Sports Big Business No. 2693, welcome to pay attention to the leading sports industry information platform
Wen |Fu Zhenghao
Sports big business reporter
It's the start of another year for the NBA. As the world's most ornamental basketball feast, some of the NBA's season progress is like Taishan's steps, accompanied by the deepening of the schedule to make people gradually enter a better state, and some seasons are like Qiantang watching the tide, the waves have not yet reached the sound of the sky, let people ignite adrenaline in advance, and the whole season is in a state of excitement. The 2021-22 NBA league falls into the latter category. The season has not yet begun, but the enthusiasm of basketball fans around the world has been ignited, and they are ready to witness history in advance. It's all because the NBA will celebrate its 75th anniversary in the new season and select the 75 greatest basketball stars in NBA history.
History is long and passed down from generation to generation. From the 1946-47 season, the US regional basketball league BAA, which had clubs going bankrupt at any time, to today's basketball business empire with the strongest gold absorption ability and unparalleled comprehensive influence in the world, the NBA has been full of ups and downs in the past 75 years, leaving too many classic milestone moments. Therefore, on the occasion of the 75th anniversary, it is time to systematically summarize the history of the NBA, and one of the activities that attracted the attention of the outside world is to select the 75 greatest superstars in history, which will be another historical event after the 1996-97 NBA selected the top 50 superstars on the 50th anniversary. The NBA has a generation of talented people, and the star Toshihiko in the 75 years is like the sand of the Ganges, what legends can win this supreme honor?
A few days ago, the NBA's official 75th anniversary promotional film "NBA Alley" was released in advance to ignite the enthusiasm of fans eager to witness history. This 2 minutes and 48 seconds short film is really star-studded and full of Easter eggs, with more than 30 legendary celebrities and active stars appearing, the classic scene is like yesterday's reappearance, making people laugh and sometimes feel warm, and when Booker, who is regarded as "Kobe's disciple", pays tribute in front of Kobe's graffiti wall, it makes people's eyes wet. The media also dug up 26 Easter eggs that people relished and had endless memories, which made people dizzy, afraid of missing the explosive stem in the blink of an eye.
After "NBA Alley" was tireless to watch and word of mouth exploded, the NBA released the 75th anniversary promotional film "The Power of Basketball" for Chinese fans on October 12, with a total length of only 2 minutes and 29 seconds but the ingenious story line made Chinese fans feel full of sincerity. If "NBA Alley" with big names and continuous Easter eggs is a Hollywood blockbuster with a vigorous plot and explosive everywhere, then "The Power of Basketball", which has another way to take the dream story of Chinese grassroots players as the main line, is a Chinese literary and art film that is eloquent and silent. Moreover, the film also has a variety of warm and touching details of the Easter egg, many scenes are derived from Chinese basketball teenagers in Jr. NBA League, NBA 3X Three-Person Basketball Challenge, NBA Care Action event scene, every age group of Chinese people can see their own shadow from the grassroots players in the film.
Considering the well-known objective status quo, "The Power of Basketball" does not highlight the hot scenes and enthusiastic NBA fan groups in previous NBA China games, and in terms of guest appearances, it is only interspersed with the game pictures of Chinese stars who have played in the NBA and WNBA. The short film shows more of the love of Chinese teenagers and grassroots players for basketball and the tribute to the classic actions of NBA idols, but it reflects the silent efforts and hard work of the NBA in helping China promote basketball culture, cultivate the Chinese basketball population, help Chinese teenagers realize their dreams, and spread Chinese culture to the world for four decades. A short film that covers many classic moments of Chinese people's memories of the NBA, and the NBA's Chinese love affair for more than 40 years is condensed here, which makes people can't help but look at the past, the thoughts are flying, and it is difficult for themselves to feel themselves.
