Hoop Dreams

Beijing fans of the NBA no longer need to feel disappointed that a series of exhibition games set to take place in mainland China and Macau next month will be skipping Beijing. As Beijingers now also have a chance to get a preview of the upcoming NBA season on September 14 when Yao Ming and the Chinese national team take on the Phoenix Suns’ star guard Steve Nash, Denver’s Carmelo Anthony, and this year’s number one draft pick Greg Oden of the Portland Trailblazers, along with a team of other NBA players to raise money for the Special Olympics, the China Hope Project and the Chi Heng Foundation which benefits Chinese orphans with AIDS.

Meanwhile, the original series of exhibition matches will see LeBron James and the rest of the Cleveland Cavaliers take on Orlando Magic in Shanghai on October 17 and in Macau on October 20. The Cavaliers will also play China's national team on October 18 in Macau.

The announcement was made on the heels of last week’s Team USA victory in the semifinals of the FIBA Americas tournament in Las Vegas, where the American team that included Carmelo Anthony, as well as NBA superstars Kobe Bryant (who will be in Beijing this week) and Lebron James, demolished Puerto Rico 135-91 to earn a spot in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The victory was also another step towards vindication for the Americans, who have not won a gold medal in its last three major events, the 2004 Olympics, and the 2002 and 2006 world championships.

Meanwhile a recent online poll in China posited the question of who will pose the biggest challenge to the favored Americans come 2008. Fifty-six percent of the respondents said that Argentina (who won the gold in 2004) would be America's biggest competitor, while twenty percent responded that Spain would pose the biggest challenge. Thirteen percent even believed that the Chinese Men’s National Basketball team would give the US a run for its money. Wishful thinking? Perhaps, but considering that the Chinese roster will include Yao Ming, Wang Zhizhi and Yi Jianlian, who by then will be very familiar with NBA play, don’t be surprised if the boys put at least a little pressure on the dream team in Beijing.

2007 Yao Ming and Steve Nash NBA Exhibition Charity Match
RMB 500-4,800. (Tickets available here)
7.30pm. Beijing Shougang Basketball Centre

Links and Sources:
ESPN: Steve Nash and Yao Ming, Making Something Happen
China Daily: Yao, NBA stars to play charity game for poor kids
tbjforum: Kobe Bryant to visit Beijing next month
Emma Tickets: 2007 Yao Ming and Nash Exhibition Game (image)
Emma Tickets: NBA China Games