ONE of the greatest things that occurs in the NBA on a daily basis is global outreach. There are many examples of how the league caters to fans all across the globe and the Golden State Warriors have been excellent ambassadors to the league through social media, summer visits to Asia and outreach to the local Asian/American communities.
With a tremendous Chinese population in the San Francisco Bay Area and the loyal following they provide the Warriors and the NBA year after year, the league celebrates their holiday. Teams roll out special Chinese New Year uniforms and players get into celebrating with their fans with awesome shoes and gear. Curry and the Warriors wore their custom jerseys for Saturday night, Chinese Heritage Night.
The NBA issued their video earlier this month observing the Year of the Rooster. This one featured Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry wishing their fans a Happy Chinese New Year.
Last year, Thompson toured San Francisco's Chinatown where he encountered fans and dragons.
THE NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION is celebrating the Chinese New Year with a TV spot featuring Jeremy Lin, Stephen Curry and James Harden.
The ad is called "Dining Table" and shows the stars sharing a New Year meal with a Chinese family. It is being broadcast until Feb. 22 across all of NBA China's television and digital partners' platforms.
The Chinese New Year is Feb. 8 and celebrates the year of the monkey. Lin plays for the Charlotte Hornets and is the first American-born NBA player of Chinese or Taiwanese descent.
Last year, the Rockets and the Warriors featured t-shirts with a Chinese-theme design. This year, Washington will wear uniforms with the team name in Chinese writing in addition to hosting events in their respective arenas.
Continuing their outreach to their huge Asian fan base in the San Francisco Bay Area and in Asia, the NBA Champion Golden State Warriors will first wear their 2015-16 season Chinese New Year uniforms on the court during a road game on Wednesday, February 3 at Washington in honor of the start of Lunar New Year, held February 7–13.
The team will sport the Chinese-themed threads again during Lunar New Year on Tuesday, February 9 when the Warriors hold their official Chinese New Year Celebration, presented by Lucky Buddha Beer, at Oracle Arena when they face the Houston Rockets.
Last year's Chinese New Years uniform as modeled by forward Harrison Barnes.
To conclude the 2016 Lunar New Year, the Club will wear the Chinese New Year uniforms for the final time during the 2015-16 season on Friday, February 19 at Portland.
On Tuesday, January 26, from 4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Warriors Guard Klay Thompson will first show the new 2015-16 threads in Chinatown in San Francisco to celebrate Lunar New Year and tour San Francisco’s oldest alley way in Chinatown, Ross Alley, according to the team's website. Thompson, who will be wearing the new uniform, will start the tour at Ross Alley Gallery (41 Ross Alley).
The group will also make several stops before ending at the Fortune Cookie Factory where Thompson will participate in making traditional Chinese fortune cookies.
“We have an amazing following from our Chinese fans both here in the Bay Area and abroad,” said Warriors President and Chief Operating Officer Rick Welts. “Hosting a Chinese New Year celebration at Oracle Arena and wearing the uniforms to honor Lunar New Year is a great way to not only connect with the Asian culture, but thank our fans for supporting us throughout the season.”
For the first time, 51 live games broadcast and streamed by 10 broadcasters in Greater China, showcasing all 30 NBA teams; and the Chinese New Year Celebration Season of Giving initiative for underprivileged communities in China.
Yao Min, who played center for Houston, introduced NBA-style basketball to fans in China, where he is viewed as a national hero. China. with a population of 1.4 billion, is seen by the NBA as a market with huge potential.
The Warriors, who were one of the first NBA teams to launch a Weibo account, (the Chinese equivalent to Facebook) weibo.com/warriors, have nearly 2 million followers on Weibo, the highest in the NBA and regularly are one of the top teams in the league in engagement metrics on the platform including impressions, reposts, comments and likes. In addition, the Warriors were one of the first NBA teams to have a Chinese website, china.nba.com/warriors, and regularly conduct Q&A’s on Weibo and Tencent. It is clear that the marketing team over at the Warriors are aggressively pursuing the Asian and Asian/Americans markets. Just last week, they posted a "thank you" graphic in Pilipino to the 2 million fans in the Philippines who joined their Facebook page, over a third of the 5.6 million total "likes" the page has collected. For more news about Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders, go to AsAm News.
PRETTY COOL that the Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association have been wearing these jerseys in honor of Chinese New Year.
The shirts were so popular with the Warriors fans that they sold out. It's just another sign of the diversity of this nation and how immigrants have influenced this country in small ways as well as big.
The Houston Rockets probably have the biggest fan base in China considering Yao Ming played for them for years before retiring. The 7'4" center is probably the best known Chinese athlete outside of China.
In the case of the Warriors, you only have to look at their San Francisco Bay Area fan base - lots and lots of Asian faces in the crowd. So even if it is a marketing ploy, kudos to those teams. They didn't have to do that but you have to give those two teams credit that in their own way, they can show that they value the diversity of their fans. Certainly all the other NBA teams could have, should have, done something similar but for some reason they chose not to. I'm surprised that the L.A. Lakers, the only team with two Asian Americans on its team, didn't follow suit.
