Haixia Zheng encourages others to follow their dreams

Photo of Haixia Zheng- WNBA.com

Athletes with an Asian background have shaped the world of sports in various different ways. Chinese female basketball player Haixia Zheng is one of those people. Born on March 7, 1967 in Tuocheng, Shanqui County, Henan Province, China, no one had expected her to grow to become one of the best Asian female athletes the world has ever seen.


Although Zheng was just an ordinary child, she came to be six feet tall at the age of 12. She also started to play basketball at that time, discovering that she liked the sport and had the skills to compete due to her extraordinary size. She was selected by the Wuhan Army club at the age of 13, and in 1983 (age 16), she was playing for the national team. Zheng grew to be six feet eight inches, and she was playing well in China.

In 1997, she entered the WNBA joining the Los Angeles Sparks. She played all 34 games in the WNBA in her first year, averaging 9.3 ppg and 4.4 rpg. She only played six games the next season and that was the end of her career. While her stats were average, she was facing better athletes in the WNBA compared to China. While playing for the national team in China, Zheng averaged an astounding 26 ppg and 13 rpg with an 83% field-goal percentage. The differences of scoring and rebound production is so great, people can immediately see the big changes.

Zheng didn’t play as well as she did in China due to several reasons. First, she was never quick on her feet, couldn’t jump well, and didn’t have good hands. She wasn’t fluent with English, and that may be a reason of lack of communication with her coaches and teammates. Zheng is a great athlete, it’s just that she wasn’t used to the American style of play. Her role change also affected how she played. In China she was always the go-to player, but here she was only a small part of the team. Through her translator Wendy Chang, Zheng said "The way I played in China was very different from the way they want me to play here," in a Los Angeles Times article by Earl Gustkey. "I was the center of the action, but here I must not only play in the paint. I have to be more mobile.“

Even though she had trouble playing in the WNBA, she managed to win two awards, the 1997 WNBA Sportsmanship Award and the WNBA’s first Bud Light Shooting Champion for being the most accurate shooter in the league, shooting .618 from the field. Zheng always had a high field-goal percentage; maybe this is because of the seven hours of practices. Or it may be her height which allows her to get close to the basket abd take easy shots. This shows that race might not be a factor; it’s actually the work ethic that makes some athlete better than others.

"I need to be much better at understanding team concepts. I hope my coaches and teammates will continue to help me change my habits, to meet the requirements of my new team." Said Zheng in a Los Angeles Times article by Earl Gutskey. She seemed to be a hard-working athlete, which means she did want to help her team win. This shows that sometimes Asian athletes often don’t get the chance to prove that they have the ability to compete and play well.

She came before notable Chinese athletes such as Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian, and now Jeremy Lin. She showed others that it’s possible for an Asian to compete in an American league. She influenced others because she rose over everyone from China and became the first to come to American professional basketball.

To encourage others to pursue their dreams, "Never stop pursuing your dreams. There is not a finish line in your career or the success you can get from it. It's just like studying, if you want to be successful, you should never stop making efforts to learn more." Zheng said in her WNBA profile page.

Don Wakamatsu: One of the many overlooked Asian-American athletes

Don Wakamatsu - by Keith Allison on Flickr

Since the rise of Jeremy Lin, many Asian-Americans feel proud to see him discouraging stereotypes. However, there were a lot of Asian-American athletes all around sports in America that did not get as much attention as Lin. One example is Don Wakamatsu, former Major League Baseball player and current bench coach for the Toronto Blue Jays.

For the majority of Wakamatsu’s career he played in the minor leagues and barely got a chance to be a starter on a Major League Baseball team. This made many people overlook Wakamatsu, but the few Asian-Americans that noticed him viewed him as an example of cultural variety spreading throughout sports. This was important because there were not many professional baseball players from an Asian descent.

Wakamatsu had his first chance in a MLB game on May 22, 1991 against the California Angels for the Chicago White Sox. He felt the pressure from the White Sox fans. In an interview with The Telegraph-Herald he said, “It’s bad enough catching your first game, but to catch a knuckle-ball is added pressure.” Under the pressure Wakamatsu managed to hit a single, where he injured his shoulder. This injury got worse over time and due to that the White Sox released him a few months later. He returned to the minor leagues and spent the last five years of his career playing there, but he did not give up on baseball.

Wakamatsu got back into baseball in 1997 to coach in the minor leagues. In 2003 he was promoted and started coaching in the major league to become the Texas Rangers’ bench coach. In 2008 he was named manager of the Seattle Mariners, making him the first Asian-American manager in MLB. Two years later he was fired and after coaching various teams he was picked up in 2010 by the Blue Jays. Today he still remains as their bench coach.

