Living in a digital era where you can watch a game across the Pacific Ocean on live, we can still feel the necessity of bringing NBA Global Games to China.
At least, NBA commissioner Adam Silver did feel about that.
"Bringing games to China has been effective to our growth in business," Silver said during the China tour here.
PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE RELATIONS ACCELERATOR
Visiting a school in Shijingshan District for his second time in four years, Silver read a book with three students in the reading room sponsored by NBA Cares.
"It's the favourite part of my job, especially the case of this school, it's the second time I've been here," said Silver, adding that it's an incredibly moving experience to see children's smiles.
"For all of us, it's nice to sit with them to read a book, play ping-pong and play basketball. We realize that we can have a lasting impact on the community here, which is not just about the single performance in the game, but it allows us to scale and connect a lot of people on this trip."
This marks the 10th edition of NBA preseason games in China since 2004. Silver were much happy to witness consistent growth of NBA's impact in this most populous country around the world, especially after legend player Yao Ming's retirement in 2011.
"Many people predicted when Yao Ming retired, NBA would be in decline, but in fact the impact continued to grow since 2004. After Yao stopped playing, he was involved in activities that we've done in China."
"Even when talking on the teams that we brought to China, almost all of their memories are from the activities in the community, not from playing the game at the end of the day because arena and basketball court are pretty much the same no matter where we do it," commented Silver.
"When our teams come to China, then go back to the United States, they will tell other players about great experience they have, not just about playing the game, but going to the restraunts, going to the Great Wall, and buying all kinds of great products so that other players and coaches want to come here as well," he added.
Silver focused more on the function of promoting NBA Global Games in China than viewing the game's presentation on digital media.
"Despite digital media that allows us to televise and stream games to Chinese consumers, it's still important both for the NBA players and for the Chinese market to develop people-to-people relations.
"It's hard to put into words that emotion you get from directly connecting to people. We recgonize that only a small number of people can get the experience when NBA players are here, so it's an access accelerator. It creates a reality around the relationship when we bring the game and teams to China," he said.
HIGHER LEVEL COMPETITIONS FOR CHINESE TOP-TIER PLAYERS
The year of 2016 turns out to be a fruitful one for Chinese basketball, as icon Yao Ming recently wore the Hall of Fame jacket, Yi Jianlian made his return to the elite league after four years, and two young centers Zhou Qi and Wang Zhelin were selected into NBA through the draft.
"I think for the growth of top-tier players in China, they have all of the tools necessary, but what's missing may be more higher level competition in their younger years," said Silver.
"That's something we are working on with Chinese sports authority and many provinces to create these opportunities for a very young age to play top competitions," he added.
"To truly have a lasting impact, we also need to help to develop top-tier players, who can play in the CBA, for the Chinese national team and hopefully play in the NBA as well. They need to play against top-notch competitions beginning at a young age. When I look out at the opportunities over the next 10 to 20 years, a pipeline of truly excellent players is the missing aspect.
Embracing its 22th edition in 2016-2017, the Chinese basketball league is also approaching for a more professional league, which is a comprehensive project.
As the leader for a highly-professional basketball league after several decades' development, Silver offered his advice for CBA's professionalization, based on a huge stride it has made over the past two decades.
"The CBA has made incredible strides in a very short time. I had many conversations with Yao Ming, the owner of the Shanghai Sharks, about additional things that CBA can do. A part of our recognition is more entertainment business," he said.
Silver was impressive by what CBA has done in developing halftime shows, mascots and music that comes along with the game, presenting an attractive product to their consumers.
"We have an excellent relationship with CBA, share basketball practice with them to help to develop basketball here," he said.
CLOSER TO GAME WITH VR TECHNOLOGY?
The evolution of technology has changed the viewing way for consumers, since NBA put Virtue Reality (VR) technology into its live broadcast in the 2015-2016 season opener between the Golden State Warriors and the New Orleans Pelicans.
"Fans can not all sit in the NBA arena, because there are not so many seats to the big world. I hope that the Virtue Reality is the next thing there," he said.
"People can get a better sense of being in the arena, maybe even better than you are sitting on the court side, you can be on the court with VR, be in the locker room and have the exact feeling of dribbling on the court.
"The great thing about technology is bringing people constantly coming up with new ways for the sports to express itself," added Silver.
Apart from the VR technology, fans can have a new feeling about statistics with wearables, as they can know how fast a player is running, how hard they are working, and how much tension they have.
"We are all working on new ways to create more engagement for fans," commented Silver.
