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'King James' rebounds into Beijing
By Lei Lei (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-08-25 10:31 Beijing: National Basketball Association (NBA) star LeBron James met some of his Chinese fans in Beijing on Monday and helped a number of budding, young talents improve their skills.
During a session at the Beijing Chaoyang Gymnasium, the 2009 MVP demonstrated his skills to 23 pre-selected children from the Nike All Day Outdoor Basketball training program in front of about 1,200 fans. The Cleveland Cavaliers forward also interacted with a group of students from Zhenhua School, a school for the children of migrant workers in suburban Beijing. He told them of his experiences and donated basketballs and scholarships, with the support of his sponsor, Nike. "You look at those migrant kids. They feel like their dreams are washing away. We want to help them to regain the belief that they can achieve anything they want to. That's the inspiration we have behind all of these things," said James, who is nicknamed "King James".
James was brought up by his mother and became an NBA superstar through dint of hard work. He now wants to encourage children in similar situations. "Hopefully, I can empower kids and make them understand that there is more than one way out, no matter where they grow up, in the cities or in the suburbs," he said. "I am really cheered to see kids smile and see kids believe that there is a way out." Beijing, the host of last year's Olympic Games - where James and his US teammates won gold, is the first stop of the China leg of his world tour which covers three cities, including Shenyang and Shanghai. The tour will span three continents over two months and focus on empowering youth, community service, grassroots basketball activities and also the introduction of the Nike Air Max LeBron VII. "The city and the kids have a very good sense of basketball. One year ago, I won the Olympic gold medal here with Team USA. I'm happy to be back here," he said. James will continue his tour in Shenyang tomorrow and then head to Shanghai on Friday.
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