Why is Basketball SO Popular in China?
Vložit
- čas přidán 7. 06. 2024
- Basketball is INSANELY popular in China. It's the largest sport in the country, and the NBA is the most watched sports league in China. But this extremely western sport seems odd in the anti-western China. Why is it that basketball grew to become the most played and watched sport in the nation?
Brain4Breakfast's video: • Why Football Failed (i...
Subscribe if you haven't already: / h0ser
#countryball #nba #china
Music: • Video
Countryball, Polandball. but also Chinese sports, Chinese culture, China economy, China western, China basketball. NBA, Hong Kong, Lebron james. And Alternate History, Alternate Future of the world, American Americans, Rise and fall and rise and fall UNSTATED
Very good! American college professor now settled in China, and basketball is literally all my male students do in their spare time (alongside video games like League of Legends). These kids are ferocious about it and I love watching them.
LMAO what is your favourited video playlist!?!? 😂😂😂😂😂
@@poopsiedoodlesp8506 take his comment with a grain of salt
That's so cool thanks for the comment !
@@thatamericangamer7230 how come?
Sounds like some CCP Propaganda
5:20 The "Rockets" in this case refers to ballistic missiles, It is literally the team of the Chinese PLA Strategic Missile Command.
Now I’m laughing at imaginary fans making rocket puns.
Hahahaha yeah The Rocket Force is it's own branch of military too!
When I was in Beijing, it never occurred to me why there were still many basketball courts around. It seemed normal to see them as an American.
How was it? Did you have a good time?
places I wanted to visit:
California - State
China - Country
Tokyo - City
Africa - Continent
@@Tethloach1Morroco, Ghana, Sudan and South Africa are all practically different worlds though.
In fairness, military and state institutions having sports teams is actually quite common in post-Soviet bloc countries.
And tennis is also pretty popular in China.
In America as well!
I mean the US army and Navy have football teams
@@spartanx9293 Yeah, but they’re not quite front and center in American sports leagues.
On the other hand the best (association) football team in most post Soviet countries are gonna be the ones that were for the Army or other gov’t institutions during the communist era.
@@awijaya2116 Even in non communist countries state run and University teams were the norm in most sports before proffesionalism in sport became more widespread in the 80's.
@@awijaya2116 They were at one point. College football used to be the king of American sports, and Army and Navy were really good teams back in the day.
The army playing basketball isn’t so ludicrous it’s kinda like the military colleges in America having football teams
..or the fact that the bulk of armies in the world tend to play rugby.
Yeah, but most soldiers in the Army can’t just join the West Point Football Team. You have to be a student at West Point.
I was literally gonna say in college sports it happens all the time.
Yeah but they are college students playing sports on the side. The military playing pro sports is weird because their main job is being soldiers and playing basketball is a recreational activity for them. Whereas the rest of the pro players, they are full time basketball players. That’s why it’s weird
They do have basketball too. Army and Navy play in the Patriot League, and Air Force plays basketball in the Mountain West Conference.
I'd have to say that the Chinese obsession with basketball started long before Yao Ming. Having travelled to the diaspora and hearing accounts from the PRC from relatives as far back as the 1980s, it seems that playing basketball and watching it on TV via legitimate means or other channels (in the PRC) was a popular pastime. Even in the U.S., I've observed the popularity of basketball in various Chinese communities pre-Yao.
IIRC, when Sesame Street did their "Big Bird in China" movie, they had Big Bird meet the most popular basketball player in the PRC at the time. Dude had at least 6 or more inches on Big Bird.
Gotta see that movie.
I agree. My parents before they left china watched Michael Jordan and his finals appearances in 97 and 98. Jordan was extremely popular there
The appreciate the beauty of the sport without biases other groups may have. Basketball supremacy is inevitable lol.
@@lik7953 I was thinking the same. Jordan made the NBA global and China was part of that globalization.
Basketball and countryball match made in heaven
Yo pak mapping u Pakistani?😳
@@noneimportant5951 probably
HOW DO I KEEP FINDING YOUR COMMENTS
IS THIS A FKN JOJO REFERENCE?
I've always wondered why basketball is so popular in China
are u subbed
@@h0ser 👍
@not tyre Okay?
cause poor
@not tyre It's even more popular in Canada
Pretty accurate video! Just to add another piece of information on why soccer is not as popular as basketball in China - the time zone difference. The Europe soccer games usually play during the midnight in China, which is totally a disaster. The NBA though, usually play during morning/noon in China, which is not so good but still bearable. I used to skip my morning class to watch the game between Rockets and Lakers :)
One considerable stimulation for Chinese youngmen to play basketball is Japan comic slam dunk スラムダンク, which also makes Kanagawa one of most popular Japan tour destination for Chinese.
