Ex-Wildcats Andre Iguodala and Aaron Gordon are staying relevant in the world of investing, as they are Top Investors in NBA Top Shot through Dapper.
These days cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology are hot commodities for investors and are recently gaining steam in gaming and digital content trading. The profitable trend is not lost on at least two former Arizona Basketball players Aaron Gordon and Andre Iguodala.
Partnering with fellow NBA players JaVale McGee and Spencer Dinwiddie, the four NBA Players (two former NBA Champions) have invested in Dapper Labs (an NBA league licensing partner) that sells digital collectibles through NBA Top Shot. Follow all that?
You may not immediately recognize the company’s name, Dapper Labs, but if you have recently purchased a pack of digital NBA moments (much like a pack of trading cards) on NBA Top Shot, you may be familiar with the website.
Arizona Wildcats Basketball
The reason? Because you cannot buy a pack on NBA Top Shot without depositing funds on the Dapper platform. Dapper Labs uses Flow blockchain which allows for Ethereum cryptocurrency wallets (like a bank account). They also have their own cryptocurrency, the FLOW token.
So what is Flow blockchain you ask? On Dapper’s website, OnFlow.org, they define their offering which can handle billions of global customers as follows:
"Flow is a fast, decentralized, and developer-friendly blockchain, designed as the foundation for a new generation of games, apps, and the digital assets that power them.Flow was designed for mainstream consumers, with payment onramps catalyzing a safe and low-friction path from fiat to crypto.FLOW [token] is the native currency for apps, games, and smart contracts built on top of the Flow blockchain"
In other words, Flow blockchain was designed to, “Support games and consumer applications” that are easy to develop and scale.
On OnFlow.org Iguodala explains why he has invested in Dapper Labs and what potential Flow blockchain success is possible in the future:
"“Blockchain technology has the potential to revolutionize consumer ownership on the internet. Projects like Dapper Labs’ Flow is already driving consumer adoption, with NBA Top Shot proving the experience is not only engaging but smooth and fan-friendly.”Andre Iguodala, NBA Miami Heat"
Back to NBA Top Shot. NBA Top shot last week “dropped” a $99 pack, which caused issues for the website because so many people wanted in on the purchase of the mystery pack of NBA digital plays by different players. It is a crapshoot, you have no idea what you will get.
I deposited my $100 into my Dapper wallet to buy the pack but lost out. NBA players, such as Harrison Barnes, started to promote NBA Top Shots on social media and the word got out amongst gamers. According to Sportico, “More than 200,000 people entered a recent Top Shot release, and the resale marketplace has seen more than $300 million in sales.”
There was a hiccup though, they announced through email, on their website, and on their discord channel that the drop was going to happen at noon last Friday. But because of the huge response, both the Dapper wallet and the website sign-ups slowed to a crawl. The company warned that no more people could sign up and they would drop the pack the following day. After a delay, they implemented a pre-sale, that was on mostly a first come first serve basis.
Just today, NBA Top Shot dropped a “common” pack called “Seeing Stars” and it sold out quickly, the next drop was at 5 pm this Friday. I just bought a pack and maybe, just maybe I will be able to buy one. I am in line, we will see. I got this message:
"Hello, fam! Welcome to the waiting room. When we start the queue, you’ll be randomly assigned a spot. It may take 1-2 mins to get your spot in line, this is expected.Only 61,086 Packs are available at this time.Number of users in line ahead of you: 111242"
So roughly 50,000 people need to pass on buying the pack for me to be able to have a chance.
Wow, this is difficult and requires diligence and attention. Still, a few minutes later, there are 95758 people ahead of me. There is no guarantee, if I do get to buy a pack, that LeBron or better yet, Kobe Bryant or any NBA Allstar will be included, you get three chances. If I was to strike gold, it could be worth thousands of dollars. Top Shot has a marketplace for resale of digital content where a Ja Morant Dunk is going for $240,000 – $250,000.
Are your eyes wide open now?
The relationship between the NBA and blockchain is also on the rise. The NBA created a committee to advise NBA leadership. Committee members include billionaire owners Vivek Ranadive (Kings), Joe Tsai (Nets), and Mark Cuban (Mavericks) according to people familiar with the plans who spoke to Sportico. That said, Cuban did comment on the committee:
"“It has very little to do with Top Shot,” Cuban said in an email. “It’s about blockchain applications, of which Flow is just one option.”"
NBA teams are now including accepting cryptocurrencies during games. The organization also works closely with the gaming and betting industries. The Sacramento Kings (Luke Waltons team) accepts Bitcoin.
Seems Iggy and Aaron have made a slam dunk with their investment. I just hope I land either a play with a former Wildcat or even better, a play worth a quarter-million dollars. By the way, there are still 84,300 buyers ahead of me in line.