The Rockets and Pelicans yesterday played their final NBA Global Games preseason contest in front of a sellout crowd at Beijing's LeSports Center, and Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni said there are "a lot of positives" to take away from the trip, according to Jonathan Feigen of the HOUSTON CHRONICLE. D'Antoni said, "It's fun to play here in China. I enjoyed the trip. I think it's great for the players. They bond." Fans "delighted in everything," and it took their "relentless enthusiasm ... for the game to feel any different from a preseason game" in the U.S. Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said, "The fans here are terrific, probably as knowledgeable as any NBA fans that there are. They have embraced our game. Shanghai was great and obviously Beijing with what happened here with the Olympics has a love of basketball that is second-to-none." The fans sent both teams home "with a standing ovation" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 10/13).
STAR POWER: ESPN CHINA's Xin Wan noted "thousands of fans" attended Rockets-Pelicans, as well as Basketball HOFer Gary Payton, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and former NBAer Stephon Marbury, who is "now without a doubt the most successful foreign player in China." Marbury "drew big cheers from the crowd every time he appeared on the big screen" (ESPN.com, 10/12). ESPN CHINA's Fang Yuan noted also in attendance were Exec VP/Basketball Operations Kiki VanDeWeghe, Basketball HOFers Yao Ming and Dikembe Mutombo, former NBAers A.C. Green, Kenny Smith and Mengke Bateer, WNBA Storm F Breanna Stewart, former WNBAer Zheng Haixia and Chinese Gold Medal-winning hurdler Liu Xiang. Silver, NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum and NBA China CEO David Shoemaker "paid tribute" to Marbury at the game (ESPN.com, 10/12).
TRAVEL ABROAD: The NBA has launched NBA Academies, its int'l elite development initiative that will consist of a network of training centers around the world to develop top male and female prospects. The first centers will launch in China this month as part of multiyear partnerships with the Shandong Provincial Basketball Management Center in Jinan and the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Basketball Management Center in Urumqi (NBA).
STRICTLY PROHIBITED: Rockets G Bobby Brown yesterday "asked for forgiveness from Chinese citizens after drawing heavy criticism in China for inscribing his name and number on the country's Great Wall." Brown apologized through the team. Writing on the Great Wall is "prohibited" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 10/13).
