The National Basketball Association (NBA) really understands and knows the global popularity of Jeremy Lin of the Charlotte Hornets.
In fact, the league has included him in a new TV spot that also featured reigning NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors and MVP contender last season James Harden of the Houston Rockets.
The TV spot is titled “Dining Table” and shows the three NBA stars sharing a New Year Day meal with a Chinese family. The commercial shall be broadcast until February 22 across all of NBA’s China television and digital partners’ platforms, details ESPN.
The Chinese New Year will happen on February 8 and the NBA TV commercial sort of gives NBA fans an opportunity to imagine having dinner with Curry, Harden, and Lin in one table.
Harden would smile and stir his food around as he normally does. Lin would be hiding under a giant dragon mask while Curry would say ‘Cheers!’ in Chinese, notes For The Win.
A historic one for the league
According to the league, the upcoming Chinese New Year celebration will also be historic for the NBA.
Houston, Golden State, and Washington, which have scheduled games on that day, will be wearing uniforms with the team name in Chinese and host arena events.
Other NBA teams will also celebrate the holiday and pay tribute to Chinese culture, indicative of the importance of the growing Chinese basketball market to the league.
A total of 51 games will also be broadcast or streamed in China, showcasing all 30 NBA teams for the first time.
It will be the first time that the NBA will be celebrating the Chinese New Year in such a way despite the fact that there have been other pure Chinese players who played for the league before including Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets and Wang Zhi Zi of the Miami Heat.
Lin is the first American-born NBA player of Chinese or Taiwanese descent and his popularity in the league soared to great heights when he played as a reliever to the injured Carmelo Anthony during the 2011-12 NBA season playing for the New York Knicks where he earned the league moniker ‘Linsanity.’
Drawing attention from other teams
Last month, the Charlotte Hornets went as far as sixth in the Eastern Conference because of sustained excellent play. However, the team is now on a tailspin and totes a 19-23 win-loss record as of January 20, good for 12th spot in the Eastern Conference and out of the playoff picture.
Apparently, it has something to do with the team losing some of its key players like Nicolas Batum to injury as well as big man Al Jefferson in several games. Prior to the start of the season, the Hornets already lost prolific forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist to injury and would not be back until perhaps the penultimate leg of the regular season.
But there is a bright spot in the Hornets, other than its industrious starting point guard Kemba Walker, and it’s no other than Jeremy Lin.
He has been giving his team a big lift coming off the bench and his energy appears to be infecting his teammates too whenever he is in the court.
In their game against the Los Angeles Clippers at the Staples Center, Jeremy Lin was also a one-man fastbreak for the Hornets as he sent his guard Cole Aldrich to the floor with a killer crossover that reminded everyone of the Allen Iverson of yore. But they lost the game eventually.
The 27-year-old Harvard graduate is averaging 17 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 3.6 assists in the Hornets last 10 games before January 12, eight of which are losses. But it still does not take away the strong season and good play of Jeremy Lin, who is making a little over $2.1 million this season.
In fact, because of Jeremy Lin’s excellent play, he is now getting the attention and interests of many NBA teams who are intent on shoring up their lineup for the second half of the season or perhaps for the next NBA regular season.