Brave Dragons: A Chinese Basketball Team, an American Coach, and Two Cultures Clashing

As someone interested in both basketball and Chinese culture and language, I was naturally attracted to this book and found it a very engaging and fascinating read. There are not many books like this out there, and this is a rare glimpse and fun ride into the world of the CBA in China.I enjoyed "getting to know" the characters such as Joe the translator, Michael the Nigerian center, Kobe the upcoming Chinese player, the wacky and eccentric Boss Wang and of course coach Bob Weiss.The contrasting experiences of Bonzi Wells and coach Bob Weiss in China described in the book are excellent examples of unsuccessful/successful cross-cultural adaptation to China and other contexts. These examples should be highlighted for foreign athletes headed to the CBA who seek to make a successful transition to the league and life in the middle kingdom.NBA coach Bob Weiss (brought in as a “foreign expert” to help the team) maintained his sense of humor and flexibility in a situation of constant change, drama and turmoil (much due to the eccentric and erratic owner of the Brave Dragons, “Boss Wang”). He and his wife seemed to embrace their time in China, caring for the players, learning some of the language (the book mentions coach Weiss speaking in Mandarin at a press conference much to the delight of the Chinese present) making Chinese friends, and exploring the city on their own.In contrast to Weiss, Bonzi Wells (the highest profile foreign player in league history) wasn’t able to adapt to life in China, clashing with the owner, isolating himself in his hotel room, and choosing not to return to the team after the New Year vacation. I was especially interested to read about the Wells story since I knew about him from his days at Ball State (I grew up not far from his hometown of Muncie, Indiana).Along with the entertaining story of the Brave Dragons, the book provided interesting cultural and historical insights. It was interesting to read that basketball was first introduced to China in Tianjin (at the YMCA), a city that I spent more than three years teaching and studying in; I’d love to visit the old gym the next time I travel there. Another example included discrimination faced by a Taiwan player by his mainland teammates and coaches of the Brave Dragons. I hadn’t heard much about this kind of treatment towards Taiwanese in Mainland China, and would like to know how often this occurs in Chinese society today.Yardley also provided some interesting glimpses into the CBA such as claims of fixing matches by owners and referees and the enormous salaries that foreign players can earn. I got the impression that Chinese owners/coaches stress constant drilling and practice much more than their American counterparts, some even implying that this is the reason why Chinese athletes retire relatively so early.I’d recommend this book for anyone interested in basketball, China or even cross-cultural relations/adaptation.

One of the oddest experiences I can recall was sitting in a hotel room in Hong Kong in 2000 watching a Korean league basketball game being broadcast in Mandarin. It was all so familiar and all so completely strange. The style of play was almost feral: constant fast breaking, run and gun play with what appeared to be no discernible play running and ferocious, desperate defense. All being delivered to me in a language that I didn't understand more than 10 words of. And all punctuated with the occasional "cooooooool" and "oh, maaaaaaan." As it turned out, not bad preparation for Brave Dragons.Loosely, the book covers a season in the life of the Shanxi Brave Dragons of the Chinese Basket Ball Association, who's owner, the pugnacious and bellicose Boss Wang has just made the daring and controversial move of hiring ex-NBA coach Bob Weiss to run his team, the first time such a thing had happened. Wang then spent the year systematically undermining, undercutting, second-guessing and pile-driving said Bob Weiss. Weiss, looking for a coaching gig and thinking this might be interesting and a lot of fun, was in for the ride of his life.By turns poignant and hilarious, the book is more than just a chronicle of a season of culture clash and uses the basketball team and its experiment as a lens into the larger world of US-China relations and misunderstandings. There is a lot of basketball here, but there is a lot more as well and author Yardley, a veteran US reporter in China for, at the time, over 6 years, examines what happens in China when outsiders try to do things their own way, even when brought in expressly to do things their own way. Yardley's portraits of the city, the country and the system are balanced with the more personal glimpses of Weiss, Wang, the Chinese players for whom basketball is, literally, their whole life and the foreign players (two per team only, please) who come to China to either further or recoup their careers. And along the way, he provides some nice thumbnail history of China over the past 150 years as it has gone through one upheaval after another. And he does it all deftly and with a light hand. This is a very readable book and a great pleasure to spend some time with. Highly recommended for those interested in a look at contemporary Chinese society and culture. And some darned good basketball writing, too.

As a student of Chinese and a basketball lover I really enjoyed this book. The book is well written and it covers coach Bob Weiss' entire season at the Brave Dragons. It presents a view of life in China and its basketball league and the clash of cultures and training methods between China and the USA as experienced by the coach and the players in the team (Bonzi Wells and other former NBA players were signed that year to play for them).I highly recommend this book if you are interested in China and/or like NBA basketball.