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http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/11133390p-12049796c.html
Mark Kreidler: An ocean away, an experience to savor
By Mark Kreidler -- Bee Sports Columnist
Published 2:15 am PDT Monday, October 18, 2004
BEIJING - The world probably gets smaller only a little bit at a time. When Peja Stojakovic watched Yao Ming moving gracefully through a sea of people here late Sunday afternoon, head pointed slightly toward the floor in his traditional display of humility, the Kings forward saw one such slightly perceptible movement. And that's really the story.
"When you look up, you want to look up to somebody in your country," said Stojakovic, native of Serbia, star in the Greek League before coming to America to play for the Kings in the NBA.
"It's much closer to reach that way, the dream," Stojakovic said. "When you're dreaming, it seems to me you think, 'OK, if my countryman made it, I can make it, too. He's like me.' That's a good thing."
It was a Yao thing, this trip. It was a trip that ultimately revolved completely around the one man, a young man, 24 years of age, who has galvanized the interest of a country one billion strong by his ability to play basketball.
And maybe it's a small thing. I mean, it's only sports. We're sitting in the seat of Communist power in the world, after all, in a China so vast and populous, it truly has the capacity to make an American feel giant and tiny in the same breath.
To walk into an afternoon promenade in downtown Beijing, towering above most of the crowd and yet completely engulfed by it, is to understand exactly how insignificant you are. You could be swallowed whole, and no one would notice in the slightest.
In other words, it's important to keep the perspective. There's an old saying: In China, when they call you one in a million, it means there are a thousand more just like you.
And so maybe it's unrealistic to expect something as inconsequential as basketball to make the world smaller. But that's how it felt here over the past week, a week of national celebration in China over the triumphant return of Yao.
His name was on every front page, his visage on every billboard, his jersey hanging up for sale in every upscale department store and cheap knockoff side market in Shanghai and Beijing. Stojakovic saw all of that and believed he might understand some of what it meant.
"Comparing this to my country, it can't be done," Stojakovic said. "China is too big for that. But it's amazing. He is their star, and he represents them in the best way possible.
"He's a great role model. And he's a great kid, too."
Peja Stojakovic, grizzled veteran. Age: 27.
The world probably only gets smaller a little bit at a time. When Kings guard Bobby Jackson considered everything, he decided he could get more bang for his buck by bringing the whole crew to China.
And that's exactly what he did. Jackson, who normally flies a group of high-achieving inner-city Minneapolis high schoolers to Sacramento twice during the season for Kings games, instead paid for seven of them - and three chaperones - to make the trek to Shanghai and Beijing.
"It's just so they could experience it, and take something from it, and have the privilege of seeing what I've seen," Jackson said. "It's been a great experience for them."
The program is called "Why Can't I Go?", a nonprofit organization run by a friend Jackson met years ago at the University of Minnesota. The criteria for selecting the underprivileged preps to participate, according to Jackson, are high academics, strong school attendance and "the best behavior."
And the goal is really this: Making things a little smaller in scope. Making things feel a little more possible, a little less remote. Jackson got it done for himself in his life; now, it's somebody's else's turn to change his fate.
The Kings had their moments in China. On an off-day after flying into Beijing in the middle of the night, many of them loaded up backpacks and headed for a tour of the Great Wall. The effect, coach Rick Adelman said, was stunning.
"You'll never see anything like it," Adelman said. "It's just so overwhelming. And looking at it, you've just got to wonder how many people died in order to build it."
This isn't the kind of country for forgetting where you are. As Yao on Sunday conducted the last of what seemed a billion news conferences during his visit, a quick glance out the glass doors and onto the street behind Capital Indoor Stadium revealed 12 green-uniformed military guards marching past, in lockstep.
It's China. It didn't change its politics overnight to accommodate this visit, or the world's opinion or the arrival of a basketball superstar such as Yao.
"It's a very interesting place," Kings center Brad Miller said, "and we had a great visit, and I'm glad I'm from the U.S." What's this, a basketball story all wrapped up in larger context? Trust me: It can't possibly last. The Kings play on Tuesday night in Fresno, America, and we'll be right back after this message of tolerance and understanding to our regularly scheduled programming, "Chris Webber, Team Builder or Undercover Anarchist?"
