Edy: I'm proud of my Chinese and Canadian ancestry; I would like to visit China in the future

Understand the Emperor of the Ball

2024-06-27 17:14Understand the official account of Emperor Qiu

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01 Canadian-Chinese center Zach Edie was selected by the Grizzlies with the 9th pick in the first round of the NBA Draft.

02 Edie's mother, Julia, said that her parents rarely talked about the past, but instilled Chinese pride in Edie since she was a child.

03 Edie's maternal grandfather and maternal grandmother are from Guangdong, and he grew up in a Chinese family-oriented culture in Toronto.

04Although Edie only speaks a few words of Cantonese now, he said he would try to make an impact in the Chinese basketball world.

05 Edie said he would consider his Canadian and Asian ancestry to be his pride and take interacting with people of different backgrounds seriously.

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In the first round of the NBA Draft this morning, Canadian-Chinese center Zach Edie was selected by the Grizzlies with the 9th pick. And ahead of this year's draft, Zach Edie and his mother, Julia, spoke to reporter Marc J. Spears about their Chinese identity.

"It was when I started playing basketball that it really showed," Edie said. That's when I started realizing how different I was from others because I grew up in a white neighborhood when I started playing basketball. All of a sudden you realize, 'Hey, I'm Chinese. You just have to accept it and you'll find yourself more. ”

Chinese sports journalist Lisa Hsu said Chinese fans were curious about Edie's emotional connection with China. The reporter said: "As far as I know, Chinese fans still have a relatively shallow understanding of Edie. For example, they know that he is of Chinese descent, but they don't quite know how much of Edie's emotional connection to China is. They focused on Edie's performance in college and in the draft because he has Chinese roots, but they didn't put much emotion into it. Many Chinese fans hope that a player of Chinese descent will join the Chinese men's basketball team to help the national team progress and achieve the goal of returning to the Olympics. But judging from the reports of the major media outlets, they don't seem to think that Edie has this emotional tendency. So, for Chinese fans, it's hard to put too much emotion into Edie. ”

Edie's maternal grandfather and maternal grandmother were from Guangdong, and they went to Canada before the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, where Edie's mother, Julia, and her siblings were born. Edie's mother said her parents rarely talked about the past, "They rarely talked about the past, except when they were young and started a family together." ”

She also said she and her four siblings grew up in Toronto's family-oriented Chinese culture. When she was younger, during spring break in Canada, her parents would often rent a large villa with her cousins for four or five days.

Julia recalls being racially discriminated against during her childhood, and at one point her two children threw stones at her.

Edie said of her mother's experience: "She went through some things, so she taught me how to deal with them with confidence. I'm not here to please everyone, I cherish those who cherish me and appreciate those who appreciate me. ”

Julia's father and other family players ran a Chinese restaurant in Toronto, where Julia often helped out as a teenager, which also gave her access to Chinese culture and cuisine. Julia attended Chinese school as a child, but later found it very difficult to learn to read and write in Chinese. At the age of 18, Julia and her brother came to China for the first time in a five-week summer camp, the only time she has ever been there.

During her trip to China, Julia traveled to Shanghai, Shenzhen and Beijing, where she learned a lot about Chinese history. "It's an amazing experience because you realise that you grew up in a different culture," says Julia. You realize what you know, but there's also a disconnect because you grew up somewhere else. ”

"The Great Wall of China is really fascinating, it made me realize that I am a Canadian-born Chinese. When I arrived at the Great Wall, I really felt a connection. ”

Julia had hoped to travel to China with her parents, but never did. Since then, she has never returned to China, mainly because of the long distance and high cost.

Edie was tall and fat as a child, and his family nicknamed him "Little Buddha", and he also learned the story of the Buddha from his parents and was given a jade emblem.

Edie also spent time at his grandfather's Chinese restaurant when he was a child, and he liked to eat nine-leaf noodles, fried squid, fried octopus, etc. He also developed a very close relationship with his grandmother, who gave him a lot of knowledge about Chinese culture, and Edie also attended Chinese New Year celebrations and other Chinese cultural events in Toronto.

"She is very Chinese, Chinese is still her mother tongue, she still loves Chinese culture very much, and when I was a kid she would take me to a delicious Chinese restaurant every year to celebrate the Chinese New Year," said Edie about her grandmother. ”

Julia said that participating in Chinese cultural events has had a huge impact on Edie, "I don't know if I consciously instilled in him a sense of Chinese pride or let him know about Chinese culture, but these are things that we do every year, we get together to celebrate the Lunar New Year." ”

Edie's initial favorite sports were not basketball, but baseball and hockey. Edie has been a cut above children of his age since he was a child, and his tall status and Asian face have made him very eye-catching since he was a child, and he will even be jokingly called "Yao Ming".

Edie said that now he doesn't mind being called "Yao Ming" by others, and now it takes a lot of effort to provoke him with words. When he and his mother meet someone who thinks he is Yao Ming, they both find it funny.

"One time, I was flying back from a college camp in Houston and the flight attendant said, 'Oh sir, if you're who I thought you were, I'm glad you're on my team,'" Edie said. My mom was next to me, too. We started laughing. I said, 'Oh, that's not me. ’”

While at Purdue, Edie met Jeremy Lin at an Asian youth basketball camp in Toronto. "He was one of the greatest Asian basketball players of all time, and I wasn't outstanding at the time, but he was willing to take the time to say hello to me, and that is something I remember," Edie said. ”

As Edie became a star player at Purdue and received more and more attention, countless kids wanted to get autographs and have him photographed after the game. Given the example Lin had set before, Edie deliberately gave herself time to do these things and show humility. Julia said that children of all races want to meet her son, and when the child is Asian, there is a unique bond between them. Edie also supports the Canadian Chinese Youth Sports Association, a non-profit organization whose primary goal is to "promote sport, fair play, and a sense of community among youth in the Greater Toronto Area."

Eddie is also looking forward to making an impact on the Chinese basketball scene, as he now speaks only a few words of Cantonese and will not be part of the Chinese men's basketball team (he has previously represented Canada in the Men's Basketball World Cup), but he hopes he will have the opportunity to come to China.

"I'm going to always put basketball first, and I'm not going to go to China right now," Edie said. I'm going to try to get a foothold in the NBA first, and when I'm on my feet and comfortable in the NBA, I'm probably going to do those things [to see in China]. ”

"I've never been to China and I want to see it. This has been on my wish list for a long time. Where might I want to go? I think Beijing is a boring answer, but it's a big city I might want to go to. I would ask my grandfather where he recommended going. ”

Edie said he is often approached by Asian fans in Toronto, and several Asian fans in Chicago during training camp before the NBA draft.

He said he was very proud of his Chinese ancestry, his Canadian ancestry and his family ancestry, and felt that as an NBA player, he had to hold himself to high standards.

Edie: "I'm Canadian, but I'm also Asian, and I have to represent both groups. When people first meet me and talk to me, I want to interact with them. If they've never talked to a Canadian before, they've never talked to an Asian before, I hope they have a positive experience. I'll take that to heart and take it seriously. ”

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