Chapter 172: Tragedy Maker — Hitting the Rookie Wall?
The day after the Pistons game, Detroit officially announced that Rodney Stuckey had suffered a fractured left ankle and would be sidelined for at least six to nine weeks.
It was the second major injury of his rookie season. First, he'd broken his hand in the preseason and missed two months. Then, in his very first game back, he broke his ankle.
The media quickly crowned him the second-unluckiest player of the 2007 draft class.
As for the unluckiest? That title still belonged to Greg Oden, the No. 1 overall pick. Barely after being drafted, Oden underwent microfracture knee surgery that wiped out his entire rookie season.
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Injuries are an inevitable part of sports.
How many promising stars have had their careers derailed by them?
How many players grind through nights of pain—taping ankles, injecting cortisone, forcing smiles?
Even after returning, most never regain their old rhythm immediately. Recovery is as much mental as it is physical.
Watching Stuckey's ankle twist in front of him left an impression on Chen Yan. That night, he quietly adjusted his Honor Points Plan. From now on, he'd save a few points for emergency recovery potions—just in case.
After all, staying healthy is the foundation of greatness.
From Wilt Chamberlain to Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James, every legendary career began with one thing—durability.
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January 8th. The Suns continued their road trip in Denver against the Nuggets.
The Pepsi Center—known among players as a "devil's arena"—wasn't just loud. Its 1,600-meter altitude made every breath feel heavier. No matter how well-conditioned you were, playing there felt like running in quicksand.
From tip-off to the final buzzer, it was a tight, physical battle.
Neither team managed to pull away, and the game was decided in the final two minutes.
The Nuggets edged out the Suns 103–100, snapping Phoenix's eight-game winning streak.
Chen Yan struggled, finishing with 20 points and 5 assists on 7-of-16 shooting. Both Stoudemire and Nash looked fatigued, failing to crack 20 points.
For Denver, Allen Iverson had 21 points and 7 assists, while Carmelo Anthony added 19 points and 6 rebounds—steady but not spectacular.
The real story came from the supporting cast.
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Off the bench, Kelenna Azubuike erupted for 23 points, leading the Suns in scoring. Grant Hill added 17, going a perfect 4-for-4 from deep.
But on the Nuggets' side, J.R. Smith went nuclear.
The streaky sharpshooter turned into a flamethrower—14-of-22 from the field, 4-of-7 from three, and 6-of-6 from the line for 38 points.
The fans joked that Smith must've activated a "Michael Jordan trial card."
In truth, players like J.R. are proof that in basketball, unpredictability is part of the chaos. You can guard stars—but when a hot-handed role player starts hitting everything, there's no defense for it.
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Early in the season, media critics labeled Chen Yan a "flash in the pan," convinced his early dominance was just luck.
But over time, that narrative faded. His performances became too consistent, too effortless. His averages didn't lie—this wasn't luck; it was the standard.
The loss didn't shake the Suns' confidence either. Every team, no matter how great, drops a few games during the grind of an 82-game season. What matters is the bounce back.
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January 10th. The Suns returned home and dominated the Sacramento Kings, winning 113–91.
The game was over by halftime.
The Kings only had three players in double figures—Ron Artest, Kevin Martin, and Brad Miller—with Martin leading the way at 21 points.
Both Artest and Martin were solid scorers, but without a true floor general after Mike Bibby's departure, their offense looked lifeless. No player on the roster even averaged five assists per game.
Without a playmaker or a true star, the Kings were dead weight in the Western Conference. Sitting at 11th, their playoff hopes were slim, and management was already eyeing a rebuild around Kevin Martin.
Rumors swirled that Artest and several veterans would be moved in the offseason.
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Chen Yan barely needed to play.
In just 25 minutes, he scored 17 points, and Coach D'Antoni benched him midway through the third quarter.
It was one of those games where even the bench unit could've closed it out.
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The Suns didn't slow down. The very next day, they hosted the Charlotte Bobcats on the second night of a back-to-back.
Even with tired legs, the Suns dominated wire-to-wire. The Bobcats, buried at the bottom of the standings, never stood a chance.
Phoenix won comfortably, 117–93, in front of their home crowd.
The Suns were rolling.
Against the Charlotte Bobcats, Phoenix looked like a well-oiled machine from start to finish.
