Move over pingpong and say so long to soccer because China has turned into a nation obsessed with the sport of basketball. Walk outside to various parks and sports centers and you’ll notice grassy fields going unused and pingpong tables acting as dust collectors while every basketball court is filled with 5 on 5 half court games (with about two lines of substitutions waiting eagerly on the sidelines).

Basketbal, has become China’s most popular sport to both watch and play, and as a result, has imbedded itself  within the minds and hearts of young and old alike. While the NBA is still coveted by audience members, the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) is growing in size and talent, as a multitude of veteran players are now playing in the Mainland (like Stephon Marbury, aka “Starbury”).

But basketball is also a sport of the streets, played anywhere there’s a net and flat patch of concrete. This bodes well for the 100, million-plus population cities in China, where congestion dictate most exercise and outdoor endeavors. Check out this short documentary called  Beijing Ballers.

Why so popular or 热门 (rè mén）among a nation that averages 5’5” in height? The availability of “concrete jungles” caused by rapid urbanization throughout the mainland, where all players really need is a cheap ball, a hoop and a friend to play against has something to do with it. But, what about the diehard, Chinese NBA fans that have yet to dribble a ball or make an easy layup, but will talk to you at length about how great Kobe is, or why the Big 3 for the Celtics cannot be stopped? The simple answer is: marketing and media.

Take a guess where those Air Jordans you are wearing come from. If you guessed a mega-factory in China, you guessed right. Now what about the jerseys, basketballs, street gear and apparel? Yep, all made in China ready to be sent back to the U.S. or other countries as exports. But like trade relations and foreign direct investment, the U.S. has been pushing the NBA as a brand name within China, littering billboards, magazines and commercials with star players and “impossible is nothing” slogans as far as the eye can see.

Talk to any male, ages 8-80 and he’ll revel at the chance to tell your his favorite player/team and who he thinks will win the Championship this year. Hell, even my high school students figured out a way to stream the games lives in class, prompting me to teach a week of classes on “basketball jargon”.

Basketball Vocabulary

篮球 (lán qiú)

好球 (hǎo qiú)：score a bucket, make a basket

篮板球 (lán bǎn qiú)：rebound

盖帽 (gài mào)：shot block, block a shot

偷球 (tōu qiú)：steal

犯规 (fàn guī)：foul, commit a foul

灌篮 (guànlán): slam dunk, mamma jamma

In talking to many Chinese citizens about the game of basketball, they tout it as a point of pride among rapidly developing nation–and with good reason. Basketball emerged in the U.S. during a time of industrialization, modernization and urbanization. Its was built for a country looking to evolve past European modes of propriety and lawn space. Basketball became something fresh and new, creating some of the biggest sports celebrities in the world. It doesn’t require pristine fields and hundreds of dollars worth of sports gear. It isn’t complicated to learn like baseball or football. It simply is a game predicated on focus and repetition–something that mainlanders excel at.

Check out this list of star NBA player nicknames in Chinese:

Chinese Nicknames for NBA players

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