Results tagged “lebronjames”

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."

With the Washington Wizards coming, and Lebron James' recent Shanghai stop on his world tour, it seems that pro-basketball stars can't seem to get enough of China (or Chinese publicity).

Forget about snapping up cheap U.S. real estate--Kenneth Huang and his cash-rich Chinese partners are about to make history and change the game for the Cleveland Cavaliers by purchasing a stake in the NBA franchise.

It's hard to name a global brand that has had smarter China marketing practices than Nike. The series of advertising shorts above, first posted on YouTube two years ago, features everyday Chinese who can't help but turn their day-to-day lives into athletic showcases. A flat round cracker in a university cafeteria becomes a discus; a pair of boys use a repairman's bucket as a basketball hoop; a young woman uses judo moves to take down her boyfriend and snatch a bouquet of flowers from him. The commercials have a raw look, like they could have been shot by amateurs. And they will ring true—and funny—to anyone who has spent time in China.

So Lebron James was the favourite of the fans at the NBA game in Shanghai the other day, but there was yet another unlikely fella that stole the show. Great excitement erupted among the audience when some of them thought they spotted the 24 year old star hurdler, but it turned out that he was just a lookalike. Nevertheless, that didn't stop people from asking to have their photographs with him. Apparently, this guy sounds like Liu Xiang too. You decide for yourself.

The massive NBA marketing machine rumbled through Shanghai last night in the first of three “China Games,” the latter two to be held in Macau beginning tonight. The pre-season game between the Orlando Magic and the Cleveland Cavaliers was held at the Qizhong Sports Stadium in the Min-hang district. Some observations:

The NBA is coming to Shanghai again on October 17. This time the Cleveland Cavaliers, fresh off the worst NBA Finals performance we have ever seen, take on the Orlando Magic. If meaningless preseason hoops is your thing, start booking tickets to Minhang District now. The game is being played way the hell out there at the Shanghai Qizhong Forest Sports City Tennis Center. And for those of you who remember the 2004 Shanghai clash between the Houston Rockets and Sacramento Kings (tickets for which started at US$12) you might be interested to know that tickets for the 2007 version start at US$105. Now, we know the dollar has gotten weaker ... but this seems like a greedy move for a sport and league that should be trying to appeal to the common man. (UPDATE: According to the seating chart, it looks like very few nose-bleed seats were priced at RMB 200, but maybe they are sold out.)

In the end, regardless of who ends up claiming to be the most culturally offended, Shanghaiist is just glad the Triple Whopper is not making its way to China (at least not yet). Obesity and diabetes are already both on the rise here, and we are not sure more meat patties are exactly what the doctor is prescribing.

Phillyist keeps it fresh by getting a new motto, learning to prioritize, and taking in an experimental indie rock show.

Why does an NBA player need a Chinese name, you ask? Well, for one thing, it might help him in his quest for world domination. And it appears LeBron James indeed has plans to dominate the world. Via ChinesePod we learned of this MSNBC story that talks about LeBron's "goal to become the first billionaire athlete" ... and his desire to be able to speak Mandarin in interviews at the Beijing Olympics. During the ongoing World Championships -- which we haven't mentioned lately because there hasn't been much to cheer about China-wise ... until today -- LeBron is reportedly holding private press conferences for the Chinese and Japanese press on days when Team USA is supposed to be unavailable to the media.

After we heard about this magazine, we figured we should pick up a copy just in case this magazine meets the same fate that as the Chinese Rolling Stone. Flipping through the articles, we see that the cover is Yao Ming and that the magazine, while having snippets of other stuff, is fairly basketball heavy this issue, no doubt because of the FIBA competition currently being held in Japan. Aside from pieces on Yao Ming and teammates Wang Zhizhi and Yi Jianlian, there are also pieces on Lebron James and the US basketball team.

Shanghaiist was going to post on news relating to the two million people in southwestern China without drinking water or Orville Schell’s review of John Pomfret’s new book, which asks ponderous questions relating to the ”basic blockage at the moral heart of China’s spectacular rise”. But we thought we’d concentrate on something different and more important today -- the possibility, remote yes, but a possibility nonetheless -- that the NBA could host regular season games in China. NBA Commissioner David Stern was in Guangzhou on Sunday and let everyone know how important the China market is to the NBA; and while he's no doubt right about that, we wonder how, logistically, they are going to have regular season games in China. Will it be the first games of the season? Or the last few games?

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:

Outspoken (and slightly above average) Cleveland Cavaliers guard Damon Jones made history this week, becoming the first active American NBA player to sign an endorsement deal with a Chinese sports apparel brand. Li Ning, one of China's leading sports brands, signed Jones to a two-year deal, details of which were not disclosed. Jones has worn Li Ning's "Feijia" sneakers for most of this season.

• A roller coaster ride attendant at the Shanghai Carnival was killed when he walked on the track and his coat got snagged, he got hit by the roller coaster, and fell off the highest point in the track. Actually, no one knows what the hell happened.
• Chinese beauty must have an oval face, willow-leaf shaped eye-brows and a mouth that curves upwards at the corners.The length of a woman's eyes should be 24 to 28 millimeters, with a distance of 35 millimeters between the two eyes. No, this isn't Shanghaiist's specifications, we're less picky (read: desperate). But this is what Beijing based Mirror newspaper said came from some International Cosmetics and Fashion week. Don't ask us, we just work here. Warning: this is not a joke, though Hitler might it find it funny.
• China has completed the world's highest railroad track, now connecting Golmud in Qinghai province to Lhasa, and is scheduled to go into operation July 2006. It goes through marshes, tundra, and the high plains, through some of the world's most inhospitable environments. They say the workers each carried 5 kg of oxygen on them whenever they worked in areas above 4600 m. OK, that's the basic info, and now we're going to talk shit about this railroad. First off, the article states that Western media have said that this railway could be compared to the Great Wall (被西方舆论称为“堪与长城媲美”). “媲美 （pi mei)" is an interesting use of words, because it implies that two things are of comparable use, goodness, or beauty. Shanghaiist cannot for the life of us figure out how in terms of aesthetic quality, railroad tracks in the tundra could possibly compare with the Great Wall. LeBron James isn't about to take his Nikes and digital camera out to Golmud any time in the near future. Secondly, the Great Wall was built thousands of years ago for the sake of protecting China, whereas this this railroad serves the more mundane purpose of increasing the logistical ease with which China can put down insurrection in Tibet and bring more Han settlers allowing more trade, tourists, etc. to flow from Tibet to Qinghai and beyond. If you don't believe us, take a look at the part where the article says: 寄托西藏人民千年梦想, which means this railroad has somehow fulfilled a thousand year dream of the Tibetan people, the dream that all the unwanted Han Chinese can take the train back to where they belong for greater connection with the motherland. (See also this Guardian story: The railway across the roof of the world.)

McDonald's has bowed to pressure, pulling from the airwaves in Shanghai and several other Chinese cities a televison advertisement the Chinese state media called "insulting." The ad featured a Chinese man kneeling before an electronics salesman, begging for a discount because his coupon had expired. No begging is necessary at McDonald's, the ad said, because coupons there are good for a year. (Danwei.org has the ad's translated script.)