Philadelphia 76ers: Jonah Bolden has transitioned nicely into post-NBA life

The Philadelphia 76ers could really use a player like Jonah Bolden right about now.

The 36th overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, Bolden made his bones in limited Association action as a stretch four/small-ball five capable of making plays under the basket, disrupting passes/shots like a super-sized Matisse Thybulle, and most importantly of all, knocking down open shots from beyond the arc.

Though he only earned 20-plus minutes in 10 of his 48 career games with the Sixers – all of which came during his rookie season – Bolden unquestionably flashed potential as a viable bench big man capable of playing alongside Joel Embiid at the four or kicked inside to play center alongside his fellow countryman – and 2017 draftee – Ben Simmons.

And then… nothing.

After racking up 10 DNPs and 38 inactives through the first 53 games of the 2019-20 season, Bolden was waived by new GM Elton Brand to make room for Norvel Pelle’s full-on NBA contract, and after a single 10-day contract with the Phoenix Suns, Bolden’s NBA career was seemingly over. Fast forward to the two-thirds point of the 2020-21 season, and Bolden has faded into the memories of post-Process Philadelphia 76ers basketball, only occasionally popping up on Twitter to comment on players taking his number.

But hey, it’s cool; it looks like Jonah Bolden has transitioned nicely into post-basketball life and may never again have to grace an NBA court to make his bread. Why? Two words: Venture capitalism.

The Philadelphia 76ers may have an in in the blockchain space.

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Jonah Bolden has been involved with cryptocurrency, blockchain, and decentralized investment since 2015 when he started “Bolden Ventures,” just as cryptocurrency started to generate mainstream buzz.

While largely maintaining a low profile on social media, Bolden has been working to amass a team of investors and software developers/engineers to build up his firm into something notable and has made quite the name for himself in the financial field by doing so.

The firm focuses largely on a decentralized investment approach, using blockchain to bypass traditional financial intermediaries and systems and allow direct financial transactions for the user.

According to his LinkedIn, Bolden has made the firm his primary focus since the start of 2020 and has continued to grow in the field ever since. Most recently, “Bolden Ventures” has added a professional athlete-focused digital assets management subsidiary focused on bringing other athletes into this brave new world of investment.

In Layman’s terms: Bolden got into blockchain at the right time, formed a team of like-minded thinkers, and is now riding the wave to notable success in the field of private equity investment – even focusing on bringing other athletes into the craze.

In a world where Top Shot NFTs are selling for six, sometimes even seven figures, Bolden’s foresight to get into the digital currency early, back when he was hooping in Westwood for his first and only season at UCLA now looks incredibly insightful, especially since he could invest some of that sweet, sweet NBA money into building his now promising entrepreneurship venture.

Sidebar: The movie Dope, which often gets praised for having a Bitcoin subplot well before it was selling for $49,000 each, also came out in 2015. Coincidence, or did Bolden capitalize on screenwriter/director Rick Famuyiwa‘s sage-like device to get rich?

Next. Matisse Thybulle needs to be seen to be believed. dark

While the world of professional basketball will surely remain a viable option for the foreseeable future, as you can’t teach being 6-foot-8 and players like Anthony Tolliver remain employed well into their mid-30s, something tells me Jonah Bolden shouldn’t be too focused on backup plans at the moment, as he seems to have settled into an auspicious career a half-decade into the making. How many other NBA players can say that?