• Former NBA player Bonzi Wells dropped 52 in his latest game for Shanxi Zhongyu

Former NBA player Bonzi Wells made his Chinese Basketball Association debut one week ago for Shanxi Zhongyu with 48 points, 11 boards, and seven steals. He scored 52 points and had 14 rebounds, including 13 of the team’s 18 points in overtime, in leading his team to victory last night. Bonzi Wells in China = NBA Live.

The Chinese CBA is just like our old CBA but worse. Bonzi explained his hot streak to the media:

“The coach is giving me a lot of space, in the NBA I was never able to play so freely,” Wells, 32, said after Sunday’s game through a Chinese translator.

“Since college until now, it has been a long time since I’ve been able to play this freely.”

Shanxi is currently in 10th place in the CBA at 10-9, having won two and lost two with Wells in the line-up.

Yeah.. That’s it Bonzi.. You could’ve been averaging damn near 50 in the league, but you weren’t allowed to play freely.. Yeah man.. But this does bring up an interesting dilemma for NBA players. Bonzi’s only pulling in 40gs for playing in China, but he’s averaging 46.8 points per game. A guy like Kobe might get $50 mil to ball in Europe, but if a Chinese team offered him $2 million and the chance to average 2000 points per game which do you think he would pick?

Several members of the Australian Olympic team were victims of drink spiking at a Beijing nightclub during the games in China. It is not believed that the Australians were targeted but on several different occasions Aussies became sick after drinking at China Doll.

A member of the Australian women’s archery team was the first person to have their drink spiked.

From The Sydney Morning Herald:

The Australian Olympic Committee on Wednesday confirmed that the first victim – a female athlete and understood to be an archer – was struck ill at the end of the first week while at the China Doll bar after her events had finished.

One other victim last night told The Herald that in their case they suddenly felt ill, vomited and then passed out on a couch in the otherwise popular nightclub.

It is also understood that among those Australians who did suspect their drinks were spiked over the ensuing nights a rower, an athlete, and an athletics official who attended the bar at different nights were among them.

The Australian Olympic Committee didn’t report the incidents to the Beijing police or the IOC. That was good thinking on their part. If they had made a big deal out of some of their athletes being drugged China would have gotten all pissy and the Aussies never would have made it home. The Australians should be thankful anyways. In the United States we have to wait for the Chinese to send us poisonous products. The folks from down under got the experience firsthand.

Basketball player Sun Yue of China is headed to Los Angeles with hopes of earning a spot on the Lakers’ roster. Yue is excited about playing in the NBA, although he would like to ditch the “Chinese Magic Johnson” label for a new nickname.

From AFP:

“I don’t want to be called the next Magic Johnson,” Sun told the China Daily of the nickname given him to by the Chinese sporting press.

“He was a great player, and he has everything you could ask for in a coach but I don’t think I am going to pattern my game after him in my rookie year,” he said of the legendary player and Lakers part-owner.

Already Chinese fans in Los Angeles are calling him “Sun Wukong,” after the mythical “Monkey King,” the legendary simian hero of the Chinese Buddhist literary classic “Journey to the West.”

“For the fans to already have these kinds of plans (to name me Monkey King) is really great support for me.”

Sun Yue is making the right move. There’s no need to put any pressure on himself with the Chinese Magic Johnson nickname. It sets the fans’ expectations too high. It’s much better to be called the Monkey King, based on a 16th century cartoon about a superhero monkey that battled dragons and demons. Now Sun Yue has some goals he can achieve.

Team USA basketball got off to a good start in their quest for gold with a 101-70 whooping of host country China. LeBron James tore up the first half while Dwyane Wade was the team’s leading scorer with 19 points. Team USA struggled shooting the ball early but got it going in the second half to cruise to victory.

Yao Ming sprained his ankle in the game but he did return to the game. Before he got hurt he welcomed Kobe Bryant to China:

Team USA, China, basketball, video, youtube

David Stern is on a mission to make the NBA a global league, and he gave us a glimpse of his European expansion plans earlier this year. In 2007 the league appointed Timothy Chen, the former head of Microsoft’s China division, to oversee NBA China. Although the Chinese market represents the fastest growing group of NBA fans, the broadcast of playoff games have been suspended.

The official word is that the games are being put on hold while the country is mourning the earthquake victims. Of course, this is the NBA, so conspiracy theories can’t be far behind. From Danwei:

Neither the newspaper nor SARFT’s media administrator has offered an explanation for the suspension. The only official explanation came from Jiang Heping, director of CCTV’s Olympic Channel, who said that the NBA was “too entertaining” for this special time when the country is mourning for the victims of the earthquake.

