Yao and Yi's Trade Talk
Monday, 22nd June 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Last year, draft day eve saw a trade that moved Guangdong native Yi Jianlian from the Milwaukee Bucks to the New Jersey Nets. A year later, the shine has dulled on Yi's move to a bigger market with a bigger Chinese-American population and a hope of landing Lebron James in 2010. The power forward played showed some consistent strong play in January before getting injured and then never returning to form the rest of the season. He averaged 8.6 points and 5.3 rebounds. Yi has three years left on a $15.6 million contract with the Nets.
While Yi might not have earned his $3 million on the court for the Nets last year, a recent piece in the New York Daily News indicates that the team likes his marketability in China. Yi is China's third most influential celebrity, according to Forbes' annual ranking of Chinese celebrities. The Daily News piece says that Nets CEO Brett Yormark is currently in China meeting with executives from 33 different companies with the goal of signing four or five new deals.
Yao Ming, by far China's biggest sports star, has been talked about for a move to Cleveland ever since news broke of a group led by Chinese businessman Huang Jianhua, aka Kenneth Huang, working on a deal to buy a 15 percent stake in the Cleveland Cavaliers. So far, it amounts to little more than a Chinese fan's fantasy of bringing Yao together with 2009 NBA MVP Lebron James. Yao's got two years left on his contract, with the freedom to opt out on the last year, in which he would make $17 million if he chose to stick around. He's been a Rocket for all of his seven-year career and is the face of the franchise, both for fans and for opposing teams--beating the Rockets means stopping Yao (if, of course, he's healthy).
Yao added a little fuel to the rumors earlier this week with his vague talk in an interview with Shanghai television station. "It is still an unknown," was his response to questions about a possible move to Cleveland.
Related:
Chinese investors buying stake in Cavs
Yi, Jay-Z and Lebron?
Lebron, Yao image: Blogcn.com
Tags: basketball, Cleveland Cavaliers, Houston Rockets, Huang Jianhua, Kenneth Huang, NBA, New Jersey Nets, Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian
Chinese investors buying stake in Cavs
Monday, 25th May 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (1)
UPDATE: According to Titan Sports news (in Chinese, here), Huang and company's stake is to be 15 percent. The same story says some overzealous Chinese speculators are musing on the chances of bringing Yao Ming to Cleveland.
Forget about snapping up cheap U.S. real estate--Kenneth Huang and his cash-rich Chinese partners are about to make history and change the game for the Cleveland Cavaliers by purchasing a stake in the NBA franchise.
As first reported by Brian Windhorst of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, a group of Chinese investors has reached a deal to buy a stake in the Cleveland Cavaliers, pending league approval. The man behind the deal is Kenneth Huang (Huang Jianhua, or 黄健华). The best background reporting I've seen on Huang comes from the Plain Dealer (read it here). The report says that Guangzhou-born Huang studied at Columbia University, St. John's University and New York University, and gives this snapshot of his career in sports business:
"As a partner in Sportscorp China, which has a U.S. base in Chicago with well-known sports consultant Marc Ganis, Haung became a leading dealmaker with pro sports teams. He's worked deals with the New York Yankees, the Houston Rockets and USA Basketball by creating deals with Chinese sponsors."
If you're a Cleveland Cavaliers fan who wants to see your team keep its superstar, this looks like great news. It doesn't take much dot-connecting to understand that this deal could give James an excellent marketing platform in China, an opportunity that might be lucrative enough to keep him in Cleveland when his contract comes up in 2010. In addition to some guanxi in whatever industries, cities and government departments the new part owners are active, he'd benefit from the intangible benefit of pride and interest that lots of Chinese fans will no doubt take in this ownership situation.
Kobe Bryant has had a pretty good lead on Lebron in popularity in China over the past year or two, but it seems this deal could help this year's MVP squash that in a hurry. What could be cooler than Kobe and Lebron facing off in the NBA Finals this year? How about the league's two biggest stars facing off in the Chinese market over the next 10 years? I'll watch.
Kenneth Huang image: Hudong.com
Tags: basketball, Cleveland Cavaliers, Huang Jianhua, Kenny Huang, Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, NBA