Jeremy Lin courted for endorsements in China
Even though Jeremy Lin is working out the kinks with his team, now that Carmelo Anthony is back, the 23-year-old Asian-American is being bombarded with sponsorship offers in China. Currently, Lin is holding talks to possibly endorse Swedish car brand Volvo in China, according to people familiar with the matter.
Volvo is now owned by China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. The company is trying to boost Volvo sales in China as part of a strategy to double the brand’s global sales to 800,000 vehicles by 2020. Geely plans to invest up to $11 billion in the effort.
Other companies are moving quickly to tap Mr. Lin’s popularity in China. German sports-apparel company Adidas AG plans to roll out the Knicks star’s jersey across its network of 6,700 stores in China.
The U.S.-born son of Taiwanese immigrants, Mr. Lin has captivated Chinese basketball fans who are hungry for a hero after the retirement of former Houston Rockets star Yao Ming, a Chinese native.
Mr. Lin has yet to ink any big deals, save for a Nike sponsorship signed when he was a rookie. That deal initially offered little visibility or major products featuring his name.
Since last month, however, Nike has moved to produce a Lin-themed shoe.
Mr. Lin is now being courted by dozens of companies but has yet to make a major nonsports endorsement, according to people familiar with the situation.
China is home to around 300 million basketball fans, according to NBA estimates.
Meanwhile, the league itself has benefited from Mr. Lin’s emergence: his jersey has been the NBA’s top-selling jersey online since his run began Feb. 4.
Asians and Asian Americans are hungry for a real famous, breakout Asian star! Come on Lin we’re rooting for you!
via www.bloombergnews.com and www.wallstreetjournal.com
Knicks coach resigns! WTF! The problem is Melo’s ego!
Knicks players were said to be stunned and disappointed. Although Anthony has been frustrated by D’Antoni’s system, the vast majority of the locker room supported the coach. He had the strong backing of Amar’e Stoudemire, Tyson Chandler, Jeremy Lin, Jared Jeffries and Landry Fields, the core of the team.
The news also came as a shock to people close to D’Antoni, who apparently reached the decision sometime Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. D’Antoni coached the team at the morning shoot-around in Greenburgh, N.Y.
The Knicks have lost six straight games and eight of their last 10, jeopardizing their playoff standing and erasing the gains made in an 8-1 stretch last month, when Lin revived D’Antoni’s offense.
D’Antoni has been working, unsuccessfully, to get Anthony to mesh his considerable talents with an offensive system predicated on ball movement. Anthony prefers to score in isolation sets — the antithesis of D’Antoni’s approach — and has frequently broken plays to create shots for himself.
The tension between Anthony and D’Antoni — and more broadly, between Anthony and the rest of the team — was undermining the Knicks’ cohesion and morale. Most of the team preferred to keep playing the way they were during the so-called Linsanity streak in February, when Lin was initiating the offense.
D’Antoni came to the conclusion that the continuing tension was hurting both him and Anthony and ultimately sinking the Knicks, according to a person who spoke with D’Antoni on Wednesday. With his contract expiring after the season, D’Antoni decided that it was best to sever ties now and let the Knicks determine the best way to maximize Anthony’s skills.
“He basically said he didn’t see how he could coach them to success the way it was right now,” said the person who spoke to D’Antoni. The person added, “He didn’t want to get beat up for the next two months or see Melo get beat up for the next two months.”