Jalen Brunson first experienced the enthusiasm of the NBA's biggest international market in 2018 as a rookie, when he traveled to China with the Dallas Mavericks for a preseason game. The trip itself was short, but the reception that Branson and his teammates received left a lasting impression.
“The fandom that basketball brought to the country was really cool and interesting and I thought it was something I wanted to be involved in,” Branson said in a recent interview.
Branson, now a New York Knicks star, has taken an important step towards that goal before the current NBA season after a representative from the Creative Arts Agency enlisted in digital management company East, creating and running Chinese social media accounts. Since then, Branson has gained over 400,000 followers on five major apps: Bilibili, Douyin, Rednote, Weibo and Wechat.
Branson is one of several NBA players looking to establish an online presence in China, where millions of people are chasing the league closely. However, given language barriers and different social norms and trends, not to mention the internet of China on the island where popular Western platforms such as YouTube, Instagram and X are blocked and content is reviewed by the government.
“I think it's important to understand your audience. I think a lot of smart people understand what they know and what they don't know,” Branson said. “They understand more than I do, so having someone else do it was key to me. I'm the face of it, but they really do it.”
It was founded in 2018 by Andrew Spalter, a former music manager who lives in Austin, Texas. Former ESPN reporter Coral Lou will handle Chinese social media accounts of Kawi Leonard of the Los Angeles Clippers and Paul George of the Philadelphia 76ers. Shanghai-based IMG-owned company Mailman manages 30 accounts of 14 active players.
“For players, some people are really motivated by their global audience and their involvement in basketball's huge culture,” said Matthew Sparter, brother of Andrew, East's Chief Operating Officer. “There's also a business perspective. “How can I expand my business in my basketball career? And post-career, how can I make sure I'm not gone forever?”
Player-led pushes are at a critical time for NBA-China relations. In October 2019, a year after Branson's trip, China pulled NBA games from national television and ended NBA China Games since 2012, a Pro Hong Kong social media post from Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Molly.
However, the freeze from Molly's post has been heavily thawed, and the league plans to play two exhibit games in the territory of Macau, China next October. With the support of groups like East Goes Global, if the league-China relations return to previous heights, some players will go ahead of others.
Group work usually starts with reaching out to different platforms to verify the player's account. In many cases, like Branson, they create them in the first place. However, further steps are needed when Mailman's team helps recover the page with Douyin, the Chinese Tiktok equivalent, after NBA All-Star clients are taken over by a mysterious third party posting spam content.
Next is the process of creating content for Chinese audiences. According to sources, success is more than just using your native language in the caption and adding trendy background music.
“Western channels that mirror the same content as Western channels do not delve deep into their Chinese culture,” said Michael Lin, digital vice president at Mailman, who oversees the US sports business. “Athletes get much better when they're creating personalized content that talks to Chinese fans.”
For Branson, this means East meets with global staff regularly and shoots exclusive videos for his Chinese account. This included a two-hour session of a marathon heading into last month's Chinese New Year, during which I sampled Chinese snacks and wrote his name with a Chinese character.
“I thought it was really cool,” he said.
There are many business possibilities for NBA players in China. Some took part in large tours across the country. Others have signed approval agreements with Chinese shoe companies. Clippers star James Harden sold 10,000 bottles of wine in five seconds during Doin's live stream.
However, Lynn notices a certain increase in requests from players citing another source of motivation. Get fan votes for the All-Star Game.
In that respect, the ideal playbook won an astonishing place last season as Indiana Pacers' Tyrees Halliburton, riding the wave of Chinese social media support, leading the Eastern Conference Guard in fan voting, earning an incredible place as the starter of the 2024 All-Star Game.
“I don't expect people to see players in Indiana and not expect that,” Halliburton said on the media day of the game.
According to Matthew Sparter, CAA's Branson team has similarly come closer to globally about running a “massive All-Star push” at this year's game. result? Branson finished third in the Eastern Conference Guard in a fan vote, but he was nominated as a starter under the league's weighted voting ceremony, and also included votes from news media and players.
“I think it helped a lot and I'm really grateful,” Branson said in February of helping Chinese fans.
As expected, about a week later, a 44-second video was uploaded to Brunson's account of Bilibili, the equivalent of Chinese YouTube. The video features behind the scenes footage from his trip to the game in San Francisco.
“Thank you to my friends at Bilibili for voting and supporting me,” the caption read, of course, in kanji.
