Kobe Mentu

I've been wondering a bit about what makes certain international stars so popular in China ever since watching the parade of athletes in the opening ceremony at a bar surrounded by Chinese. They cheered for some international athletes that I didn't even recognize (NBA player who carried the Russian Federation flag) and were lukewarm about other superstars (Michael Phelps.) The Chinese especially love Kobe Bryant--it's hard to tell if he or Yao Ming gets more support here. Why Kobe more than every other NBA star?

Since the Games were so busy, I was just thinking about this again and researching it now. I found a New York Times article about international athletes marketing themselves in China, China's Promise Excites the Sports Stars. Near the end, the article comments:

This year, Nike even produced a reality television program, “Kobe’s Disciples,” that was broadcast on China’s biggest television network. It featured 24 Chinese youths living and training in the United States and getting tips from Mr. Bryant.

“The reason Kobe is as big as he is here is not an accident,” Charlie Denson, Nike’s brand president, said in an interview in Beijing. “Kobe realized some years ago that the China market is a great place to be. And he’s been here consistently, every year, for five or six years.”

I looked into Kobe's Disciples, called Kobe Mentu here, and found out that it was a six episode show shown on CCTV's Olympic channel in May. Here are a few videos about it. The first is a brief overview. The second features Kobe talking about China's passion for basketball. The third is a longer overview mostly in English. When it goes to Chinese, you can fast forward to the 2:00 mark to get back to English.