Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai’s basketball scholarship offers Chinese students opportunity in the US

Joe Tsai, owner of NBA franchise the Brooklyn Nets, has launched a Chinese basketball scholarship programme, aiming to provide an opportunity for a selection of young mainland players to compete and study in the US. A report in Chinese state media outlet Xinhua said on Thursday that the Joe Tsai Basketball Scholarship will subsidise up to 10 Chinese middle school basketball players between the ages of 13 and 15 to study at and play for US boarding schools. Tsai, who graduated from the Lawrenceville School in New Jersey, is executive chairman of the Alibaba Group, which owns the South China Morning Post. “The best way to develop basketball talent is to compete at the highest level,” Tsai said. “The students we select into our programme will have the opportunity to play with some of the best cohorts in their age group. “They will also have access to a great education in a rigorous academic environment and learn life lessons when they are away from home.” The initiative could also go some way to continue the mending of bridges between the NBA and China. The relationship between the NBA and Beijing became strained after the fallout from former Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey’s tweet in support of the Hong Kong protests in October 2019. The programme will be run by Jay Li, a Schwarzman Scholar who worked as Yao Ming’s assistant at the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA), where the Houston Rockets legend is now chairman. Li, who also used to work for the NBA in its New York headquarters, said the purpose of the programme was about more than mending bridges between the NBA and China. “The programme is a good opportunity where youths from both sides can learn from each other and learn from having healthy competition as well,” Li said. “That in itself is very meaningful. Joe Tsai working with Chinese Basketball Association has set up a Joe Tsai Basketball Scholarship for 10 Chinese high school basketball players to come play for US boarding schools. Tsai is a graduate of Lawrenceville School — NetsDaily (@NetsDaily) September 1, 2021 “I haven’t had an official meeting with the NBA but we are very close, very familiar on a personal level, and I think they will be very supportive. We really hope the programme can provide a good place for future Chinese talents to grow and become better.” Xinhua reported the scholarships will provide tuition and housing fees for the selected students until they graduate from high school. Li said the idea for the scholarship came after the success of an original programme in 2019 – led by the CBA – where Tsai paid for four children from Chinese middle schools to study in the US. Ex-NBA star Lin ‘feeling a lot better’ after Covid-19 positive in China “After that, it was our mutual agreement that the programme was better if we run it independently,” Li said. “The CBA’s role in it will become more supportive. That’s where I was selected, appointed by Yao and Joe to run the programme. Then we had Covid so the whole thing got postponed for a year, but it’s been in preparation for a year and a half.” The programme was launched on Wednesday and received over 100 applications in one day, according to Li. The closing date for applications is October 15. “This is totally from the philanthropy of Joe and courtesy of his donation,” Li said. “Joe just has such a big heart for Chinese society and Chinese basketball. He really wants to see how Chinese kids could become better and compete at a good level.” Morey’s controversial tweet in 2019 led to tensions in the NBA’s relationship with China and initially saw the whole league pulled from streaming and television, after NBA commissioner Adam Silver defended Morey’s right to free speech. While the NBA returned to Tencent, the Rockets were blacklisted by both Tencent online and state broadcaster CCTV for all of the 2019-2020 season, with only box scores available online. NBA games only returned to CCTV during the NBA Finals last October, with the channel showing the final two games as LeBron James led the Lakers to the championship. Morey left the Rockets a year later, and the franchise – known as “China’s Team” – finally returned to Chinese screens in January 2021. The only team now blacklisted in China are the Philadelphia 76ers, where Morey was appointed general manager last November. Yao, whose success in the NBA saw the popularity of the sport skyrocket in China, thanked Tsai for his support of the development of Chinese basketball. But Li said the programme is not necessarily looking to unearth the next Yao Ming. “I think Yao is a talent that in his own category,” he said. “I don’t want to set the bar that high that we’re looking for a Yao Ming, it’s the wrong one to have. “We want to create and provide a good programme for aspiring youths, skilled athletes in China, to train and study in the US with international peers so they can learn from each other and compete with each other. “Maybe we’ll find the next Jeremy Lin,” Li added, with a laugh. “I know Joe is very close with Jeremy, and I know him from my days at the CBA. We will welcome any support from basketball legends who also agree with the mission and vision.”