Saturday 4 July 2015

Doing the Yao, as Song and Satnam blaze new trails

With the 2015 NBA and NHL championships done and dusted, it was recently the turn of the life-altering sports ritual that is the DraftEssentially, it is the gathering of the best young talents for plum pickings by executives and bosses of both leagues’ pro teams. It’s a process that was quite fittingly likened to by an SB journo/blogger as being a “gathering of tribal leaders. Strangely apt as she went on the describe how the leaders would pick the best talents to be their warriors who from the moment they don the tribal insignia, their identity changes.

Of course, the draft season is nothing new with the NHL and NBA drafts being a time-honoured tradition in American sports. It is the occasion that promotes the work of scouts who are always on the lookout for that hidden gem with them mad ball skills or the magician with the puck on ice. 

So why were the 2015 NBA and NHL drafts so memorable, and potentially relevant for us in Asia compared to the deluge of football stories we immerse ourselves in? After all, as Adriana Lima puts it, fútbol - NOT soccer - is a stratospherically larger sport with an influence that touches every square inch of this blue Earth. And probably enjoys intergalactic relations too, as I am convinced they play 11-a-side on Luke Skywalker's Tatooine and on Leah’s home planet Alderaan before the Death Star destroyed it… 

But rather than unwillingly dive into an socio-sporting anthropology debate one might not ever find a way out of, I think it’s worth pointing out the two significant pieces of news that emerged from both the NBA and NHL drafts this year. First, on June 25, India leaped onto the NBA map when the Dallas Mavericks selected the first Indian-born in the draft. Two days later, the New York Islanders chose the first Chinese-born player in the NHL draft. 


Reaching Out

Now it is worth noting that while both sports have had depth in international talent for some time, what is interesting is the diversity with Asia now providing its own, albeit smaller, share of talent to contribute to the draft pool. 

Yes, yes, the draft is all about scouting the best talent, but one cannot but be fascinated that the search is expanding beyond the traditional sphere of nations, particularly and especially for the NHL. But unlike their court-bound brethren in sleeveless tops and shorts, the NHL has almost always been and continues somewhat to be seen as being predominantly Caucasian, making this year’s draft all the more noteworthy. Compared to their lesser-dressed ball-dribbling hoop-hound brothers and sisters, it has been harder to break the ice in the NHL. Begrudgingly for someone who LOVES ice hockey way more than basketball, the NBA has been the more successful, making much bigger, bolder and faster global strides than their wrapped-up ice-hugging comrades. 


Moreover, the NBA’s international appeal is significantly well-spread thanks to the constant supply and export of mega personalities since the late 1960s and early 1970s. This thanks to names like Shaq or Wilt Chamberlain and Larry Bird before him; the magic Lakers era with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson, and finally the extraordinary man who singlehandedly Space Jammed basketball to a whole new plane of existence. His was a reign so supreme that even marketing executives at the world’s biggest sport football, were taking notes and wanted to be like Mike. That Mike, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, is of course, none other than, Michael Jeffrey Jordan

His Airness and his extraordinary band of brothers of past and present, have practically redefined how we look, watch and understand basketball, inspiring a new generation of would-be NBA players. 





Doing the Yao, all the way from Punjab

In Asia, while we were drowning in the greatness that is his Airness, in walked the 7ft 6in Mandarin speaking prodigal son of Shanghai, Yao Ming, who was the 1st overall, 1st round pick for the Houston Rockets in 2002. For Asian athletes, it really does not get any bigger than Yao, cutting a towering figure both physically and symbolically. 

Granted Yao Ming is not the first Asian with other players like Wataru Misaka (the first non-Caucasian Japanese-American point guard selected by the New York Knicks in 1947), Raymond Townsend (the first and only Filipino-descent NBA player from late 1970s) and Wang Zhizhi, who all came before Yao. But unlike his predecessors, Yao’s phenomenal prowess on court had ushered in the Ming dynasty era for the NBA, coincidentally in the new millennia. He single-handedly legitimised Asian basketball players and cemented NBA’s bridge into the Far East, especially when one considers that there are now more NBA fans in China than there are people in the USA. Yao’s impact is monumental. 