Before the official opening of the NBA League's 75th anniversary, a season destined to go down in history, the NBA not only provided Chinese fans with this sincere promotional video, but also continued to support the dream of Chinese basketball teenagers: On October 17, at the "Diplomatic Help • Building Dreams yunnan: Malipo Daping Middle School Stadium Donation Ceremony" sponsored by the China Public Diplomacy Association, the NBA built two brand-new basketball courts for Dalipo County Daping Middle School. Yao Ming, chairman of the Chinese Basketball Association, said that basketball can bring health and happiness, and it can connect everyone together. Subsequently, the "Generation Z" Sino-US Youth Online Exchange and Dialogue Meeting was also held in Malipo County, and Chinese Ambassador to the United States Qin Gang also mentioned the basketball court built by the NBA in his speech, and sent a message to Generation Z in China and the United States to dedicate more love to the world. As the above guests said, basketball is the carrier of love and unity, which is also the true meaning of the short film "The Power of Basketball".
"The Power of Basketball" is full of Easter eggs: Jordan Kobe inspires Chinese teenagers to pursue their dreams
"The Power of Basketball" begins with the visit of the Washington Bullets (renamed Washington Wizards in 1997) in 1979, which is the starting point of the NBA's love affair with China for more than 40 years, and also a metaphor for the unique value of the NBA in sino-US exchanges.
On New Year's Day 1979, China and the United States formally established diplomatic relations, and sports exchanges took the lead. The Washington Bullets, who won the 1978 NBA championship, visited China in October 1979 as part of friendly exchanges between China and the United States, and played two friendly games with the Chinese men's basketball national team and the Bayi men's basketball team in Beijing and Shanghai. Since the "ping-pong diplomacy" in 1971, sports diplomacy has always been one of the important bridges for exchanges between China and the United States, and has often played a miraculous role as ballast stones and ice-breaking tools when relations between the two countries are delicate. Among them, the NBA is undoubtedly the most popular bridge in the sports and cultural exchanges between the two countries after the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States, and the first to practice the NBA's sports diplomacy function is the bullet team.
The sense of colored and mottled pictures when the Bullets players walked down the flight gangway had a sense of time interlacing, which made many Chinese basketball celebrities who participated in the competition instantly recall the zhengrong years of the past. Li Yulin, a famous bayonet men's basketball player who participated in this friendly game and scored 21 points at halftime, once recalled this important moment in history to the sports big business reporter, which is also the most intuitive memory of the Chinese basketball generation in the 1970s represented by Li Yulin.
Then the scene turned, and a group of Chinese grassroots players and youth basketball fans began to pay tribute to the iconic actions of their NBA idols during the game. The first to appear is Zhang Yuzhong, a basketball internet celebrity in Fuxin, Liaoning, who is known as the "hooker boss" by Chinese netizens, who showed his iconic hooker in the game, which resembled the hooker of the fifth game of the 1987 NBA Finals" Johnson who killed the Celtics. It was one of the NBA's most iconic kills of the 1980s, and it even had its own name, "Baby hook." As a result, the short film synchronizes the two god-like hookers, and Zhang Yuzhong undoubtedly represents the generation of Chinese people of the same age as the "magician" who began watching the NBA in the 1980s.
In this regard, Chinese basketball grassroots players of all ages have embarked on a parody homage show to their idols: from imitating Larry Bird's confident action of celebrating the last goal in the 1986 NBA All-Star Three-Point Contest, to the signature action of "White Chocolate" Jason Williams, "No look pass", from Iverson's dazzling crotch dribbling to Jordan's 1998 Finals swinging Byron Russell to "THE SHOT" shootout, From Maddy's passionate celebration of shooting a shootout after 35.13 seconds to the alarm goes off at 4 a.m. and mimics Kobe Bryant's drift on Wade's head on the field. In addition, James and Wade's signature celebratory moves, Mutombo's habitual finger shaking after blocking, Curry's shoulder shaking celebration after shooting three-point shots, Zion's violent frame, Doncic's European step breakthrough, Yao Ming's "Shanghai dance steps"...
