Jeremy Lin has prematurely stopped his tour of China in order to fly back to the USA where he was traded to the LA Lakers, reports ESPN.
According to a source, the Houston Rockets have agreed to trade Lin and a first-round draft pick to the LA Lakers. The move comes as several trade rumors have swirled around Lin.
Lin apologized to his fans for cancelling the tour and having to return to the US to “take care of some business” on his Weibo account, but promised to come back soon. He seemed to earn quite a bit of sympathy, judging by the comments:
我是丨Sam_Rojim罗振星： Welcome to the LA Lakers!
取个名字真叫什么好啊： Are you going to blow out the Rockets?
Mr-Johnson-： Fine then, I can become a Lakers fan then.
深巷遗下旧故人： Will you understand if I speak in Chinese? “Lin, in getting rid of the Rockets, I wish you good luck.”
AD_Bai： Jiayou! (Pump up! Let’s go!)
笑起来漂亮的小姑娘： If there’s any way, can you send me a pair of running shoes?
沐_年： (We want you to know) we understand.
海之澜dream： The big show at the Lakers, congratulations!
小帕帕： You can change your (Weibo) avatar now.
眉穿凶兆噢： With the Lakers, you should be happy. [sadface.emo] (This comment received 67 upvotes)
Xavier渣沫： Learn well from (LA point guard Steve) Nash!!
Lin’s tour had stops planned in Guangzhou and Dongguan, the latter being where Lin had played a few games with the Dongguan Leopards in 2011. It’s also where Lin has aspirations to open a basketball school.
Hey, PRD: Are you ready to go Lin-sane? Taiwanese-American basketball sensation Jeremy Lin will soon be coming to Guangzhou and Dongguan as part of his week-long China tour, reportsChina Post.
Lin announced his arrival in China yesterday on his Weibo account.
Dongguan serves as a homecoming of sorts for Lin, who played a few games with the Dongguan Leopards in 2011. He also returned to the city in 2012 to give a four-day basketball training camp as a precursor to the opening of a fully-fledged basketball school in the city.
Lin begins his ten-day tour of China in Beijing, with other stops scheduled in Wuhan and Shanghai. The Houston Rockets point guard will then travel to Taiwan for a week-long stay starting on July 16.
The China tour takes place at a time when trade rumors have been especially strong concerning Lin. The Milwaukee Bucks and the Philadelphia 76ers are reported to be trying to court Lin while the Houston Rockets have openly tried to enlist the services of Anthony Carmelo.
As per his signed contract, Lin is to be paid $15 million to play for the Houston Rockets next season.
A police raid upon several Shenzhen establishments has resulted in the arrest of 69 people in various prostitution-related crimes, reportsPeople’s Daily Online.
After receiving complaints from local residents, several Longhua District brothels masquerading as foot massage treatment centers, leisure clubs, or night clubs were raided by Shenzhen police during the early morning hours of May 19. There were so many people arrested they filled a basketball court.
Many of these sex workers are described as originally coming from Dongguan. They apparently went to nearby Shenzhen when a well-publicized prostitution crackdown occurred back in February. Police say the first half of this year has seen a continuous flow of sex workers from Dongguan entering Shenzhen.
The common explanation for why people in a musical suddenly burst out in song is because that’s the only way they properly express themselves. When mere words fail you, sing them aloud.
Dongguan has been reeling from its prostitution crackdown. Besides suffering from huge economic losses and a mass exodus of people, Dongguan has been maligned with a loss of face from having been crowned “China’s sex capital”. While Dongguan’s mayor has responded to the scandal by being flabbergasted, Dongguan city youth have been more eloquent by putting their feelings into a song. Watch here, and sing along with the translated lyrics written below:
I Love Dongguan
Get up, morning calisthenics, the sweet aroma of cake wafts in from the street stalls below Get off from work early, the beautiful sky perfectly complements going for a walk If you’ve never walked upon the ground of this happy place, then we ask you respectfully, how can you denounce it? Blinded to this point, how do we make this right?