Anyhow, Basketball's global appeal is an ever expanding one, hitting all-time highs with an international pool of talent especially when considering that the 2014-2015 NBA season had a total of more than 100 international players, from 37 countries and territories. That is nations from as far as Bosnia and Herzegovina, to the Joga Bonito footballing nation of Brazil; even to the rugby-mad outback of Australia and the land of the All-Blacks Kiwiland, New Zealand. 


Aside from that already impressive statistic, what took place at the 2015 NBA draft on the New York evening of June 25 is at the very least, defining. The Dallas Mavericks with the 52nd overall pick out of the 60-pick draft called out the name of a young 7ft 2in 19-year old from the small village of Ballo Ke in India’s Punjab state just east of the Pakistan border. 

His name, Satnam Singh Bhamara


His selection is profound in that he is the first Indian-born player ever to be selected in the NBA draft, made even more significant just three months after Sacremento Kings signed Canadian Sim Bhullar, who became the first player of Indian-descent to sign an NBA contract and play in an NBA game. 


What was also interesting is unlike the other draft candidates who make their way through the collegiate system, Satnam was a member of the IMG Academy and part of a scholarship programme with 28 other student-cum-athletes from his native homeland. That and his selection is groundbreaking because it has opened up a whole new pool of potential talent from India in the future. 

What is also fascinating is how it all started for Satnam who after being exposed to the NBA a decade ago started modelling his game off of Dwight Howard and, more importantly perhaps, Yao Ming. Once again underlining the impact Yao has had on Asian basketball. The big man from Punjab now has the opportunity to do what Yao Ming did, this time for the vast cricket-mad Indian sub-continent and with an impact that could potentially reverberate even further. But I am getting ahead of myself.. 


Skating to a new Song

From the warm, sweat-drenched Basketball courts, something else was brewing in the colder icier climes of the NHL ice. When we in Asia think of hockey, we think of field hockey, played on a green grassy synthetic astro turf. In some psyches, ice hockey is the poncey version North Americans, Northern and Eastern Europeans, Baltic and Nordic nations and Russia play in the absence of grass, albeit with significantly more speed. 

Compared to the NBA, change comes at a much different pace in the NHL. It is unfair to compare apples to ice-cubes, but it’s hard to ignore the fact that African-American players had already begun to appear in the NBA as early as the 1950s with Chuck Cooper (the first to be drafted in the NBA), Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton (the first player to feature in the NBA finals) and Earl Lloyd (the first to play in the NBA) amongst those blazing the way. 

By comparison, it would take more than 30 years before the first African-American appeared in the NHL when Val James played with the Buffalo Sabres in 1982, though Canadian Willie O’Ree holds the accolade for being the first to break the colour barrier with the Boston Bruins in 1961. But, statistically, in a 30-year period since O'Ree broke the ice, up to the mid 1980s only 15 African-Americans or African-Canadians ever made it to the league. 

That ice-scape has however changed dramatically in the last two few decades, with more players of African-descent now not only active in the NHL, but playing pivotal roles in their teams and for their nations, like Montreal Canadiens’ alternate captain PK Subban and 2015 Stanley Cup champs Chicago Blackhawksdefenseman Johnny Oduya, to name a few.

So: two days after Satnam Singh Bhamara became the first Indian to be picked in the NBA draft, and a year after the Washington Capitals selected Australian Nathan Walker -  when the New York Islanders chose the 6ft Beijinger defenseman Andong Song on a balmy Florida evening of Saturday June 27 as their 2015 NHL draft-pick; China had slapshot itself onto the media spotlight in ice-hockey countries and ice hockey hit the mainstream national Chinese media. That's big given that ice hockey had only up to that point been popular in the country’s northeastern-most province of Heilongjiang. The headlines were fitting with Song dubbed “po bing zhe” - the ice breaker


Now it is worth pointing out that Song is not the first Asian to break into the NHL. That merit belongs to a Chinese-Canadian named Larry Kwong who donned the New York Rangers kit in 1948. Though his shift lasted literally a New York minute, he left a legacy that has endured for well over six decades. Since Kwong, there have been others, notably Korean Jim Paek (the first Asian-born player to twice win the Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1990s), Hiroki Miura (first Japanese player ever drafted into the NHL with the Montreal Canadiens in 1992, though he never actually played a game) and Yutaka Fukufuji (the first Japanese Asian-trained goaltender drafted by the LA Kings in 2004). 

