Not Content Just to Watch, Chinese Also Love to Play

2008/08/07 18:24:03 @NBA.com: News

In the SEATTLE TIMES, Steve Kelley writes "even in the middle of another thick, hot, smoggy day in Beijing, scores of teenagers emerge from the subways, just like the kids in New York do, and pour onto basketball courts on one of the busiest street corners in the city. They will pay about $2 for the opportunity to spend the afternoon dribbling basketballs and baking in the intense summer heat. Sports are exploding in China. There is evidence of it all over Beijing. As China becomes one of the world's great athletic nations, the trickle-down effect is palpable. It isn't so much that everybody wants to be NBA star Yao Ming or diver Guo Jingjing. They just want a little of that same rush of competition, a little bit of that feeling of accomplishment. 'In the capital city there are more people playing basketball, so we came here to play against better players,' Said 15-year old Wang Xiao Gieng. 'We love the game. We watch the NBA. The NBA has been very welcoming to China.”
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