In 2011, the Chinese government estimates that 300 million people play basketball in China.
89% of Chinese people ages 15 to 54 are more aware of the NBA the any other sporting body.
During the 2007 NBA All-Star Game, the player who received the most votes was Yao Ming, the hero of Chinese basketball and the first Chinese-born athlete to play fruitfully in the NBA.
Nike sponsored the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA), China’s first professional basketball league, upon its founding in 1995, paying $2.5 million to outfit all eight teams over the first four years of the competition.
I had a good time with the American people. I hope they remember me as a good guy who played hard. I wasn’t Michael Jordan, but I was somebody called Manute Bol
NAME: Manute Bol (TRANSLATION: “A Special Blessing”)
HEIGHT: 7 feet 7 inches
WEIGHT: 220 lbs (“Manute Bol is so skinny, his team saves money on road trips. They just fax him from city to city.” – Woody Allen)
SHOE SIZE: 16
Manute Bol is a pioneer and a portrait of a person who has used sports as an outlet and ultimately a platform to bring awareness to global issues, particularly the violence and civil unrest in Sudan.
After being discovered as a teenager in Africa by a US coach from Fairleigh Dickinson University, Manute Bol was brought to the USA, and eventually made his way onto the roster of the 1985 Washington Bullets. He was a starting center in most of his games, enjoying a 10-year career and earning approximately $7 Million in salary (1.65M in ’92). As the tallest player in the league’s history at the time, he also received endorsement deals from Nike, Kodak Films, KFC, and Toyota.
Manute Bol was born in a remote village in south Sudan and growing up he saw his nation’s civil war take the lives of more than 2 million people over 15 years.
Southern Sudan is the home of the Dinkas, the tallest people in the world and Bol’s tribe. It is also home to the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) , a rebel group to which Bol previously backed and contributed millions of dollars.
Both during his NBA career and after, Bol has worked towards achieving peace in his divided nation where in the south Christian rebels battle a northern Islamic government, based in Khartoum. He has often lobbied for US Support and UN Peacekeeping to step in and stop the violence.
Note: A few years ago, after a movement toward peace was proposed by the northern Muslims, and then rejected by SPLA, Bol renounced his direct involvement with both parties, and now works independent of both to rebuild communities for children.
Bol established many foundations including the Ring True Foundation, a charitable organization dedicated to raising money for Sudanese refugees and for Sudan’s schools and clinics, and Sudan Sunrise.
“We are trying to raise some money to get a school and a clinic for my country. It’s been very hard since I got hurt. It’s hard to raise money. It is my dream to get some schools, good education and clinics for our people.”
The Man: Brandon Jennings. 6’2″ point guard from Los Angeles, CA. Left handed. Cousin of NBA point guard Marcus Williams.
Averaged 35.5 points, 7.5 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 4.0 steals per game in his senior year of high school. Earned high school basketball’s most prestigious award including the 2008 Naismith High School Basketball Player of the Year.
Jennings is the first player to play for a European team rather than play for a college team since the NBA’s age restriction was implemented.
The Contract: Jennings has a three-year contract for a guaranteed $1 million from Virtus Roma, but he has an option to enter the NBA draft after Year 1 and 2 of the deal. Jennings’ also signed a four-year contract with Under Armour that will pay him comparably to the top three picks in the 2008 NBA draft.
Their dedication to Jennings’ marketing is exemplified here
But, as Jennings says, ‘The focus in Italy is on winning. If you don’t win, you might not get paid’
Click the jump for more info and a jaw-dropping highlight video of Jennings.
Adidas is a global leader and innovator. They’re opening stores across the world, helping to spread sports not only through sales, but through inspiration! They are helping bring all stars to various parts of the world – like bringing KG to India - and now this campaign for ’09. We need it!
See below for more details on “NBA Tested. Brotherhood Ready.”
