Lakers make Sun's NBA dream a reality

Sun Yue was crazy about the Los Angeles Lakers' yellow jerseys as a child, but he won't have to buy them anymore - after the 2007 NBA Draft in New York, the team will be providing him with a lot of free jerseys.

Dubbed "China's Magic Johnson" by domestic media, the 2.06-meter point guard was selected by the Lakers as the No 40 pick, joining Yi Jianlian as China's new generation of NBA hoopsters.

"I was thrilled when I heard the news," Sun told China Daily in a telephone interview. "I used to dream about playing on a team like the Lakers. And I'm very excited to play with an all-time great like Kobe Bryant. He is my role model.