As for nba, Jordan Kobe James Curry and other stars are widely adored by Chinese youngmen. When I was in school i saw most of boys in class had nba stars' photo in their pencilboxes and they sometimes would fight after arguement who is better.I can still remember my two roomates in law school refused to speak to each other for several days when James won champeon over Curry in 2016 even though they were so close that we once suspect they were gay couple.Actually there is nbamania in China.
The world is much more tightly linked than some people imagine and ordinary people in China also lead ordinary lives.
Great video! Keep up with your work!
Great as always
Great video, I love this format
“Yao Ming, arguably the best player in professional basketball” and “You can play with, 2, 8, even up to 20 players” had me dead.
Well 5v5 with with 5subs per team and you have 20 players. But yeah your not having 20 man pick up games.
I'm pretty sure he meant in China
Not too uncommon with early development of sports to have military teams early on (before professionalization really starts). The British FA Cup had a Royal Engineer team, etc.
so you're telling me...
*china be ballin?*
4:34 well its not as absurd as you make it out to be, we have army vs navy games in American fooltball. Idk about professional teams playing against them tho.
True, although it is college football not nfl since the army and navy teams are from the branch military academies.
_"Ballin' since the Xing dynasty"_ should be the CBA's tagline
"This seems absolutely absurd."
Westpoint is a Division I football team in the NCAA...
So weird how Chinas most popular sport is Basketball and Japans is Baseball. As an American, this brings a smile to my face.
PS Ohtani is changing the game forever. Congrats 🇯🇵
The army, Police etc having professional sports teams was common in the USSR. Heck, the top russian team now CSKA playing in Euroleageu is such a relic - the letters stand for Central Sports Club of the Army. Giving fake jobs in the army to athletes was a way to have a professional sports team when such things were not allowed.
It was the norm in most sports before the 80's even in non communist countries. Remember in places like Europe before the 80's and 90's tv money wasn't really a big thing in sports so teams worked on low budgets so state and University teams were dominant. Also for a long time the Olympics did not allow full time proffesionals to compete, thus many countries kept sports "Amateur" not just communist countries. Its just that they perfected the system
i love your content you should upload more frequently
Now, try to discuss Philippines' obsession on basketball. Basketball's fame in China or any "tall-people's country" is easy, but why Philippines?
As a Filipino myself probably American colonization and influence is the biggest factor
US 50 year rule
China is considered a "tall people country"?
Imagine being suck on sport u obsessed with
@@Soyuzuuu Just being curious, are other US popular sports like baseball or football also popular in Philippines?
Very nice video, now I know about chinese basketball
these shorts are so entertaining, they always make my day better
"If theres one thing China doesn't lack RIGHT NOW, its people". Make a video on Chinese demographics.
they lack babies, but they have a surplus of Seniors xD
@@luisch1708 You'd be surprised by the elderly of East Asia, but yeah.
The real reason it all started was an idea that playing basketball will make your children grow taller, so Chinese parents like to send their kids to play basketball. That started the ball rolling.
There’s also the Singapore influence. Singapore served as the role model for China, and they also prefer basketball over football, or soccer.
In fact, space and specialised equipments are probably not the real reason, at all. If you have known about popularity of soccer around the world, you would know even in the favela, there are plenty of soccer played, because it needed a ball, that’s it. It can adapt into any amount of space it needs. Basketball required a flat, bouncy surface and hoops. Basketball required plenty of specialised equipments and its own court, admittedly much less than tennis, for instance, but still. It also has the advantage of being able to be played outdoor and indoor. Indoor tennis and soccer isn’t exactly ideal, broken windows and all of that. It’s having the wealth to be able to equip courts with hoops, making nice surface for ball to bounce and nice indoor arena that allowed basketball to prosper in China. In less developed countries, soccer rules, because it really don’t need anything at all to be played. Still, the main reason remains that parents think playing basketball make their kids taller.
Basketball also take over elsewhere as quality of life improves, due to American culture popularity. That also played a part. Just look at what the hip Chinese kids are wearing. They are all street clothes style, from America, hoody, skating, basketball sneakers. Hell, all of the soccer players and even Lewis Hamilton dressed in street clothes. Basketball, which pioneered all of this street clothes, will eventually take over.
