NBA team wears first ever special Chinese New Year jersey

Chinese New Year

A large local Chinese population combined with a growing Chinese interest in basketball has prompted a new show of solidarity between cultures in Northern California

CCTV’s Mark Niu filed this story from Oakland, California.

The Golden State Warriors became the National Basketball Association’s first team ever to wear a one of a kind jersey in celebration of Chinese New Year.

“Just to see the enthusiasm over there and how much they know about the game, you know really it surprised me, so I think it’s pretty cool for the NBA to honor the Chinese New Year,” Golden State Warriors Player, Draymond Green said.

Green’s teammate Harrison Barnes said the uniforms and solidarity with the fans are very special.

“It’s very special, obviously, wear a different jersey to represent a very diverse fan base, we have a lot of Chinese and Asian fans and to be able to do something to honor them is gonna be very special,” Barnes said.

Barnes and the team’s leading scorer Stephen Curry even have Weibo accounts to communicate with Chinese fans.

Klay Thompson, who set an NBA record with 37 points in a single quarter recently held a Weibo question and answer session that received over 2.6 million impressions and 3,500 questions in one day.

“It’s cool how big the NBA’s gotten in China,” Thompson said. “It’s gonna be real awesome and plus the jerseys look pretty cool, so it’s gonna be sweet.”

The NBA launched its first Chinese New Year TV spot along with a charity initiative to support underprivileged communities in China.

“It wasn’t a hard idea to come by in the Bay Area, we have three of the top five Chinese American communities in the United States,” Golden State Warriors President & Chief of Operations Rick Welts said. “It is about trying to deepen our fan base within the Bay Area and hopefully we think over time, our connection to China.”

The jerseys turned out to be so popular that even before the Warriors took to the court with those jerseys for their first game replicas sold out online.

The jerseys, combined with the team having the best record in the NBA, have resulted in record sales of Warriors merchandise.