Roars of NBA crowds tip off Chinese New Year fun

Applause thundered throughout Oakland's Oracle Arena when Jeremy Lin, a Chinese-American who was born in nearby Palo Alto, took the court in an NBA game that celebrated the Year of the Snake.

The Tuesday night contest between Lin's Houston Rockets and the hometown Golden State Warriors was part of league-wide festivities honoring the Lunar New Year and a major fan base of professional basketball.

"China is the second-largest market for NBA games, outside the United States," Rick Welts, the Warriors' president and operating chief, said before the game. "We are looking for more Asian players."

"Twenty years ago, there were about five or six international players in the NBA; now, 84 players are from other countries," said Raymond Ridder, vice-president of public relations for the Warriors.

He pointed out that NBA fans, too, increasingly come from abroad. The Rockets-Warriors game, for instance, was broadcast in the Chinese mainland and Taiwan, and 22 others will have been beamed live to Chinese fans during the National Basketball Association's Feb 7-14 celebration of Lunar New Year.

"Chinese New Year is the most important festival for our fans in China, and we are happy to once again celebrate with them and their families," said David Shoemaker, CEO of NBA China. "Thanks to the support of our great partners, we are celebrating the Year of the Snake with more NBA programming than ever before and a comprehensive array of Chinese New Year-themed fan activities in China and the US."

In addition to the games televised in China, several NBA teams have hosted in-arena holiday events since last weekend. The last of these for 2013 will be on Thursday night at Staples Center in Los Angeles, when that city's two NBA clubs, the Lakers and the Clippers, tip off.

When the NBA launched its Chinese New Year Celebration events in 2012, it offered 21 live games, reaching 96 million TV and Internet viewers and two in-arena celebrations.

This season's expanded offerings are being carried by CCTV-5, the sports channel of China Central Television, as well as major Chinese networks and satellite providers. Fans are being treated to three doubleheaders this week on CCTV-5, highlighted by Thursday night's rematch (early Friday in China) of the 2012 NBA Finals between the Miami Heat and Oklahoma City Thunder.

"We are pleased to deliver more NBA games to our viewers in this week-long Chinese New Year programming lineup, as millions of families spend quality time together during the Spring Festival," said Jiang Heping, head of sports at CCTV-5.

NBA China corporate partners Harbin Beer and Peak Sports are helping present this season's holiday promotion. In addition, athletic-apparel company Peak will debut in China a commercial playing on the NBA Chinese New Year Celebration theme. The spot features endorsements by league stars Shane Battier (Miami), Carl Landry (Golden State) and Patrick Patterson (Houston) as well as Andrew Goudelock of the NBA Development League's Sioux Falls Skyforce. Harbin will have bottles of its beer with special NBA Chinese New Year labels.

Retired NBA star Peja Stojakovic, who was born during the Year of the Snake, began the festivities last week with a viewing party in Beijing for a game between the Lakers and the Boston Celtics. The Serbian native was also the prize in an online promotion in China - to have a traditional Chinese New Year dinner with one lucky fan and the fan's family and friends.

chenjia@chinadailyusa.com