That Song is the first Chinese-born player drafted to the NHL is significant and could not have come at a more opportune time for China. For this sports-crazed nation who incidentally is also bidding to host the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, Song’s NHL draft-pick has not only boosted their Olympic bid. It's also potentially ignited and lent the necessary weight toward the nation’s drive to diversify, intensify and amplify its winter sports portfolio, especially when compared to its neighbours, Japan and Korea who already have a solid winter-sports programme. Last week's draft-pick decision has been seen as an important boost to China's sporting ambitions. 

Whilst it is still a long way off before Song actually hits the ice in an NHL kit with Song looking to continue playing at another top prep school and earn a NCAA (collegiate championships) spot for the 2015/16 season, the impact of the decision is already leading some seasoned NHL observers and pundits to equate Song's potential influence and impact on Chinese ice hockey as being as profound as Yao Ming’s. 

While there is real cause for enthusiasm in China, it is a two-way street with some observers also suggesting that through these turn of events, the NHL is taking cue from its ball-dribbling basket-bound cohorts in wanting to size up what is potentially a very, very lucrative sports market in Asia's most populous nation. 



Stirred, not shaken

Admittedly the penetration of ice hockey into the Asia generally is not as strong as basketball, largely due to infrastructural and resource limitations, underdeveloped awareness and untapped interest. But that could all change now. 

While the growth potential of ice hockey is incomparable to the likes of badminton or football, in the prophetic words of the three stripes, impossible is nothing, given that Japan, Korea and now, China are leading the way for Asia. What's also interesting to note is that of the 72 member states in the International Ice Hockey Federation or IIHF (full, associate or affiliate), 16 are Asian nations (including Arab states, excluding Central Asian republics) with Japan being amongst the oldest members (1930). Korea and China are relatively recent additions having joined the IIHF in the early 1960s. 

Malaysia's Jazura Girls Ice-Hockey team after winning the Lion City
Ice Hockey Tournament in March 2015 (Photo: Team Facebook page)
And much closer to home, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore are IIHF members too. In Malaysia, the administration and organisation is still at its infancy with little to none international competitive exposure, YET. But there is a promising pool of talent with our Malaysian girls who won the Lion City Cup Ice Hockey Tournament earlier this year. Now, with the path, however small, opening up towards legitimising Asian ice-hockey players vis-a-vis our NorthEast Asian neighbours, all this information is perhaps a nice boost given that the 2017 SouthEast Asian Games in Malaysia will feature two winter sports for the very first time - ice skating and, drum-roll please - ice hockey! Realistically, it is a dream but there are, at the very least, "what ifs" in the making. 

Bottom line, is it suffice to say that now that the NBA has drafted a player from India, and the New York Islanders have selected it’s very first Chinese-born player in the NHL draft is bringing both sports to the verge of a revolution? Perhaps not, but what it does mean is the continued shift in attitudes towards talent, to some extent, irrespective of where that talent springs from. Perhaps there are other considerations, like economics and global marketing rights expansion in the world’s most populous regions? 

Whatever the motivation, conversely these events could also spell a shift in attitudes towards certain sports. A more globally connected world at a click of a mouse or a tap of a keypad has had an influence on sports that might have been predominantly geographically and/or genealogically stereotyped, be it basketball, ice hockey, alpine skiing or whatever. That it has potentially paved the way for a greater embrace for diversity in sports - in as wide of a sense as possible, is to little naïve ole' me, really refreshing.

Somehow this sprung to mind - Veni, Vidi, Vici
So, go forth Song and Satnam!!