You are right about football, we play anywhere, anytime. Even kicking about a smooth rock on the way to throw the trash outside
I think you forget the mega city urbanism aspect of it
Europe loves soccer and it’s the wealthiest area on Earth
Space requirements are partly why Asia tends to go for badminton instead of tennis too 🏸
@@ne270 Yeah by grouping all European nations into one 'Europe' that would be the case for 'America' and 'Asia' as well.
Can confirm. I spent at least an hour everyday playing basketball with my classmates after school when I lived in China. It was probably the most popular sports for middle and high schoolers.
hoser man I love your narration and topic variety. IDK why I chose to comment under this video cuz I've watched like 100 of them and tried to like them all but I've decided to drop an algo comment for the future videos that I'll watch. Thank you.
only 9000 views?! now this is underrated!
Aye. Good to see houston in a video.
Philippines really likes Basketball as well along with Boxing, and China likes Basketball, seems interesting
Because of Manny Pacquiao
@@TheWaynester101 that's boxing yes
Full Passion: Philippines
Full Investment: China
If you combine both passion and investment: Lithuania
Jordan clarkson
I liked this one is a really nice topic
Nice, good old youtube short docos.
Man this channel slaps
I don’t know if it could be substantiated… but I’ve read before that there are more Rockets fans in China then there are NBA fans in the US.
I recently found your channel, I really enjoy your content.
PD: it’s good to see a b4b reference
At no point in his career was yao ming even considered in the conversation for MVP or actual best basketball player in the world
Yes he was, but what do you consider MVP contention? Top 3 voting? Top 5? His career was short because of genetic caused injuries, but in his short time he was dominant. For a couple years he was considered the best big in basketball with Shaq. If he and Tracy McGrady didn’t get hurt so much, Yao would have had a great career, probably 2 rings, and would have gone down as a top 25 player of all time. He was that good. I am black and a Lakers fan, just so you don’t think I’m being biased.
He was never a legit top 10 player in the league… he was a great player who was clearly an all star but that is all. He is definitely more know for what he meant and did for the game as a global ambassador.
he fking destroyed shaq what do u mean??? How many newbies could actually go toe to toe with the beast man called Shaq??
@@Eastra3top 30 but no not top 3
@@Eastra3dumb
INTERESTING TY
4:50 someone isn’t aware of Eastern European sports clubs. Red army (cska) still has a team in several different cities.
Great video, makes me wonder if the average american knows about that (And if,they are probably not to happy about that.)
Cry-baby LeBron and the NBA leadership are a bunch of lactose traitors. They're not alone either. Plenty of tech companies, etc as well.
People can try and complain about Andrew Carnegie, Rockefeller, etc but they were too patriotic and thankful for the country that gave them such opportunity to ever think of selling out on behalf of one of the America's enemies or rivals just for even more money.
@@robertortiz-wilson1588 Lebron doesn’t owe the USA anything, 70 years ago he would have been a victim of Jim Crow Laws. None of you put in the work to gain the talent that made him wealthy. That’s very communist of you to claim the effort of another man just cause you share a birth country with him.
@@robertortiz-wilson1588 Stop copy and pasting your opinion it's not that important
I am from Finland which its basketball was founded in 1939 and it is weird. First off there are 2 mvps. Which is foreign and homeland. Also there is promotion and relegation which is really a football/ soccer thing.
I played basketball in Beijing on their famous outdoor courts (I forget the name) their with players from the Chinese Olympic mens and womens teams. It was a lot of fun and I think about it often! I also met Stephan Marbury there as he was playing for the Beijing Ducks!
Makes sense why the NBA tells people to be quiet about the Hong Kong protest.
I’ve seen the mall where Curry was in Wuhan, a couple of years ago
surprisingly interesting history!
This guy is one of the most underrated content creators on CZcams
It was brain4 breakfast until he passed away
八一(bayi) means 8-1 and is in PLA flags so the 八一rocket is the team of the PLA rocket force
I have to say, the huge popularity of the anime Slam Dunk in the late 90s also had a great impact for the pre-Yao time... until all foreign anime was forced off TV broadcasts.
It reminds me of the fact that Baseball is Japan’s most popular sport.
6:24 Bruh 20vs20 half court games is no joke its real. In my school theres only one basketball court but everyday after school the entire school comes to play. You don't know what its like to be quadriple teamed constantly.
music goes soo hard bro
I know China has most population in the cities but if they somehow built many more football stadiums they would be decent at football considering the best football countries have many football pitches in their countries
Not that many parents would want their children to be sportsperson in China, since other occupations are way more achievable and sustainable. So, the talents generally not flow in things like football.
