#17 Basketball

Ask any Asian what their most favorite (American) sport is, and if they don’t say Basketball be surprised. Basketball is the (American) sport of all sports that Asians both habitually play and watch. If you look at basketball courts in high schools with considerable Asian populaces, or local courts of Asian neighborhoods, or the open courts of the gyms at University of California institutions, put your money on it that you’ll see a 3 on 3 or a 5 on 5 game going on between Asians.

Asians love this sport because it is one of the few sports that does not require much physical stature to be good at and occasionally. Some may argue height is an issue as few Asians range over 6’0 tall, but being smaller and thus quicker is known to be advantageous in the game of basketball. However, height is definitely an issue as Asians usually only play with and against other Asians.

Why not baseball you ask? You might say baseball might fall into one of these sports that Asians like since that does not require much physical stature alongside basketball, but put into an Asian perspective: baseball isn’t necessarily as convenient for Asians to play as much more is required than a pair of shorts, shoes, and an actually ball. Additionally, it is not too common for Asians to officially play sports for teams outside of Intramural Leagues and so playing baseball is out of the question.

In the most fortunate situations I’ve personally been in, when some friends and I were deciding if we should go play some “ball” or not, we eventually agreed to and several of my friends proceeded to remove their pants. I was a bit confused for a second, than I realized they had all been wearing their Nike basketball shorts under their pants above their boxers. I asked them, “Do you usually do that?” They went, “yeah, you never know.”

With the Asian basketball fan comes the basketball attire. Most Asian (males at least) own a pair of basketball shoes, several pairs of basketball shorts (no not gym shorts, basketball shorts as Asians are willing to pay the extra 10-15$ for basketball shorts as opposed to regular gym shorts), basketball jersey’s of their favorite teams and if you’re lucky, a basketball jersey from their respective college.

The NBA teams Asians preferably like are the L.A Lakers, Sacramento Kings, Golden State Warriors, Dallas Mavericks, Orlando Magic, and the Houston Rockets. For one thing the places these teams come from have dense Asian populations in addition to competitive NBA basketball teams, which is why we leave out other teams that come from other places with considerable amounts of Asian people like the New York Knicks, or the Seattle Sonics, Miami Heat, and so forth.

Playing basketball is extremely attractive for Asian females. If you have even somewhat the capacity to make a few 3-pointers and can dripple underneathe a you're egs, and perhaps perform a fancy lay up or two, you're well on your way to impressing an Asian female you're courting. And for you females, it's much easier as all you need to do is mention one of the following to your supposed Asian male you're trying to "get at":
1) Do you also believe that the Lakers are the most unstoppable team in all of Basketball?
2) I think Baron Davis/Monta Ellis are/is the best thing to happen to the Warriors.
3) Yao Ming is overrated, though still a crucial part of the Houston Rockets.
4) What's your take on why the West always wins the NBA Championship?
5) I think the Sacramento Kings have improved drastically last season, I think they have a great chance in making the playoffs this year. (this is a prediction that is stated every NBA Offseason, but turns on any Asian Sacramento Kings fan).