So a group of us that are working on the Nike account set out the other day to see basketball courts around Shanghai so that we could get a feel of the players that we mean to reach with our creative. It was amazing. There are many open courts around town that are full of kids, teenagers, young 20 something's playing street basketball everyday of the week, not only in Shanghai, but in every major city in China. Basketball has a huge pull in China with the emergence of Yao Ming in the NBA. We spoke to many of the kids and they all said that Yao was their hero. More importantly seeing someone like Yao be successful in the NBA lets them know that anything is possible. It gives them "hoop dreams" of their own.
One site inparticular, that was extremely fascinating, was Rucker Park. SO COOL! From the outside of the building you would never know that there was any activity what so ever, much less a basketball court. But as you entered the building graffiti art and the sounds of exercise could be heard through the stairwell, giving the clue that something out of the ordinary was happening. 4 flights up you enter this huge space with courts and kids having a blast living out their basketball fantasies. They are serious though. They all are true "ballers".
Rucker Park was started about 3 years ago by a couple of guys that could not have been older than 25. They wanted to a create a placer where young people could come and "hang out", be kids, listen to their music and play ball. They have annual tournaments within the park and with other parks from what I could understand. The other courts that we saw that day were similiar to those that you may see in Portland or Atlanta. But this one, as you can see, is quite unique.
