Jim Yardley's Brave Dragons represents basketball as a global sport, which draws the two cultures together. The author says of the team owner, Boss Wang: “He had not realized he was playing a global game.”1 This is explored in the book by focusing on the relationship of the coach, Bob Weiss, and his team. The cultural differences played a big role in the beginning of Weiss' career in China, and his position as the former NBA coach is key to his employment, which demonstrates American influence on sports around the world. The link between basketball and globalization is represented through the connections within the team. The mix between Chinese and international players in a way demonstrates China's step towards being a part of global culture. The development of basketball in China stands for globalization; the mobility of the sport allows cultural mobility. The national honour and pride is represented through the nation's ability to succeed in sport. The popularity of sports allows the success to be recognised around the …show more content…
This is where the two cultures actually clash: the difference between the perception of the game is something that has to be overcome. For instance, Yardley ironically speaks about his perception of Brave Dragons assistant coach training technique: “I asked about his strategy for motivating players. From observing practice, I assumed it was to tun them to death.”2 The strictness of Chinese strategy of training sharply contrasts with the American attitude towards the players, who are given more freedom to be creative. These two separate concepts highlight the general cultural differences between the West and the East, demonstrating how the mix between the two has a potential of improving the
Slaying the Dragon gave the audience a look inside the world of Asian actresses. The entertainment industry is very different for women of Asian descent. I never realized how difficult it was for these women in the earlier years of the film industry. Even today, when asked to name famous Asian actresses, I had a hard time thinking of more than two or three.
Walter LeFeber's book serves as a cornerstone of reference for its content as it relates to race, black business and the expansion of global capitalism since the late 20th century. With regard to race, it shows how race effected middle-class Michael Jordan at a young age and how he grew in the star he became, yet still could not es...
Several foreign basketball players have individually left their marks on NBA courts, in NBA record books, and in their fans’ hearts. Different ethnic groups, races, and sports fans in general have united, cheering on heroic efforts from players from overseas. These international players amped up the level of competition in basketball and found themselves at home in the NBA. Four international players have been honored with the most prestigious award a player can receive in professional basketball, NBA MVP. These same four players are undoubtedly future Hall of Famers and were listed in the top 30 international players of all time in a 2013 “Dime Magazine” article (Daruaku). These four players, Steve Nash, Tim Duncan,...
The issue of race in sport is somewhat baffling in that many people would rather not address at all even though sport has been intricately intertwined with racial issues throughout the Twentieth century. Those who would have us omit the topic altogether argue that analyses typically single out the black athlete, and then attempt to explain his/her inordinate success in ways different than we do with other groups. Critics contend that this is racist, since it perpetuates the idea that blacks are different, and often inferior. Edwards (1972) asserts that a typical theme resulting from such analysis is that blacks are physically superior, but intellectually inferior, to whites. Hoberman (1997) has further made the case that physical prowess, especially in such sports as basketball, has become a defining characteristic of the African-American community, and that beliefs about physical superiority are closely related to an anti-intellectualism that permeates black male culture. Essentially, Hoberman’s argument is that inordinate attention and idolization of prominent black athletes such as Michael Jordan has focused attention away from more realistic and important role models, and this, in turn has stunted intellectual, and social economic development in black communities.
It seems certain that Anglo-American males are victims of the unfair and discriminatory practices of the National Basketball Association. Further, society has by now created such obstacles to the success of Anglo-American basketball players that some sort of inte...
Although the 1992 Olympic Men’s Basketball Team is considered the greatest assemblage of professional athletes in history, the Dream Team does have its critics. Regardless of the bureaucratic problems that stemmed from allowing NBA players to compete in the Olympics, many benefits were reaped by intertwining the two associations. Even though the basketball that was played with the Dream Team did not differ fundamentally, it changed the game of basketball forever because it respected the historical values, inspired young basketball players to pursue their NBA and Olympic dreams, and it treated book reviewers to an action-packed topic whilst also changing international basketball for the better.
The game of basketball along with football and soccer is one of the most prominent sports in the United States and the World. It’s played at every level from 5 & under to the professional athletes in the NBA and overseas. Every team is made up of virtually the same elements; the guards, big men and coaches. Basketball is not a sport where you can focus solely on yourself, but the focus should be on the team. The sport is very public and easy to see, however there are many things that occur behind closed doors when no one is looking.