Jeremy Lin's future with the Knicks

Jeremy Lin / MattBritt00 / Flickr

In the past few weeks Jeremy Lin’s popularity soared after he recorded 25 points, five rebounds, and seven assists on February 3rd against the New Jersey Nets. That game earned him a spot in the New York Knicks' starting line-up.

In his last game before All-Star weekend against the Miami Heat he struggled to bring the Lin-sanity to South Beach, ending the game with eight points and eight turnovers. This game left people questioning Lin’s skills.

In his first game back from All-Star weekend Lin had 19 points along with 13 assists against the Cleveland Cavaliers, proving that he is still capable of what he was doing a few weeks ago. He played consistently, with 14 points in each of the past two games and averaging four turnovers.

Throughout the season Lin was criticized on his average of 5.6 turnovers per game. Against the Cavaliers he had only one turnover, which is an improvement from his recent games. This game hints that he can maintain a low amount of turnovers and keep his average of 21 points in his past 16 games.

The 2012 NBA All-Star Weekend

All Star 2012- Cinefilo- Flickr

The 2012 All Star Weekend at the Amway Center in Orlando was a spectacular show of the NBA players’ abilities. Kobe Bryant broke Michael Jordan's record for most career All-Star points, while Kevin Durant took home MVP honors. Other players showed their skills in the various challenges that comprise the All-Star Weekend.

 The Western Conference defeated the Eastern Conference in the All-Star Game 152-149. The West got off to a quick head start and had 88 points by the first half. By the third quarter, things changed and LeBron James hit three three-pointers and cut the West’s lead from 21 to 12. Shortly thereafter, Dwyane Wade’s hard foul of Bryant gave him a nasal fracture. Despite his injury, Bryant then surpassed Michael Jordan’s record of 262 points for most All-Star career points on a dunk and now has 271. By the fourth quarter, Bryant and Russell Westbrook’s great scoring led the West to a victory.

Former Knicks player Allan Houston’s half court shot won Team New York the Shooting Stars Challenge. The team consisted of Houston, WNBA player Cappie Pointdexter, and Knicks player Landry Fields.

Kevin Love beat Durant, Mario Chalmers, Anthony Morrow and others to win the Three Point Shootout. In an amazing performance of ability, Love won two tiebreakers, one with Chalmers and one with Durant, to claim the ultimate victory.

Fan votes named Jeremy Evans winner of the Slam Dunk Contest. The Utah Jazz player started off with a bad play, but then shocked the crowd with his most amazing dunk. Gordon Hayward, a fellow player, sat on a chair and threw two balls in the air. Evans jumped over him and dunked both.

In the Rising Stars challenge, Team Shaq defeated Team Chuck 146-133. Kyrie Irving played phenomenally, showing his skills with an alley-oop to Paul George and several long range shots. He finished with 36 points. Others, though, didn’t play very well. Jeremy Lin, a previous sensation, made only two points. As Team Shaq co-head coach Ron Adams thought, it was an enjoyable game for all. "There were a lot of dunks," he said in an Associated Press article "I think the guys had fun … it was a fun game. Interesting game."

Overall, The All-Star Weekend was an impressive performance of the NBA’s best players.

Will Jeremy Lin's story continue?

Jeremy Lin photo taken by teamstickergiant/Flickr.com

Jeremy Lin, the rising star of the New York Knicks, is leading the team to numerous victories. Before the All-Star break Lin rose from being an anonymous new player to one of the top point guards in the NBA. Lin has created a name by being the MVP of many games and improved a team that had a bad record. Now, Lin was doing this consistently, until his team played against one of the top teams in the NBA, the Miami Heat where Lin seemed visibly shaken.

Lin’s future is one that is causing tremendous controversy. It is uncertain of what will happen in the future, but his amount of assists, rebounds, and points are not to be overlooked. Lin is improving day by day, but when he faced the Miami Heat he seemed star-struck. Some television shows such as ESPN are focusing way too much on Lin’s great performance.

In an article by Joe Cowley, “Will the Jeremy Lin story end in glory?", he noted Lin saying, “I think hopefully as the season progresses, it will go from that to the New York Knicks, and hopefully the Knicks can win basketball games, we can make a good push after the All-Star break and people will start talking about the Knicks and not necessarily me."

If the statistics are laid out, it seems that Lin is on his way to the playoffs. Although the Knicks are still not the top team, Lin can definitely use his skill to get his team there. Many people disagree with the idea of Lin leading the team after All-Star weekend, which is contradicting to his performance before the All-Star break. It is most likely that Lin will continue his outstanding performance similar to the past and that he will lead the Knicks to the playoffs.