Pretty much all the rumors swirling around Carmelo Anthony to NYC over Houston center on how NYC is the bigger market and can offer exposure, etc at the global stage. Then comes the NBA movie Amazing, starring Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard. It'll be under a Chinese director, with background settings in Beijing, Shanghai and NYC. I'm surprised Yao is not mentioned in the cast, but ah well. Basically now Carmelo gets a chance to see for himself what "big markets" really are. I'm originally from China, and went back for the first time ever in 11 years last year. My overwhelming feeling was, the Chinese mainlanders are filthy rich nowadays. Of course the middle class by percentage is much smaller than that of the US, but because of the HUGE base numbers, the count of middle class Chinese probably outnumbers the entire US population. With the movie being shot in Beijing and Shanghai, two showcase mega cities in China (each with about 20 million people). Think about it, Yao can be Carmelo's potential conduit to springboard to the real GLOBAL market, instead of arrogant New Yorkers thinking themselves as all-world. And now is an information age, you don't have to be in a certain place to be heard. Every Rocket last year got a shoe deal from the Chinese no matter how obscure their names were to the average Americans. By starring in the movie, Carmelo Anthony definitely gets to see how vibrant things are over there, and with Yao the icon playing for the Rockets, he can potentially get TONS of fringe benefits from the Chinese investors that will NEVER come if he does not play with Yao. And oh, we have no state income tax in Texas. All in all, Yao is the biggest selling point for Carmelo in terms of finances (and of basketball), and the Amazing movie is effectively a recruiting tool for the Rockets to acquire Anthony. My 2c. Link
The Chinese advantage is way overplayed (mostly by Chinese people). Kobe's dunked on Yao plenty of times and he's the most beloved player over there.
Yeah that's cuz Kobe's been around forever and won 5 championships. And in face of issues, you have to take every little thing into consideration, and I've been following all the rumors about Melo there ever was and the Chinese advantage was never mentioned in the national media. Has Carmelo won 5 championships to be beloved over there? His only option is to play with Yao if that's what he really wants.
Oops, there was already a thread about the movie. The title was not very eye catching so I missed it, haha. Lock plz.
They loved AI too, he doesn't have any rings. It's more about attitude/look/game/advertising than it is about playing with Yao. There is some advantage for lesser players, but not for the stars. I don't think Carmelo is looking for a shoe contract from Peak or Li Ning.
They love winners. Ultimate single player band wagon fans (I don't mean that in a bad way either. But if it was Yao vs. Kobe in the NBA Finals (I understand that's not possible right now, obviously) I bet the vast majority would be rooting for Yao.
Shoes are just an example. Of course I'm sure Melo's got either a Nike or Adidas contract. Even the Rockets players Nike wouldn't even take a look at got a shoe deal from the Chinese. Use your imagination and think about other possibilities for a superstar and not just a pair of shoes to wear.
