Official NBA Thread

[coolbreeze]

Is this serious? I would say lebron might have something to say about that.. I am not a Lebron fan at all, but Yao was not half as influential as James has been lets be honest


Tap tap taparoo

100% serious! Because of yao basketball is now the number 1 sport in china and asia, thats the biggest market in the world right now. Kids in China play basketball cause they want to be like Yao, not like Lebron. Lebron has grown the game to be sure, but when it comes to growing the sport in the largest developing market in the world, there is no denying that Yao has been the biggest thing since the dream team took the NBA and basketball in general global. There is a great article on this that I am trying to find right now.

 

[TRyan]

Coolbreeze,

While Asia may be the biggest market there is no disputing that.. How many talented Asian players will we see in the next 10 years? Probably could count them on 1 hand. Lebron is keeping kids excited in America where the talent comes from.. Who would you rather watch play lebron and Kobe or Yao Ming? Let's be honest..


Tap tap taparoo

 

[coolbreeze]

Coolbreeze,

While Asia may be the biggest market there is no disputing that.. How many talented Asian players will we see in the next 10 years? Probably could count them on 1 hand. Lebron is keeping kids excited in America where the talent comes from.. Who would you rather watch play lebron and Kobe or Yao Ming? Let's be honest..

Tap tap taparoo

I say we see a TON of asian players in the next 10 years. Lebron isn't getting more young players to play basketball, its already the number 1 sport played by youth in North America and second in the world because it is cheap to play and everyone has access to free courts, plus its a great sport. Lebron is not making more young men play basketball, they may like him, but they are already playing ball. The chinese league is the second largest basketball league now and is paying some big money to players right now. I say in the next 10 years we are going to start seeing a lot of NBA franchises start to draft kids out of the chinise league. The argument of who would you rather watch play, LeBron, Kobe or Yao is kind of silly. Yao is one player who happens to be a 7' 6" center, of course he is not as exciting as 99% of the American born players, but what if the next Chinese superstar is 6'6" dunking machine who comes over here and is a really exciting player? There is a reason that the NBA is making a huge push into China, and why a lot of NBA players who are American have shoe deals with Chinese companies who don't sell shoes in North America, they are paying more money and selling a ton of shoes. America will always be a basketball power house, thats not really the issue!

 

[TRyan]

I think we will have to agree to disagree because I don't believe we will see hardly any asian players in basketball. Baseball is huge in china and we don't have many Asian born baseball players... Some sports are just mainly about a certain demographic. Baseball is one of the biggest sports in the US but less than 10% of players are African American.. It's just a Caucasian and latino sport. I feel basketball is a Caucasian and African American sport.


Tap tap taparoo

 

[SFCoach]

Definitely agree more with breeze on this one. Yao was absolutely huge for the popularity of the NBA and I think we'll see an influx of Asian basketball players in the next decade.

 

[coolbreeze]

I think we will have to agree to disagree because I don't believe we will see hardly any asian players in basketball. Baseball is huge in china and we don't have many Asian born baseball players... Some sports are just mainly about a certain demographic. Baseball is one of the biggest sports in the US but less than 10% of players are African American.. It's just a Caucasian and latino sport. I feel basketball is a Caucasian and African American sport.


Tap tap taparoo

Sorry man, but this is a very American point of view and while maybe true in the US (I'm not even sure about that) basketball is the number 2 most played sport in THE WORLD! Its played by everyone everywhere, mostly because like Soccer all you need to play is a ball, and something to make a goal or a basket out of. It is not a sport of colour but a sport of economics, everyone from the rich to the poor can play regardless of colour. By being the number 2 most played sport in the world means that it is played by EVERYONE, Asians, Europeans, African's, South Americans, North Americans, Australians, everyone! I've travelled the world quite a bit in my days, and I can tell you that wherever I go, I can find a basketball game to playing, and a professional league to watch.

 

[TRyan]

Sorry man, but this is a very American point of view and while maybe true in the US (I'm not even sure about that) basketball is the number 2 most played sport in THE WORLD! Its played by everyone everywhere, mostly because like Soccer all you need to play is a ball, and something to make a goal or a basket out of. It is not a sport of colour but a sport of economics, everyone from the rich to the poor can play regardless of colour. By being the number 2 most played sport in the world means that it is played by EVERYONE, Asians, Europeans, African's, South Americans, North Americans, Australians, everyone! I've travelled the world quite a bit in my days, and I can tell you that wherever I go, I can find a basketball game to playing, and a professional league to watch.

Im not trying to say professional basketball isn't big in Asia.. It is it's big a lot of places, but the US is far and above the other countries in talent.. Watch the Olympics. Soccer is played here in the US but we aren't on the same level as European countries. It's a fact. The NBA is the best professional basketball league and I would bet it's dominated by 90+% American born players


Tap tap taparoo

 

[coolbreeze]

Im not trying to say professional basketball isn't big in Asia.. It is it's big a lot of places, but the US is far and above the other countries in talent.. Watch the Olympics. Soccer is played here in the US but we aren't on the same level as European countries. It's a fact. The NBA is the best professional basketball league and I would bet it's dominated by 90+% American born players


Tap tap taparoo

I've never claimed that it wasn't, thats not what we were talking about. Yes the NBA is 90% American, but that other 10% is European players that started playing because of the dream team. Another 10 years from now we will be seeing another 10% from other countries from around the world, and it will be 80% American born players and 20% from the rest of the world. America is a basketball power house and will be for a long long long time, thats not the point. I'm just saying from our original point that Yao grew the game in a huge way in Asia.

 

[TRyan]

I've never claimed that it wasn't, thats not what we were talking about. Yes the NBA is 90% American, but that other 10% is European players that started playing because of the dream team. Another 10 years from now we will be seeing another 10% from other countries from around the world, and it will be 80% American born players and 20% from the rest of the world. America is a basketball power house and will be for a long long long time, thats not the point. I'm just saying from our original point that Yao grew the game in a huge way in Asia.

I agree and my point from the beginning was it was a shame he didn't live up to his potential. Injury or not his hype far outshined what he did in the NBA and that was my point.


Tap tap taparoo

 

[hartattack52]

100% serious! Because of yao basketball is now the number 1 sport in china and asia, thats the biggest market in the world right now. Kids in China play basketball cause they want to be like Yao, not like Lebron. Lebron has grown the game to be sure, but when it comes to growing the sport in the largest developing market in the world, there is no denying that Yao has been the biggest thing since the dream team took the NBA and basketball in general global. There is a great article on this that I am trying to find right now.

Just came across this, but the Chinese players do not want to be like Yao. I have been to China, and Kobe and Lebron are even bigger over their than they are over here. The Chinese kids like winning. I would say 95% of the kids their were Laker and Cavs fans...probably heat fans now. Yao did not influence the Chinese into basketball. The NBA superstars like Lebron and Kobe did. I saw tons of Lebron posters in malls and shoe stores, but not a single Yao poster. I also saw tons of Chinese kids with Lebron and Kobe shoes. Those are the players they idolize.

 

[TRyan]

Just came across this, but the Chinese players do not want to be like Yao. I have been to China, and Kobe and Lebron are even bigger over their than they are over here. The Chinese kids like winning. I would say 95% of the kids their were Laker and Cavs fans...probably heat fans now. Yao did not influence the Chinese into basketball. The NBA superstars like Lebron and Kobe did. I saw tons of Lebron posters in malls and shoe stores, but not a single Yao poster. I also saw tons of Chinese kids with Lebron and Kobe shoes. Those are the players they idolize.

My point exactly. They have made a much bigger impact in basketball than Yao


Tap tap taparoo