Brian Berger of Sports Business Radio was at the big game in Beijing, and has written a detailed report. Some highlights:
Bill Duffy and Bill Sanders of BDA Sports allowed me unlimited access to the players on the team bus, at the gala dinner, at the team practice, at the team meals and in the locker room before and after the game. I was able to get an amazing perspective that reminded me that there are truly some terrific human beings in the NBA. ... These players and organizations came together to raise $2.5M from a dinner gala and a basketball game held tonight in Beijing. ... Team Yao defeated Team Nash 101-92 in a fun-filled game seen by over 12,000 attendees and over 200 million television viewers on CCTV here in China. Chinese actor Jackie Chan even made an appearance to conduct the ceremonial toss at midcourt to start the game. ... Paul Davis joined Steve Nash, Carmelo Anthony, Baron Davis and Leandro Barbosa in the Team Nash starting lineup. Team Yao featured Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets, Yi Jianlian of the Milwaukee Bucks and Sun Yue of the Los Angeles Lakers (who looked very impressive).
In the locker room before the game and Steve Nash gave a heartfelt speech thanking his teammates for traveling a long distance to join him for this effort. Nash chartered a plane and flew the players playing for his team to China.
Yao Ming came in the locker room after tonight's charity game and thanked the NBA players who played in tonight's game. He spoke of how much the effort means to him and to the Chinese people and how impressed he was that these players flew halfway around the world just a few weeks prior to the start of training camp. He told the players in the locker room that if he could ever assist them with their charitable efforts, he'd be happy to do so. It was a really nice moment for these players who play in the most exclusive basketball fraternity on the planet - the NBA. Once Yao finished his speech, the Team Nash players sang a song that the game operations people played whenever Yao scored in tonight's game. Its a cheesy but catchy song that chants, "Yao Ming, Yao Ming, Yao Ming, Yao Ming........Yao Ming, Yao Ming". The Chinese fans love it though.