I'm Brazilian and here we have a single court on every school with multiple uses, we play futsal, voleyball, handball, basketball, and some people dance on them. I think most Brazilians boys grow up playing futsal in schoold during the PE class.
They dont care bout soccer bruh they all about hooping
I mean even though they are obsessed with Basketball and the NBA, their talent level isn't the same as other basketball playing nations. Their national team is ranked even below NZ, Nigeria, Argentina and Brazil. All nations which don't have basketball as their major #2 sport. The CBA was also considered a retirement home for washed up NBA players until they banned foreigners recently. So even with more pitches I don't think they would suddenly become an Asian powerhouse in Assc football either. There's a lot more corruption indemic within the sports organizations in the country.
@@RumRayven disagree. With Chinas money and population an interest in football and money into infrastructure would surely make them rise in ⚽️. The issue is you look at the number of registered footballers in China, it’s an issue of it not being big enough and development not good enough. Here’s the thing, I don’t want to be racist. But it’s very clear Asians are not suited for basketball. Assc Football on the other hand…i think if the sport was more popular and had more money in asia as a whole in general, we would have seen an Asian country win a World Cup by now, we have already seen it with the womens. ⚽️ is a sport much more suited for Asians than 🏀. The fact that basketball is so popular in China is one of the biggest reasons why they are also so bad in ⚽️. For a country to be good at a sport they usually need three things. Money and passion, and population. You have money for development, passion for the sport and a big population = a lot of people playing and lot of development. However I just don’t think this applies much to the sport of basketball for Asian nations. China will never win a basketball World Cup. Again I don’t want to be racist, but if you want a better example, tell me if the Philippines will ever be a basketball powerhouse in a country where the average male height is 5’2. And Filipinos love basketball I tell you. Too bad basketball is a unique sport in the fact that the unfortunate reality is height is one of if not the the biggest factor to succeed because you are literally shooting a ball into a hole in the air. It’s a tall man’s sport and I don’t want to crush dreams but I feel bad for any short man playing basketball, you would be so much better suited for another sport. In fact it makes me angry why basketball is so popular In many asian countries or is growing at a high rate in many asian countries because it is just slowing down the development of ⚽️ in Asia. A continent where the potential for ⚽️ is definitely there. I mean you look at other Asian countries like japan and Korea who are developing the sport but still aren’t as good as Europeans or south americans, their development of assc football is staggered because of baseball. But I’m not angry about this because baseball is also very suited for Asians, and we can clearly see with the MVP of mlb and japan a baseball powerhouse.
To be fair, in college football, army, navy, and Air Force academies all have Div 1 football teams.
Based on which sport is easier to play it is definitely football as u can play football with anything round and u don’t need to have goals h can just do kicky uppys or use two trees or two pipes
Hyped to see basketball at the 2024 Olympics us vs China
😂I really have some weird feeling ever since I started to play baseball, and felt so baffled on why among the 4 major sport league of the US, only the MLB is so slow on making its major appearances on China's major sport networks(CCTV and regional channels), like I gave up on basketball before university cuz I hurt my knee, and all I can do now is some shooting around, but the courts will mostly have pick-up games that I couldn't join.
Man I wish baseball will soon catch on its own popularity, with some help of a new star from CN.(true even in America it is literally pastime already😂)
1:54 He do have some cake tho
Philippines is more basketball and NBA crazy than China. But China got the money, that’s why the NBA caters more to them with preseason games and basketball camps. And nba players with their basketball shoe companies tours.
Tbh PBA is the 2nd oldest basketball org in the world, yet we have yet to produce a good basketball player that can competently play in the world stage. Also PBA kinda suck.
Lol. China has more potential and more Asian Powerhouse than the Philippines that time. While Philippines still stucked at old school rules and basketball playing style. Pity
Cry-baby LeBron and the NBA leadership are a bunch of lactose traitors. They're not alone either. Plenty of tech companies, etc as well.
People can try and complain about Andrew Carnegie, Rockefeller, etc but they were too patriotic and thankful for the country that gave them such opportunity to ever think of selling out on behalf of one of the America's enemies or rivals, even for more money.
@@mikhailarcade3254wellll what about now? 😂
The military groups starting leagues isn’t that uncommon as many others have stated. He also says it would be weird if the Red Sox played against the us navy. Which yeah it would. But there’s a big football bowl game every year where the us army team plays the navy team lmao and they both play other teams throughout the season that aren’t different arms of the military
I'm from China. I live in a university because my dad works there. There are around 30 basketball courts within 5 mins walk from my home. It is in the south of China so people play all the time. From 6am to 11pm, whenever I wanted to play, there will always be someone playing there.
