Fact Sheet | Entertainment

HONG KONG, July 17 -- A group of top NBA players including Shareef Abdur-Rahim (Atlanta Hawks), Ray Allen (Milwaukee Bucks), Terrell Brandon (Minnesota Timberwolves) and teammates Vin Baker and Gary Payton (Seattle SuperSonics) will travel to Asia as part of the first-ever NBA Nike World Tour for two exhibition games, it was announced today by Michael Denzel, Vice President and Managing Director, NBA Asia. Click here for information in Chinese on the NBA Nike World Tour-Shanghai.

The tour will travel to Shanghai, China for a game at Shanghai Stadium on Sunday, September 16 and to Taipei for the second game at National Taiwan University Multiple Stadium on Wednesday, September 19. Each game will feature two teams comprised of both NBA players and the top local basketball players. The game in Shanghai will feature the best of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) including future NBA prospect Yao Ming and the first Chinese player in NBA history Wang Zhizhi (Dallas Mavericks).

The NBA and Nike team up to bring the sport of basketball to fans around the world.

This event will mark the first-ever collaboration between the National Basketball Association and Nike to stage exhibition games in Asia as part of their continued commitment to grow the sport of basketball around the world. The tour will provide fans the complete NBA experience including in-arena entertainment, team dancers and mascots.

"The tour offers an exciting opportunity to work with Nike to bring NBA players to Asia for highly competitive exhibition matchups," said Denzel. "It will give fans in Asia an opportunity to see the best basketball in the world first-hand."

"With the eyes of the sporting world looking to Asia, we are pleased to showcase our game and build valuable partnerships which will help develop a foundation for a promising future," said Sam Strang, NBA Vice President, Global Marketing Partnerships.

"Nike is committed to bringing the best of the sport to fans all over the world and this is yet another event that will bring fans closer to the game and give them an exciting opportunity to see the top players from two continents for two great matchups," said Ralph Greene, Nike's Director of Global Basketball.

Other NBA players scheduled to participate in the NBA Nike World Tour include Todd MacCulloch (Philadelphia 76ers), Corey Maggette (Los Angeles Clippers), Cliff Robinson (Phoenix Suns), Damon Stoudamire (Portland Trail Blazers) and Robert Traylor (Cleveland Cavaliers).

In Shanghai, the game will be sponsored by Jitong Network Communications and co-sponsored by Northwest Airlines, IBM, Gatorade, FedEx and Spalding. In Taipei, the game will be sponsored by Nokia and HannStar Displays and co-sponsored by Far Eastone, FedEx, IBM, Snickers, Northwest Airlines, Super Supau and Spalding.