.jpg)
One of the interesting we learned during the Beijing Olympics is that Kobe Bryant is a demi-god in China. I always knew he was popular there, but I had no idea that he was basically on par with Yao Ming. Hell, Bryant's jersey sells even better than Yao's does over there.
As Carmelo Anthony said about Kobe, "He should move here."
Well, apparently Kobe already has on some level. Fanhouse points us to an article from yesterday's New York Times that explains how the Beijing Games opened up a lot of athletes' eyes to the endorsement potential that's available in China.
But some guys, like Kobe, were already well aware of that.
“The reason Kobe is as big as he is here is not an accident,” Charlie Denson, Nike’s brand president, said in an interview in Beijing. “Kobe realized some years ago that the China market is a great place to be. And he’s been here consistently, every year, for five or six years.”
Yes, I'm sure it was Kobe himself who realized how great the Chinese market was five or six years ago. Not his agent, or his PR team, or Nike (or anyone else who wants to profit off of him).
And it's not only Kobe who's been smart about business decisions in China, Jason Kidd just signed a shoe deal with a Chinese company before coming home from Beijing. And here's the real interesting thing about Kidd's deal - he left Nike to do it. That's pretty impressive.
Anyway, back to Kobe. He also produced a reality TV show in China called Kobe's Disciples that was broadcast on China's biggest television network. It featured 24 Chinese youths living and training in the United States and getting tips from Bryant. It's like Knight School, except with human rights violations. It gets pretty heated at the 2:45 mark.
The prize for winning was, uh, I don't know. Hopefully not getting yelled at. By the way, I'm just guessing here, but I don't think that guy understood that he got cut.
Kobe's Chinese Reality Show [Fanhouse]
more