Even though many have only learned about Dongguan out of context from the media Respectfully speaking, there is too much emphasis upon the actions of a few The future of an famous emerging manufacturing city awaits you to listen to what we have to say
For the righteous name of Dongguan, the basketball team will earnestly work hard You say there are substantial problems, but you won’t listen to us For the righteous name of Dongguan, mistakes have been corrected Can our explanation be heard?
For the righteous name of Dongguan, a prosperous city imbued with vision Here, millions of people are capable enough to achieve goals through different means For the righteous name of Dongguan, the entire city will unite to bring about its worth Listen to us again
Keyuan, Tanwu, Humen and Xiaoyan are all places that you are familiar with Tasks performed with precision, this is the only place in which digital products are made Respectfully speaking, why is it that within the same country, you are only interested in the same point? This is completely misleading, so let’s change the topic
I love you, Donguan, I will not leave or abandon you Making a living depends upon my own two hands, struggle is what supports this place I love you Dongguan, let’s tear away the stereotypes that label us Together as one
I love you, Dongguan, the vision of the city is on hold Millions of football fans believe that they will carry the championship back home I love you, Dongguan, our voices are here and will not cry tears again
Once there was a problem, but you’re saying that it’s dead in the ground But with both hands raised up high, there no need to tremble anymore Let’s look at this squarely and not be scared of the ugly truth We won’t stop our pace forward, hand in hand
Beijing recently employed the same tactic recently when a spate of bad smog would serve to galvanize the city in producing the lip-sync video “Happy in Beijing“. However, that video featured shaking hips and extroverted individualism that isn’t the message in this case.
For a power ballad in the vein of “We Are the World”, we are nonetheless surprised not to see a rap breakdown in the middle in which an MC differentiates regional Chinese differences by outlining what the local delicacies are as had happened in many “Gangam Style” tribute videos.
Kobe Bryant’s appearance in Shenzhen last weekend recalled Beatlemania as fanatics filled the streets of Luohu District, stretching the city’s security resources and climbing onto any object available to get a glimpse of their idol.
Watch this grown man cry as he describes the experience of seeing Kobe from a distance:
His words translate as: “After seeing Kobe I was overcome with excitement. I couldn’t stop crying. I kept crying.”
Below are some images from Sina Weibo of the chaos around the Nike store in Dongmen where Kobe appeared:
One fan managed to climb up a lamp post
Others thought this police car would be a better move
All but a few had to settle for seeing him on a big screen
It looks like two of basketball’s biggest stars are coming to the Pearl River Delta.
Lebron James is expected to be in Guangzhou on July 24 and 25, while Kobe Bryant is scheduled to be in Shenzhen on August 4, according to a media report. Still, Nike has not confirmed the appearances yet, so take this with a grain of salt.
The timetable, above, in Chinese, shows the schedule of basketballers who are in China for summer tours sponsored by Nike. They are to appear in Nike stores and plug new Nike products.
Kobe’s Shenzhen appearance is set for the Nike store in Shenzhen’s Dongmen area. It is located on the first floor of the Sunon Hotel (55 Jiefang Road, +86 755 8222 2986). The exact time and ticket details have yet to emerge.
We will also bring you the exact time and location of James’ Guangzhou appearance, scheduled for July 24 and 25 (next Wednesday and Thursday) as soon as Nike announces them.
As can be seen by the statue of Kobe Bryant that stands in Guangzhou, NBA stars are idolised throughout China. But Nike isn’t giving the Chinese public a glimpse of their heroes simply out of the goodness of their heart.
The company is highly dependent upon the China market. As Marketwatch puts it:
China accounts for about $2.5 billion, or 10%, of Nike’s total sales. In comparison, its sales in North America topped $10 billion last year. However, Svezia estimated China represents a quarter of Nike’s earnings before interest and tax, making it a more profitable market than North America.
