Shanghai

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In the Game: Pelicans vs. Rockets 10-9-16

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Master Chefs: Pelicans Learn to Make Chinese Favorites

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Pelicans Practice in Shanghai: Day 2

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Buddy Hield Visits NBA Play Zone

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2016 NBA Global Games Fan Appreciation Day

SHANGHAI – Anthony Davis somehow grew another inch in the past year – he’s now 6-foot-11 – yet he had the same general reaction many do when he met Yao Ming for the first time in person Saturday, on the rooftop of the Ritz-Carlton in Shanghai.

“He’s very tall,” Davis noted of the 7-6 Yao. “I thought I was tall, but he’s very tall.”

The three-time New Orleans Pelicans All-Star joined Yao and fellow 7-foot-plus Hall of Fame center Dikembe Mutombo for a half-hour special that will air on NBA TV. The upcoming 30-minute show is appropriately titled “Centers of the Universe.”

It was a chance for Davis to discuss the game with two all-time greats, while appreciating a breathtaking view of China’s largest city. Yao is an owner of the professional basketball franchise based here, the Shanghai Sharks, who faced the Houston Rockets in a preseason game this week.

“We just talked about basketball – when we first started playing, how the game is changing,” Davis recalled of his conversation with Yao. “All type of stuff about the game of basketball. It was a great time talking with Yao and Dikembe. It was a great experience for me, the first time meeting Yao. It was a fun experience and I had a lot of fun talking to them.”

Prior to Saturday’s Pelicans practice at the Mercedes-Benz Arena, Davis and other Pelicans players spoke with a large contingent of Chinese media. Here are a few other highlights from the media availability:

Asked to discuss the impact of Hall of Fame locks Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett retiring from the NBA this summer, Davis said, “They are two different players. Tim was more fundamental, footwork, bank shot. Both won rings. KG he was all around the floor. We’re going to miss them both, two talented players. It’s tough to see them go – two guys I learned a lot from, two guys I watched over the course of their career and tried to add parts to my game. It’s going to be tough to see them not in the NBA anymore.” …

Pelicans rookie guard Buddy Hield on China: “I love it. A lot of big, tall buildings. The people are really nice, the fans are really good. I’m just happy to see how basketball is spread around the world. I love China so much. I want to come back… I love Chinese food, especially the shrimp fried rice.” …

Alvin Gentry on New Orleans’ objective to reach the postseason in 2016-17: “We want to be a playoff team. I think it’s important for us to strive to be a playoff team. Once you get in the playoffs, obviously anything can happen. If we stay healthy, and everything goes according to plan, then we would like to be one of the 16 teams that are in the playoffs.”

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Anthony Davis meets Yao Ming for first time in China, during filming of NBA TV special

New Orleans rookie guard Buddy Hield – a native of the Bahamas, one of five international players on the Pelicans’ preseason roster – provides the second Pelicans.com “postcard” from the team during its week-long visit to China. Hield was a guest of honor at the brand-new NBA Play Zone, essentially a Chuck E. Cheese-type restaurant and facility for children who love the game and the NBA.

What’s good, Pelicans fans? It’s Buddy Fresh, coming to you from our Global Games trip to China.

We’ve now been here for a few days, and it’s been amazing to visit China for the first time, seeing all the love the people here have and passion for basketball. We’d heard about it before, but now you get to see it for yourself up close and connect with the fans. The fans here obviously don’t get to see you every day, because it’s a long ways from America. It’s great for us to be able to give back in this way to the game of basketball.

On Friday, I joined Eric Gordon of the Rockets at an event for kids at the first-ever NBA Play Zone, which opened earlier this year in Shanghai. It was unbelievable to be around the kids – the majority of them were under 10 years old – because you see how much they keep up with basketball, and to realize that they even recognize us at such a young age. It shows how connected they are with the players in America. We are role models, so we’re trying to do whatever we can to inspire them. It’s great to see that the game is growing so much.

When I was growing up, I remember seeing famous athletes come and spend time with us in the Bahamas. Now it’s my turn to do the same, because kids look up to us. They were excited just to be in our presence, and it made it so much fun to spend some time with them.

When we were at the NBA Play Zone, I saw local kids who were only 5 or 6 that had incredible ballhandling skills, especially for someone that young. That’s great, because it shows the intense level of training they get here. Kids want it. They want to be the next Steph Curry, Kobe Bryant or Dwyane Wade of the world. Like kids everywhere, the young players here just want to follow in those footsteps.

I’ve also been meeting many, many fans in Shanghai. They’ve been so friendly and so supportive. Outside our hotel, there are always people waiting for autographs or to take pictures, so I’ve stopped by and said hello as much as possible on my way to practices and events. I’ve even gotten some of them to shout out the Bahamas in videos I’ve taken with my phone… 242 to the world!

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Pelicans postcard from China: Buddy Hield

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Pelicans Practice in Shanghai

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