All sports enthusiasts are very fond of the quote, “Offense wins games but defense wins championships.” This quote is fitting and applies to basketball. Specifically the NBA is what is making news and highlights. For sports fans and athletes, sports are the essence of hard work and commitment. To get to the peak of their sport, even the most naturally talented athletes have to give it their all. Sports are about those incredible moments where sheer human will and desire overcomes the odds. These are the moments we remember. For many, basketball is not just a sport but also a lifestyle.
So what is making news with the NBA? Evidently the NBA has apparently always shown interest and had a big fan base in China, and now the association intends to start recruiting talent from China as well. This definitely represents the NBA’s diversification and transition. Furthermore though, this really isn’t a surprise as there is so much talent in China. Look at the Olympics for example; China is always up there in the standings with the medal count. Chinese athletes maintain such focus, and hard work, which is why they are so successful.
The NBA announced on Wednesday that it’s opening up a set of training camps in China for the best male and female players. The “NBA Academies” are the first of their kind, and three of them are scheduled to commence in different parts of China such as Hangzhou, Jinan and Urumqi, in October.
Players who attend the camps will have the advantage and added bonuses of getting direction from NBA-trained coaches in addition to attending school and learning about guidance and character progression. The camps will have under-16 and under-18 teams that participate throughout the year, and top players will get to travel for international games.
The shift is the league’s newest drive to reach out to its fans in China. This represents the NBAs support. It’s hosted a set of exhibition games there for the last 10 years, and viewers in China passionately stream NBA games when they’re played in the U.S.
NBA China launched a junior league in the country in November 2015. It has also beforehand partnered with China’s Ministry of Education to add basketball into school curricula, and teamed up with Yao Ming on an after-school basketball program. Yao Ming, for those who don’t know is a Chinese retired professional basketball player who played for the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) and the Houston Rockets of the NBA.
Adam Silver, the NBA Commissioner believes that NBA Academies are the logical next step in the league’s global grassroots basketball activities. Top international prospects will benefit from a complete approach to player development that combines NBA-quality coaching, training and competition with academics and personal development
Overall, the definitive objective is to promote worldwide talent, and the league aims to proclaim camps in other countries soon, which represents its multiculturalism and diversity. Being selective won’t allow for the league to discover unhidden talent.
The NBA has an abundance of facts and information, but I’ll share a few statistics that are compelling provided by Fade Away World. Only four players in NBA history have ever scored 50 points in a single game with 3 different teams. Those players are Wilt Chamberlain, Bernand King, Moses Malone and Jamal Crawford. LeBron James and Kobe Bryant are only two players in NBA history with 25,000+ points, 6,000+ assists and 1,500 steals. Karl Malone is the oldest player in NBA history to record a triple-double. The Mailman accomplished the feat at 40 years and 127 days old, which is quite remarkable.
