"State-owned enterprises should take the starring role, like Kobe does for the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA. By using only substitutes rather than using Kobe, the Lakers would not be able to win the game; by relying only on private enterprises, China simply cannot be competitive in the global marketplace." more ›

@Eayon-梁奕聪: Your little sister's NBA labor talks broke down, with an official announcement of the regular season shutting down (crying emoticon). How are people going to live? (angry emoticon). more ›

The Chinese Basketball Association formally decided to drop the ban-hammer on the possibility of Kobe, Dwight Howard and a slew of other locked-out NBA players playing in China during the upcoming CBA season beginning in November. The CBA concluded after meeting in Shenzhen that only free agents currently not under contract with any NBA team can participate in the upcoming season. more ›

Because nobody under 30 in China watches TV anymore, we thought we'd point you towards this new and rather aesthetically pleasing little montage of athletic behaviors from the corporate monolith good people at Nike. more ›

With the recent NBA lockout still happening, there have been some pretty loud noises from key players across the league about playing overseas if the lockout persists. This time it’s not Europe they are talking about, but China. more ›

If there's ever a need for a Chinese neologism to express a frustrating state of affairs that doesn't meet expectations, we'd put forth Yao Ming's Left Foot (姚明左脚, as in '这个聚会太姚明左脚了') as our suggestion. The foot, who's status and health hundreds of millions of Chinese basketball devotees had clung to for years, will no longer be taking the shocks and pivots of a 7 foot 6 and 310 pound (141kg and 229cm) frame: Yao is reportedly retiring. The weight of an entire nation won't burden his metatarsals and phalanges anymore. more ›

The NBA is touching down in China this weekend, with the Indiana Pacers and Denver Nuggets playing a preseason game in Beijing. Ahead of the game, the league issued a press release that it decided to call "Bryant's jersey remains top seller in China." more ›

With China's tech industry becoming increasingly sophisticated and profitable, it comes as no surprise that the powers that be have pulled out all the stops to jump start the industry. This weekend, the city of Hangzhou hosted a forum for small and medium businesses, featuring heavyweight speakers such as former U.S. president Bill Clinton and executives from Lenovo and Alibaba, two of China's most successful IT companies. But who stole the day? None other than Basketball legend cum technology expert Kobe Bryant. The Lakers star gave businessmen tips on how to succeed using his inspirational "basketball stories are just like life" gospel. Best of all, the crowd gave a roaring ovation when he gave Jack Ma, the CEO of Alibaba, an oversized pair of sneakers. We guess nothing says "reach farther, jump higher" better than a fresh pair of Nikes. Photo: Daylife more ›

With the iPhone coming to China in September (fingers crossed), maybe it's time to start checking out all the cool new iphone apps you can download... like this one, entitled "Kobe's New Identity." What? more ›

• Rockets could lose Yao for season or more [Yahoo! Sports] "As the NBA draft approached, the grim truth about Yao Ming’s(notes) broken left foot hung like an anvil over the Houston Rockets. The fear isn’t that he’s just lost for next season, but longer. The Rockets and Yao’s reps are frightened over his future, and the concern is the most base of all: Does Yao Ming ever play again?"
• Kobe Bryant Conquers China [WSJ] "One of the great curiosities in modern sports is the Chinese people’s lavish affection for Kobe Bryant. During last year’s Beijing Olympics, he was greeted with a rapturous reception and mobbed everywhere he went. He appears in commercials and on billboards, has a popular Web site and had a reality show on Chinese television. He sells more NBA jerseys there than Yao Ming. On Tuesday in Los Angeles, the love affair will reach a new level. Not only is Mr. Bryant accepting an award from the Asia Society for his work as a “cultural ambassador,” the ceremony will be attended by Liu Peng, China’s Secretary of Sport and a member of China’s Communist Party Central Committee."
• The strange, underground world of Chinese counterfeit cigarettes [Slate Magazine] "Ringed by thickly forested mountains, illicit cigarette factories dot the countryside, carved deeply into caves, high into the hills, and even buried beneath the earth. By one tally, some 200 operations are hidden in Yunxiao, a southwestern Fujian county about twice the area of New York City. Over the last 10 years, production of counterfeit cigarettes has soared in China, jumping eightfold since 1997 to an unprecedented 400 billion cigarettes a year—enough to supply every U.S. smoker with 460 packs a year. Once famed for its bright yellow loquat fruit, Yunxiao is the trade's heartland, the source of half of China's counterfeit production."

more ›

Despite getting docked 10 points by Xinhua (the state-run news agency is reporting a score of 79-68), the U.S. Olympic basketball team cruised past Russia in the team's first defensive struggle leading up to the Beijing Games. Kobe Bryant led the U.S. with 19 points, much to the delight of the crowd at Qizhong Tennis Center in Pudong. The AP reports: "The sellout crowd of 14,523 at this arena built for tennis clearly favored the U.S. team, and Bryant clearly was the fans' favorite. Besides the familiar 'MVP!' chants, fans booed when he was called for an offensive foul in the second quarter, and generally oohed and aahed whenever he squared up to take a shot." Team USA plays Australia at 8 pm on Tuesday, also at Qizhong. Tickets appear to be available, starting at RMB 500 a pop. more ›

The Chinese may stuff the All-Star ballot box for Yao Ming, but they would rather wear his teammate's jersey. When asked about his popularity in China, Houston Rockets guard Tracy McGrady said he wasn't surprised at all. "I've got a lot of love over there in China," he said. More love than the most famous Chinese player ever. Yao's jersey ranks No. 3. Here is the Top Ten: more ›