“What is this chink doing here? Does he even know anything about football? Go back to studying!” After hearing that, I thought, “First off, I am not Chinese, and why yes, I do know a little something something about football.” These remarks were some of the things that I had to deal with when playing football during my first year of high school. These discriminatory statements towards the few Asians and me on the team were things we heard daily from other teammates and students. While these stereotypes of Asians only being good for studying and playing badminton or volleyball was prevalent in my school, that didn’t stop me from trying to be the best football player on the team and disproving the typical Asian student at my high school. As with the up and coming star Jeremy Lin, he too had to face these generalizations before actually being noticed in the widely Caucasian and African American dominant sport that is basketball. With his impressive game starts, he surprised the nation by carrying the New York Knicks to a couple of victories. The discrimination and stereotypes that Asians have to face in sports and in the real world are not something that spurred out of nowhere, but rather it is something that has been rampant since the first Asians immigrated to the United States. Some of the prejudices that Asians face in the present may not be as bad as the prejudices Asians had to deal with in the past, but they still have to deal with bigots on a daily basis. By Jeremy Lin stunning the basketball league with his performance, he is able to combat the bigotry towards Asians.
The National Basketball Association is the most popular professional basketball league in North America; it is also the most popular professional basketball league in the world. The National Basketball Association (NBA) is one of the most diverse businesses in the world, which was the deliberate plan of former NBA commissioner David Stern. The NBA was once an all white and male dominated league, now through years of an aggressive effort to diversify the organization the NBA is now one of the shining beacons for diversity, tolerance and acceptance in the workplace. Former NBA commissioner David Stern spearheaded and put into action on the best examples of creating and cultivation opportunities for success based on merit. “When David Stern steps down as NBA Commissioner in 2014, among the legacies he will have created is an era in professional sport when leagues and teams hired the best people possible. He embraced the moral imperative for diversity while helping to show the other leagues that diversity is also a business imperative. The evidence for the NBA’s continued commitment to racial equality is seen in the strong grades in the League Office and in many key areas on the team level.”(Lapchick, R.) To fully understand the transformation of the league we will cover the history of the association, team diversity, league diversity, the NBA diversity initiative, and current diversity issues.
Bill Russell grew up in an extremely racist time in America in an extremely racist state. Born in Louisiana and raised both there and in Oakland, California; Russell and his family battled the every day hardships that most black people faced at that time. But Russell always had a set of morals and guidelines that he led his life by, many of which he learned from his father, who he says was his hero and biggest role model. These morals revolved around independence and a very classic “ I will not allow anyone to impose their will on me.” (Page 56, paragraph 1) These morals followed and shaped him in his playing and coaching career.
Krzyzewski, M. (2001). The Species of the World. Leading with the Heart: Coach K’s Successful Strategies for Basketball, Business, and Life. New York, NY: Business Plus. Sellers, P. (2011, Dec. 9).
Wiggins, David Kenneth, and Patrick B. Miller. 2003. The unlevel playing field: a documentary history of the African American experience in sport. Urbana: University of Illinois Press
...by the Texas Western Men’s Basketball Team of 1966 in emotional abuse, curfew, and stereotypes. The African-American players on the team elicited much harassment and racism. The emotional abuse that the team received threatened to break the team, but the team responded by triumph in the 1966 NCAA Division I National Championship. Then, the concept of curfew was not an important one within the Texas Western Basketball players’ priorities in the beginning of the season. The distraction of partying and girlfriends kept the men up all night and led to them being punished by their coach. In recruiting, Coach Don Haskins overlooked the stereotypes surrounding African-American basketball players and started the first all-black national championship team. This inspirational story is one that explains the reason for the racial equality in the sport of basketball today.
Basketball has had a large impact in the society. In the NBA, the teams bring out nationalism within their city. Various cities have a National basketball team representing them in the NBA. This in turn brings out a healthy competition that paves the way to socialization, support, and unity among individuals. NBA players can have a positive impact on individuals as well as an entire nation. ESPN deemed Jeremy Lin, an NBA player, to have the ability to expand basketball largely in China.
Eisen, George, and Wiggins, David K. (1994). Ethnicity and Sport in North American History and Culture. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.