It seems that many have found Mr Jiang’s explanation unconvincing; people tend to believe that there has been a ban issued on broadcasting NBA games. There are a number of alternate theories on the internet, all highly speculative: Some people are arguing the ban is politically-motivated ?some NBA players have been protesting the role the Chinese government plays in Darfur?while the others think politics is unlikely the issue. After all, the last time NBA was banned in China was in 1999, after an American missile hit China’s embassy in Yugoslavia, and relations with the US are not nearly as tense as they were then.

The Beijing News also ran an article today about the NBA ban. In the article, an insider from CCTV is quoted as saying that NBA broadcasts will resume on June 6, though no official orders have been announced to the public. The article also refers to NBA’s announcement on May 28 of a 14 million-yuan donation to China’s earthquake relief.

I don’t know why the NBA game broadcasts have been suspended. To me, a little entertainment might be a good to help ease the pain of such a tragic event. And I’m willing to bet everything I’ve got that if Yao Ming and the Rockets were playing not only would the games be shown, they’d probably be on a continuous loop.

NBA broadcasting suspended in China. Courtesy of Danwei

NBA, China, playoffs, broadcast

It was just a couple of months ago that Los Angeles Laker Kobe Bryant and Nike dropped the Nike Zoom III. The duo isn’t wasting anytime putting out another shoe, but this isn’t just another shoe. The Nike Hyperdunk claims to be Nike’s lightest and strongest basketball shoe ever. The Hyperdunk weighs in at 13 ounces and is expected to be debuted by Kobe on Thursday against the Los Angeles Clippers.

While new shoes are always newsworthy to me, there was something that Kobe Bryant said at the press conference that really stood out. He was asked what he thought about the Olympic protest and offered this answer:

“I think we could use the opportunity to try to turn a negative into a positive. And the positive being raising awareness for what’s going on and I think if there’s a silver lining in this whole situation I think that could be it. There’s a stage now created for the whole world to see what’s going on and for everybody to jump in and help out.”

It might not seem like a lot, but for Kobe to offer an opinion on a social issue is a big deal. The topic seems like something Bryant had thought about before, and he sounds sincere. KB24 is constantly compared to Michael Jordan, but one thing MJ never did was speak on pertinent issues. If Kobe becomes a champion of causes and picks up a few more rings, he might finally achieve his goal of being greater than Jordan.

Kobe Bryant On Olympic Protest. Courtesy of CNBC.com

Nike Launches the Hyperdunk, its Lightest and Strongest Basketball Shoe Ever. Courtesy of Nike Biz

Tags: Kobe Bryant, NBA, Nike, Hyperdunk, Olympic Protest

The chin straps, made in China, were sold at sporting good stores nationwide and on Nike’s Web site from April 2006 through October 2007.

Users are at risk of injury when the chin strap’s plastic cup breaks as a result of contact, exposing the player to facial or head injuries, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The Beaverton, Ore., company has received two reports of concussions, two reports of facial lacerations requiring stitches, and a report of a broken nose.

Sounds like a damn good chin strap to me. It breaks on contact, leading to lacerations and/or concussions. Dope.. And I don’t care that the report says the faulty straps were only on sale from April 06 – October 07, I know Wayne Chrebet had one.

And China, lemme holla at you for a minute… You’re slowly starting to piss us (U.S.) off. It’s like you have a list of things that Americans are sensitive towards. First you poison children with lead covered toys, then you attack football. I’ll tell you right now, you’re one “Chinese clothes made from the exhumed corpse of the original Lassie” special report away from becoming the new France.

Nike Chin Straps Recalled After Injuries. Courtesy of The Associated Press

Tags: Chin Straps, Nike, Sports, Chinese Toys, America, Football, China

Major League Baseball is hoping to open either the 2008 or 2009 season outside of the United States. Five countries (Australia, Japan, South Korea, China, and Taiwan) are bidding to be the host site. Opening Day has taken place outside of the U.S. of A. 4 times in the past, Mexico (1999), Puerto Rico (2001) and Japan (2000 and 2004). What could make this time special is the possibility of opening in more than one foreign country. Director of Major League Baseball for Australia and New Zealand, Tom Nicholson:

“To create that emphasis of a single series opening it has usually been just two teams opening and it’s one event, but there’s certainly possibilities of entertaining the concept of maybe series in a couple of countries. That’s one item that’s being looked by our international office.”

I’m cool with whatever that country wins… I’m sure the players are hoping for one of the Asian countries so they won’t have to fly to Australia. Plus, I think when you get a hit in Australia you run to third base. Very confusing..

Australia knows they’re a long shot but they’re trying to keep hope alive. They have offered us this video of Australian National team coach Jon Deeble teaching fungo. He even works in a Manny Ramirez story.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b59jZIXGTew]

Top that China, Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea.

Major League plan for Oz. Thank you The Advertiser via News.com.au

DIGG IT  *  DEL.ICIO.US  *  REDDIT  *  BALL HYPE