Mark Kreidler: An ocean away, an experience to savor
By Mark Kreidler -- Bee Sports Columnist
Published 2:15 am PDT Monday, October 18, 2004
BEIJING - The world probably gets smaller only a little bit at a time. When Peja Stojakovic watched Yao Ming moving gracefully through a sea of people here late Sunday afternoon, head pointed slightly toward the floor in his traditional display of humility, the Kings forward saw one such slightly perceptible movement. And that's really the story.
"When you look up, you want to look up to somebody in your country," said Stojakovic, native of Serbia, star in the Greek League before coming to America to play for the Kings in the NBA.
"It's much closer to reach that way, the dream," Stojakovic said. "When you're dreaming, it seems to me you think, 'OK, if my countryman made it, I can make it, too. He's like me.' That's a good thing."
It was a Yao thing, this trip. It was a trip that ultimately revolved completely around the one man, a young man, 24 years of age, who has galvanized the interest of a country one billion strong by his ability to play basketball.
And maybe it's a small thing. I mean, it's only sports. We're sitting in the seat of Communist power in the world, after all, in a China so vast and populous, it truly has the capacity to make an American feel giant and tiny in the same breath.
To walk into an afternoon promenade in downtown Beijing, towering above most of the crowd and yet completely engulfed by it, is to understand exactly how insignificant you are. You could be swallowed whole, and no one would notice in the slightest.
In other words, it's important to keep the perspective. There's an old saying: In China, when they call you one in a million, it means there are a thousand more just like you.
And so maybe it's unrealistic to expect something as inconsequential as basketball to make the world smaller. But that's how it felt here over the past week, a week of national celebration in China over the triumphant return of Yao.
His name was on every front page, his visage on every billboard, his jersey hanging up for sale in every upscale department store and cheap knockoff side market in Shanghai and Beijing. Stojakovic saw all of that and believed he might understand some of what it meant.
"Comparing this to my country, it can't be done," Stojakovic said. "China is too big for that. But it's amazing. He is their star, and he represents them in the best way possible.
"He's a great role model. And he's a great kid, too."
Peja Stojakovic, grizzled veteran. Age: 27.
The world probably only gets smaller a little bit at a time. When Kings guard Bobby Jackson considered everything, he decided he could get more bang for his buck by bringing the whole crew to China.
And that's exactly what he did. Jackson, who normally flies a group of high-achieving inner-city Minneapolis high schoolers to Sacramento twice during the season for Kings games, instead paid for seven of them - and three chaperones - to make the trek to Shanghai and Beijing.
"It's just so they could experience it, and take something from it, and have the privilege of seeing what I've seen," Jackson said. "It's been a great experience for them."
The program is called "Why Can't I Go?", a nonprofit organization run by a friend Jackson met years ago at the University of Minnesota. The criteria for selecting the underprivileged preps to participate, according to Jackson, are high academics, strong school attendance and "the best behavior."
And the goal is really this: Making things a little smaller in scope. Making things feel a little more possible, a little less remote. Jackson got it done for himself in his life; now, it's somebody's else's turn to change his fate.
The Kings had their moments in China. On an off-day after flying into Beijing in the middle of the night, many of them loaded up backpacks and headed for a tour of the Great Wall. The effect, coach Rick Adelman said, was stunning.
"You'll never see anything like it," Adelman said. "It's just so overwhelming. And looking at it, you've just got to wonder how many people died in order to build it."
This isn't the kind of country for forgetting where you are. As Yao on Sunday conducted the last of what seemed a billion news conferences during his visit, a quick glance out the glass doors and onto the street behind Capital Indoor Stadium revealed 12 green-uniformed military guards marching past, in lockstep.
It's China. It didn't change its politics overnight to accommodate this visit, or the world's opinion or the arrival of a basketball superstar such as Yao.
"It's a very interesting place," Kings center Brad Miller said, "and we had a great visit, and I'm glad I'm from the U.S." What's this, a basketball story all wrapped up in larger context? Trust me: It can't possibly last. The Kings play on Tuesday night in Fresno, America, and we'll be right back after this message of tolerance and understanding to our regularly scheduled programming, "Chris Webber, Team Builder or Undercover Anarchist?"