Post-game stats:
Amar'e Stoudemire: 44 points, 11 rebounds
Steve Nash: 19 points, 11 assists
Chen Yan: 21 points, 10 assists
Boris Diaw: 10 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists
Raja Bell: 11 points
All five starters finished in double figures. Stoudemire, in particular, went nuclear—completely torching Emeka Okafor, who looked helpless trying to guard him.
Seeing Stoudemire's dominance, the rest of the Suns shifted their play around him. Chen Yan gave up several open looks of his own just to feed him the ball.
When Chen Yan's teammates were hot, he had no ego. He passed willingly, orchestrating the offense with surgical precision.
Meanwhile, the Bobcats struggled to keep up despite having four players in double figures. Their leading scorer, Jason Richardson, only managed 16 points. Without a true offensive star, they simply couldn't match the Suns' firepower.
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A few nights later, on January 12, the Suns hosted the Philadelphia 76ers—or as local fans jokingly called them, "The Digital Men."
Ever since Allen Iverson's departure, the Sixers had been searching for a true leader. Andre Iguodala had the tools—athleticism, defense, basketball IQ—but he lacked that alpha mentality. He was a perfect second option, not a franchise cornerstone.
Even when the entire system revolved around him, Iguodala's scoring plateaued below 20 points per game. He was too unselfish for his own good.
The result? A blowout.
Phoenix rained threes from every angle, shredding Philadelphia's defense in a 119–89 massacre. It was the fifth time this season the Suns had beaten a team by 30 points or more.
Afterward, the media gave them a new nickname: "The NBA's Tragedy Machine."
Because once the Suns started rolling, their opponents' nights ended in pure misery.
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The win over Philadelphia marked four straight victories for Phoenix.
By this point in the season, the team's chemistry had reached another level. The new additions—Kelenna Azubuike, Matt Barnes, and J.J. Barea—had all fully adjusted to the Suns' fast-paced, run-and-gun system.
Azubuike and Barnes, both former Warriors, fit seamlessly into the offense thanks to their familiarity with similar systems. Barea's agility and quickness allowed him to thrive as a spark plug off the bench.
Chen Yan's role had evolved too. He wasn't just scoring—he was controlling tempo, reading defenses, and setting up his teammates. His numbers dipped slightly, but his efficiency and comfort on the court had never been higher.
He was learning that sometimes, dominance didn't mean doing everything. It meant making everyone better.
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A week later, on January 19, Phoenix stumbled in a narrow 101–103 loss to the Atlanta Hawks.
It was one of those games every contender faces during the grind of an 82-game season—a mix of fatigue and missed opportunities.
But the Suns quickly bounced back, finishing the month strong with a 102–91 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.
Their final January record: 11 wins, 3 losses.
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Chen Yan's January averages:
22.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, 6.2 assists, and 1.9 steals per game.
With the team clicking, Chen no longer needed to carry the scoring load. Frequent early exits after the third quarter lowered his averages—but even then, he still led the entire NBA in scoring with 31.5 points per game.
Yet somehow, the media began to murmur.
"Has Chen Yan hit the rookie wall?" one headline asked.
It was absurd.
When he dropped 63 points in three quarters earlier in the season and had six straight 40-point games, he had set expectations unrealistically high. Fans now treated 30 points like "just another night."
50+? Incredible.
40+? Normal.
30+? Average.
20+? Time to panic.
Chen didn't bother responding.
"This isn't a video game," he muttered to reporters who pressed him. "Even Jordan and Kobe didn't put up 40 every night. I'm just doing what it takes to win."
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But his teammates had plenty to say.
Stoudemire was the first to fire back.
"I don't know what these reporters are thinking. You call 22-5-6 a rookie wall? What kind of wall stands that tall? Tear it down."
Raja Bell chimed in next.
"Some people clearly don't understand numbers. 22, 5, and 6? That's Rookie of the Year-level in any season."
Steve Nash was more composed but equally firm.
"Chen hasn't hit a wall. If anything, he's getting better. He's learned how to win with us, not just by himself."
Even Grant Hill joined in with a laugh.
"When I read those articles, I didn't even know how to respond. Are they judging him by Michael Jordan's prime standards now?"
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Elsewhere around the league, the rest of the 2007 rookie class could only shake their heads.
"They're calling that a rookie wall?" one muttered online. "Do they even remember we exist?"
For Chen Yan, it was business as usual.
He didn't need to prove anything to the media.
He just needed to keep winning.
And if that's what they called a "rookie wall"—then maybe the league had forgotten what greatness really looked like.
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