Was the hiring of Yi Jianlian, a 7-ft tall starter from China, a covert move by the New Jersey Nets to attract all the kids from Chinatown? That seems to be the assertion: some sort of national pride will attract the inhabitants of BeBo (below Bowery) to come see a fellow statesman in an NBA game.
It's not technically a bad idea, as the Beijing Olympics renewed China's interest in the American-dominated sport.
But according to the demographics, the majority of basketball fans in the country are Caucasian, while a large portion of players are African-American. So the New Jersey Nets logic of race-baiting to attract new fans seems like a backward tactic to encourage a new audience.
Still, Jianlian is an admirable power forward, and his draft may have had nothing to do with race until The New York Times got a hold of the story and went around interviewing everyone in Chinatown.
Editorial Director
The assertions in this story are racist, not the move. And the writing is pathetic.
What assertions? That the majority of basketball players are African-American? That's actually a fact, not an opinion.
We need more diversity in sport. Especially Asian Pacific American and other groups.