Word: yao
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...style voting system. Deng Xiao-Ping's pragmatism, as well as redefining socialist economics, has brought about new understandings of democracy and politics for China's youth. The "Me Generation" have certainly hit the right political buttons so far, prompting governmental commitments to keeping them "rich and happy." Mingyi Yao, Melbourne...
...boss Yan can now get by in Italian and engineer Michelotti often throws a few Mandarin phrases into conversation with his colleagues in Wenling. He's also begun to pick up certain words they keep repeating. Chinese Professor Brezzi explains the difference between "we should" (yinggai) and "we must" (yao). "I always hear 'yao,'" says Michelotti. That's a reminder of who's in charge...
That's why five years ago this month, as Yao prepared to become the NBA's number one pick, Yi Jianlian, then either 15 or 18, sweated through drills and games in a Shanghai gym, one of an elite group of players from all over east Asia. He was participating in an annual Adidas all star camp. He was a revelation, "the best player in the camp that year by far," says former NBA all star Detlef Schrempf, who now works for Adidas (which took over Reebok in 2005). These all star camps are "very important parts of our marketing...
...though, doesn't mean he's a lock to sign. The next year, in 2003, Nike invited Yi to its annual, one week "Big Man" camp, where again he impressed scouts who, as the NBA has gone ever more global, watch these camps with intense interest. Reebok had signed Yao - a huge coup in the global marketing war - but by the fall of 2003, Nike struck back and signed Yi to a six year promotional deal for an undisclosed...
...correct. Yi is the second first round pick from China in NBA history, but he won't be the last. And for the sneaker companies and the NBA, the more the merrier. Consider that when Yi squares off next year for the first time in an NBA game against Yao and the Rockets, that will likely be the single most watched basketball game in human history as it is beamed back to their home country. It's not for nothing that Adidas and Nike believe their commercial futures lay in China. It is, you might say, a slam dunk...