Rumors

D’Angelo Russell spent his Tuesday in Beijing, part of a four-city, seven-day tour of China to promote his brand and specifcally his new signature shoe, the DL0 1, from Li Ning’s “Way of Wade” line.

NetsDaily

Speaking in Beijing during a panel discussion on sports in the context of US-China relations, Yao Ming was asked about politics in reference to a 2019 incident when then-Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted support for the anti-government protests in Hong Kong. Yao, a former Rockets centre, said “there’s no way we can hide” from politics. But “as people who were in this industry, we should understand better what is ‘in’ the game, and what is ‘out’ and we will do our best and try to avoid [politics]”, Yao said.

SCMP

Nets owner Joe Tsai said the NBA is "in a very good place" in its relationship with China, four years after Beijing took games off air following remarks about the 2019 Hong Kong protests by Daryl Morey, who at the time was GM of the Rockets.

Sports Business Journal

Making dumplings, trying paper cutting, tasting sugar-coated snacks, playing basketball games with Chinese children and watching traditional Chinese music performances - on Tuesday, French basketball star and four-time NBA champion Tony Parker attended the 13th NBA Chinese New Year Celebration in Beijing.

GlobalTimes.cn

ClutchPoints: “It’s always the same expectation. I have to be able to get us over the hump to win a championship… A championship is coming to the future of Miami.” Jimmy Butler predicts a ring for the Heat while being interviewed in Beijing 🏆 (via @CGTNSportsScene )

Twitter

Qin Gang, who had earlier served as Beijing's ambassador to the US, addressed tens of thousands of basketball fans on Saturday in a pre-recorded video during a National Basketball Association (NBA) game between the Washington Wizards and the Orlando Magic. "I wish the Chinese and American peoples a prosperous Year of the Rabbit and a bright future," Qin said in the 40-second video played during the game's intermission.

rfi.fr

Netflix: Netflix and the International Olympic Committee have collaborated with executive producers Dwyane Wade and LeBron James for The Redeem Team, a new documentary about the US Olympic Men's Basketball Team’s quest for gold at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing!

Twitter

Former basketball star Yao Ming on Monday invited staunch Beijing critic Enes Kanter Freedom to visit China after the Boston Celtics player urged athletes to boycott the Winter Olympics in the capital. Kanter has emerged as one of China's most vocal critics in the sporting world, a rare athlete willing to forgo lucrative endorsements to speak on issues such as Beijing's treatment of its Uyghur Muslim and Tibetan minorities.

Yahoo!

Yao, China's most famous basketball star and one of its Olympic bid ambassadors, was asked about Kanter's politics at a press gathering in Beijing on Monday. "I've heard of him, but I can't really judge him because I don't know him," the retired Houston Rockets player and current president of the China Basketball Association said. "If there is an opportunity, I would like to invite him to visit China... Then he may have a more comprehensive understanding of us."

Yahoo!

The best story of the week involved the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing, where Bryant joined in a game of spades with several players from the women’s national team. “There was a little wine involved and he got very competitive in drinking the wine,” recalled Sue Bird, a four-time gold medalist. “And it was like he didn’t want to be behind anybody on these glasses.” “And we were, like, ‘Kobe, we’ve got practice tomorrow. We’re just sipping,’” she said. “No. He was into this wine. ‘I’ve had three glasses. You’ve only had one.’”

Los Angeles Times

Adam Silver, N.B.A. commissioner. We were tracking it closely because of our business in China and because we have offices in Shanghai and Beijing, which we closed on Jan. 23. On Jan. 29, the Brooklyn Nets had a Chinese New Year celebration. I ran into Dr. David Ho, a virologist. I remember him saying to me, “It’s a very bad sign that Chinatown in New York is empty because you at least have a portion of the population who knows how bad this is, even if other people aren’t talking about it.”

New York Times

The Spanish and Argentinians, who battled in the World Cup finals in Beijing, are both in group C. Fourth-place Australia is in group B. “The three Olympic preliminary groups appear well balanced, and there are a good number of teams who have legitimate shots at the gold medal in Tokyo, ” Popovich said in a news release. “It was a fair draw,” Colangelo said. “The bottom line — you’ve got to win your games. I said it then and I’ll say it now: Had we been healthy (in China), we would’ve won the whole thing. We owe the world after that one.”

The Athletic

The Ducks are reported to have asked him to return to Beijing and Lin admitted earlier in the month that going back to China is an option as fans wait on an NBA announcement. “You’ll know when I know,” Lin wrote in a comment to an Instagram follower last Sunday.

SCMP

Nets Daily: Big line in Beijing Saturday for debut of Jeremy Lin's first signature shoe. Store held lottery for limited number of shoes. Speculation on a Chinese sports site suggests Lin is "likely" to be pursued by Nets because of his friendship with @Joe Tsai. No sourcing.

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