As chinese basketball teenagers stun their opponents with Yao Ming's "Shanghai dance steps" in the game, the picture naturally transitions to a collection of Chinese players competing in the NBA. From "NBA China's first person" Wang Zhizhi to the first NBA starter Chinese Battle, from China's first NBA All-Star yao Ming to Yi Jianlian, Sun Yue, Zhou Qi, the NBA highlights of these Chinese players flashed by, but the door of memory was opened, making people think and feel excited. In addition, the Chinese women's basketball stars who have played in the WNBA, Zheng Haixia, Li Jie, Sui Feifei, Chen Nan, Shao Ting, and Han Xu have also been integrated into the film.
It must be pointed out that the grassroots players of all ages in China in the short film not only pay tribute to the idol by imitating the classic actions of the NBA idol, but also draw the spiritual strength of the idol through the basketball game, and bring this momentum of never accepting defeat to the field of life. Basketball is becoming a source of strength for contemporary Chinese young people to show themselves, win respect and pursue their dreams, which is also the true meaning of the short film "The Power of Basketball".
The NBA's multi-channel helped Chinese youth realize their dreams, and donated stadiums to Yunnan and won praise from all walks of life
If you look closely at the short film "The Power of Basketball", you will find that it is the same as "NBA Alley", every second of the scene can be said to have a provenance everywhere, and every shot is derived from the classic. Among them, the game pictures of these grassroots players are mostly from Jr. NBA games, NBA5V5, NBA 3X three-person basketball challenges, NBA care actions and other events, reflecting the NBA's efforts to promote basketball culture in China over the years, help Chinese basketball youth realize their dreams, spread Chinese culture to the world, and help the development of Chinese basketball.
NBA in the Chinese market, not only with the State General Administration of Sport Basketball Management Center, the Chinese Basketball Association as the representative of the sports system, but also very keen to promote basketball culture to Chinese youth, so with the education system, youth charities cooperation a lot, in 2014 the NBA and the Ministry of Education formally reached a strategic cooperative relationship, NBA also continued to hold JR.NBA games in China, NBA5V5, NBA 3X three-person basketball challenge, A range of basketball events and events with a primary audience, including NBA Cares.
In September 2005, the NBA and the China Secondary School Sports Association jointly hosted the Junior NBA Event, which was the predecessor of Jr. NBA's activities in China. After development, the Jr. NBA League has become one of the most sought after platforms for youth professional basketball events in China. Through high-level basketball game services, the Jr. NBA League has built a bridge for campus basketball exchanges, continuously providing a stage for more young players to communicate and self-display, and helping young people understand the basketball sports spirit of Jr. NBA".
In recent years, deepening the integration of sports and education and promoting the healthy development of adolescents has become a long-term strategic plan of the country, and it has also put forward higher requirements for strengthening school sports work and improving youth sports events. Jr. NBA actively responds to the integration policy of sports and education, and promotes the development and healthy growth of youth sports activities with a high-level youth basketball event platform, so that more teenagers can personally feel the sportsmanship and charm transmitted by basketball.
With the entry of three-person basketball into the Tokyo Olympic Games, China's three-person basketball enthusiasm has also been ignited, and the NBA 3X three-person basketball challenge has also come into being, and introduced innovative formats such as four-point shooting points and dunks counting three points, which is also one of the most sought after three-person basketball events among young people in China.
Take the just-concluded 2021 NBA 3X Three-Man Basketball Challenge, for example. In the city stage, the tournament attracted the participation of more than 1,000 male and female teams, the whole process was broadcast live by Tencent Video, 64 to 128 teams were set up in each game, and the outstanding players were invited to the NBA Basketball Training Center in Haikou to participate in a week-long high-level training camp and receive guidance from NBA training coaches. In addition, NBA 3X players will participate in related public welfare activities as volunteers of NBA Care. In the NBA 3X National Finals, 16 champions and runners-up teams from 9 cities competed, and in the end, Changzhou Kaida won the NBA 3X National Men's Championship, and Weiqiao Entrepreneurship won the Women's Championship.
