Shaq and China

NBA star Shaquille O'Neal signed a five-year contract on Monday with Chinese sportswear brand Li-Ning. The new "Shaq Dunkman" line will be marketed exclusively in China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.

Mr. Zhang Zhiyong CEO of Li Ning praised O'Neal as being a wonderful NBA player, with great character, passion and is a hero on the court. Zhang Zhiyong said these traits are not only the traits of Shaq but are reminiscent of oriental heroism and of the Li-Ning brand. Shaq was in Beijing for the announcement and is quoted as saying "I'm excited and happy to finally be able to work with the Li-Ning brand and look forward to a very bright future." I had no idea that Shaq had wanted a contract with a Chinese shoe company.

For those interested, Nike is the leading basketball shoe in China. Adidas is 2nd and Li Ning 3rd. Yao Ming sports Reeboks. Cavaliers' Damon Jones starred in commercials for Li-Ning and wore its shoes in NBA games. In an earlier post I talked about the NBA's growing relations with China, and the article I read today said that more than 1 billion Chinese watched NBA games last year. Basically, everyone in China watched one game.