“China is extremely important for Nike,” he said. “It’s extremely profitable.”
To drum up demand, basketball stars Lebron James and Kevin Durant, both endorsed by Nike, will be touring China this summer.
Asian basketball heartthrob and Houston Rocket Jeremy Lin has returned to his motherland (kind of, as he’s originally from Taiwan) to teach basketball to Chinese youth. Lin is currently in Dongguan for a 4-day basketball camp, and he’s naturally been swarmed by reporters from the Mainland, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
Lin played a few games for the Dongguan Leopards in the CBA last year, so he has a soft-spot for the city. His short stint in Dongguan resulted in him wanting to give back to the community by opening a basketball school.
Dongguan is actually the site of an official NBA training centre, and that’s where Lin is giving his 4-day course. He arrived on the weekend, and was greeted by throngs of fans at the airport asking him about everything from basketball to his love of Chinese food.
Lin will head for his native Taiwan after his stay in Dongguan, where he’ll teach more basketball to starry-eyed hopefuls.
While most of the talk in the basketball world of late has focused on the end of the NBA lockout, some local press coverage has focused on a new facility which has opened in Dongguan.
The NBA has teamed up with the CBA (Chinese Basketball Association) to open an elite-level training facility geared towards developing future NBA players. This, from Xinhua:
The construction of the state-of-the-art facility had been completed in June and 77 students were currently enrolled in the school’s first semester.
NBA official said that the basketball school was a pioneering facility aiming to develop basketball players in grades 7-12 (12-17 years old) in China.
“Youth basketball development is a primary focus of NBA China and the CBA. The opening of this facility represents a big step forward in our efforts to provide current and future generations of basketball players the resources they need to succeed,” said NBA China CEO David Shoemaker.
NBA official said the CBA Dongguan Basketball School was responsible for operating the school, while the NBA was providing an NBA-designed basketball training curriculum and operations manual.
There’s little doubt that China could potentially be a huge wellspring of basketball talent for the NBA in future years. The school opened on November 18 and will feature regular visits from both NBA coaches and players.
If you’ve been poking around the Interwebs today in China, you are likely aware that a supposed “goodwill” game between the traveling Georgetown Hoyas and the Bayi Rockets unraveled quickly last night. With the score tied at 64-64, a Bayi player was called for a foul on a Georgetown player. Then, the already heated match came to a full boil.
If you aren’t using a VPN, you can watch the video on Tudou here. Time does a nice little summary:
What’s clear from the video is that, at one point, a Chinese player is seen repeatedly punching one of the Georgetown players. The Chinese players wielded chairs, and one Georgetown player reportedly had one thrown at him. According to the Post, a Georgetown player walked on the court with a chair, but the team said he did so in self-defense. After Georgetown coach John Thompson III ordered his team to leave the floor with nine and a half minutes to go in the game, the crowd threw plastic bottles at the team.
But there’s also a picture of a Georgetown player making a fist where he could be trying to make peace. There’s one of another player clutching the face of a Chinese player.
The bottom line is that none of this looks good, for either side. Even if it’s determined that Georgetown was acting almost entirely in self-defense, being known as “that team that fought in China” to casual fans won’t help the school, or the team.
There are many angles to this story, one being that the brawl happened during a visit by US Vice President Joe Biden to China (he was not at this game, but watched the previous Georgetown game in Beijing live). The second angle is this kind of thuggery is becoming all-too-common at Chinese sporting events (see here, here, and here). The third angle, if you poke around some stories online, you’ll find many believe two brawling basketball teams from China and the United States are symbolic of a much larger, much more complicated relationship between the two countries. But we don’t want to overstate it.
Despite the mess, Georgetown tweeted this morning that they are looking forward to their next match in Shanghai. One would expect both teams to be on their best behaviour.
Jeremy Lin has prematurely stopped his tour of China in order to fly back to the USA where he was traded to the LA Lakers, reports ESPN.
