career and off the court,” Thompson says.

That said, he’s all for trading memecoins and admits he was pretty frustrated he didn’t jump on US President Donald Trump’s memecoin TRUMP coin when it launched in January.

Thompson explains he was out having dinner with fellow NBA player Anthony Edwards when the Trump coin launched, and he regrettably missed the notification.

“The part I’m kicking my ass about the most is that a lot of these tokens were locked. Like 80% were locked, so even if people are getting out, like early dumpers, the charts are still going to be pretty healthy,” he says.