In terms of helping young people realize their dreams, since 2004, NBA Care Action and the China Youth Development Foundation have donated more than 80 projects to the Hope Project, including basketball courts, computer rooms, libraries, etc. Four Hope Primary Schools have been established nationwide, and sports equipment is donated to poor rural schools every year, and nearly 400 schools have benefited so far. And vigorously supported the post-disaster reconstruction of Wenchuan, Qinghai Yushu and Yunnan Zhaotong earthquakes.
Since 2012, NBA Care Action has also supported the development of the Yao Foundation Hope Primary School Basketball Season for 8 consecutive years, promoting the improvement of physical education in rural areas, and the project has so far spread to more than 700 schools in poor rural areas in 25 provinces, benefiting more than 1.15 million rural children...
In recent years, China has successfully won the battle against poverty, and the NBA Care Action has also participated in it. For example, the aforementioned NBA China aided the construction of the basketball court of Daping Middle School. Malipo County is a county under the jurisdiction of Wenshan Prefecture in Yunnan Province, bordering Vietnam to the south. Since 1992, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has carried out targeted assistance to Malipo. In 2020, the NBA came to Malipo and filmed a wonderful and shocking documentary around "Yunnan one-legged basketball fighter" Luo Xiangjian. In June 2021, with the care and help of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the China Public Diplomacy Association, the NBA China assisted in the construction of the basketball court of Daping Middle School, and the next step will be to donate additional donations to rebuild the sports track. This move effectively solves the problem of standardizing the construction of school sports venues, provides a safe and comfortable teaching and learning environment for teachers and students of the whole school, and plays a positive role in promoting the improvement of the quality of education and teaching in Malipo County.
Liang Yingmin, member of the Standing Committee of the Wenshan Prefecture CPC Committee and vice governor of Wenshan Prefecture, thanked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the China Public Diplomacy Association, the NBA China and caring people from all walks of life for their deep friendship and care for the education cause in The frontier Ofilipo and the care and care for the healthy growth of young people. Yao Ming, chairman of the Chinese Basketball Association, warmly congratulated the teachers and students of Daping Middle School in Malipo County, Yunnan Province, on having a brand new basketball court. Yao Ming said that basketball can bring health and happiness, and it can connect everyone together. I hope that students can share and pass on this love and dedication to more people. American basketball player Marbury hopes that the new court will inspire more people to participate in basketball, believing that basketball and sports can connect the world and promote cultural exchange. Kathy Behrens, NBA's president of global corporate social responsibility, said: "Sport is a force of solidarity that fosters cultural exchange and connects people around the world."
On October 18, the "Generation Z" Sino-US Youth Online Exchange and Dialogue Conference sponsored by the China Public Diplomacy Association was also held in Malipo County, and The Chinese Ambassador to the United States Qin Gang said: "I went to Malipo last year and saw that there was a highway to the outside world. Infrastructure such as water, electricity, and networks has been comprehensively improved, and the people have drunk clean water and become rich by developing aquaculture and planting. I am happy that the children can go to the classroom with a few clean windows. Malipo's poverty alleviation has also received support from American friends. The NBA just donated two basketball courts to a middle school in Malipo County. Gong Changci, a Chinese girl in the United States, set up the Gong Changci Foundation to fund poor students in Malipo County. Boundless love, I hope that Generation Z in China and the United States will dedicate more love to the world. ”
Back to the short film The Power of Basketball. The positive and scrappy Chinese basketball teenagers and grassroots basketball masters in the film are the epitome of China's nearly 500 million basketball population, which is largely to acknowledge the credit of the NBA's continuous promotion of basketball culture in China for forty years, the NBA has been helping China cultivate the basketball population in the past four decades, especially to help Chinese teenagers realize their dreams, and the feedback to Chinese basketball is obvious to all.
In the upcoming 2021-22 season, through the 75th anniversary celebration, such a huge and profound celebration, it will undoubtedly further let more Chinese teenagers appreciate the charm of the NBA and basketball. With the popularity of "NBA Alley" and "The Power of Basketball", the official 75th anniversary of the NBA, the 2021-22 season has not yet been unveiled, and people's blood is already boiling and full of expectations, and basketball fans around the world are ready to witness history.
Note: The images used in this article are from the Internet