Filipinos also watch basketball but I watch it rarely
One addition, the CPC army encourages its soldier to join sports from red army age, including volley ball and basketball. So if you travel back to the sino-japanese war time, the place has most basketball ground is likely under CPC control. The 81 basketball team dominates CBA in 1995-2000.
The US military doesn't have pro basketball franchises but the military academies have college teams. Not sure how well they'd fare against an NBA or NFL team tho.
“Why is Basketball SO Popular in China”
*Laughs in the Philippines*
Philippines was an American colony, but China didn't have that influence. But surprisingly they ended up loving basketball anyways
@@GIN.356.A Its not about being an america colony because it became popular way after america left the PH
@@omnisciencexx790 american influence never left tho, that was my point. Just like a lot of former colonies, even after gaining independence they remain in the same sphere of influence of the colonial power. Just look at countries in africa, like algeria, congo, etc. They speak french, consume french media, and immigrate to france. Same with India adn the UK, and we both know how much pinoys love american pop culture and how many of them moved to the USA lol
Military teams were common in the USSR. The Soviet national hockey team was essentially the Red Army team
this is so good
4:38
I mean, Army and Navy academies and play against our colleges in the NCAA.
Born in China, can’t play basket ball at all. (In fact I can’t even play any ball game)😂.
Why
@@byzen23 when it comes to hobbies it varies between person and person.
@@TomBear78 True
The Bayi Rockets (the army team) no longer plays in the CBA. They dissolved the team in 2020.
many of the chinese military teams are dissolving. like the bayi volleyball team. something about focusing more on actual military stuff or something.
To be fair, in the United States, we do have the Army, the Navy, and the Air force compete at the university level through their academies.
I'd like to add the Slam Dunk animie which certainly inspired my generation.
The Qing dysnasty will never be ballin'.
The Qing dynasty
4:34 doesnt the nfl have a match between army vs navy yearly?
That’s college football. The US Military Academy/West Point and The US Naval Academy play. In the United States there’s College Athletics and the pros. In college Athletics college football and Men’s college basketball reign supreme. I live in the southeastern US and college football is the sport that reigns supreme. (We have NFL teams but they aren’t sports dynasties)
@@masonpyle5929 ah ok
Philippines: I'm a joke to you?
where's the background music from?
young thug
ΤΗΑΤ was something I didn't know! I mean, sure, China to have a certain love for basket - but MOST popular sport?!
yes it is
I mean its not like our military academies don't play other college teams, but you're right the actual actual military doesn't play against pro teams.
this video didn't even mention the biggest kickstarter for Chinese basketball market. The anime, SlamDunk. This one is even bigger than Jordan back in 90s, then is Yao Ming. I won't admit this vedio is 100% accurate.
4:45 so true lmao
I mean, in the US the Air Force, Army, and Navy have college football teams
Philippines love Basketball
I am from Kentucky and we are pretty obsessed with basketball. The curious wrinkle is few people I know follow the NBA, vast majority focus on NCAA with UK and UL. Do the Chinese have any idea we Americans show up in as great as numbers in the stand with arguably more passion to watch "amateur" basketball?
This explains everything
Awesome video but outside of China Yao was never in the argument for best in the league
AMAZING
US military academies play civilian universities in sports. It's not really so inconceivable that the Chinese military plays in a professional league.
3:07 lol
But I mean the army, navy, and air force do play collegiate sports
Not to mention Linsanity. That’s why the camps are there. Once there is another Chinese star in the League there will be another boom. The league is starving for one
Jlin is not chinese
How do they even see the court tho if there eyes are so slanted
Very well considering Yao's career.
College sports have navy vs air force. Granted they are schools but it's not a foreign concept
The concept of military affiliated teams is not weird at all. Ever watch college football? The annual Army-Navy game? America does it too.
The different branches of the military have sports teams. They play against universities.
a college sports team for students at the academies is a lot different than having the military operate a career professional sports franchise
I would be a lot more interested in watching military branches duke it out on the field than some tall guys.
even if china dont have youtube they have bilibili and some other video sharing sites! while the other parts of world including your place is monopolized by youtube like not have alternatives, bilibili is second most visited video sharing site after youtube!
The military teams isn’t too weird, the US Army, Navy and Air Force all have sports teams and used to dominate sports
tru but they’re specifically the collegiate teams of the military schools not a professional organization
This video's social credit can send my kids to school!
It's not crazy to think of the military having their own sports leagues, the all of the US military branches have their own football teams
The concept of china having military teams isn’t weird, collage football has all branches