Luke Kornet (top L) of Boston Celtics and Day'Ron Sharpe of Brooklyn Nets vie for the ball during the 2023-2024 NBA regular season game between the Brooklyn Nets and the Boston Celtics in New York, the United States, Feb. 13, 2024. (Photo by Michael Nagle/Xinhua)
Ben Simmons, a player of the Brooklyn Nets, said he would make new donations for southwest China's Guizhou province in 2024 following his donation to build a basketball court there last year.
by Xinhua writers Liu Yanan, Xing Yue
NEW YORK, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Brooklyn Nets staged its annual Chinese New Year celebration game Tuesday night playing against the Boston Celtics.
The celebrations featured traditional Chinese dances, rapper Wang Yitai's performance, sale of custom sweatshirts and T-shirts, lucky draw, giveaway of red envelopes, complimentary samples from Chinese food vendors, a chance to post New Year wishes and other arrangements.
For the event, Barclays Center was decorated with red signs, stands and designs of the Year of Dragon, and the scoreboard and digital display in the center of the stadium ran auspicious phrases throughout the match.
Red envelops for attendees to celebrate Chinese New Year are placed on chairs before the 2023-2024 NBA regular season game between the Brooklyn Nets and the Boston Celtics in New York, the United States, Feb. 13, 2024. (Photo by Michael Nagle/Xinhua)
Every fan in attendance had an exclusive red envelope containing a bracelet for the Year of the Dragon.
Huang Ping, the Chinese Consul General in New York, and Sam Zussman, chief executive officer of Brooklyn Nets' parent company BSE Global, exchanged gifts for the Chinese New Year.
Player intros were announced in Chinese and Nets players wore custom Chinese New Year shooting shirts during warmups.
Ben Simmons (top L) of Brooklyn Nets and Derrick White of Boston Celtics reach for a rebound during the 2023-2024 NBA regular season game between the Brooklyn Nets and the Boston Celtics in New York, the United States, Feb. 13, 2024. (Photo by Michael Nagle/Xinhua)
Speaking in a pre-game video address, Ben Simmons, a player of the Nets, said he would make new donations for southwest China's Guizhou province in 2024 following his donation to build a basketball court there last year.
Wang Yitai, a hip-hop artist from China, performed during halftime and Chinese musicians also played instrumental before the start of the game.
Custom crewneck sweatshirts and T-shirts were sold out before the start of the match while six food stands handed out thousands of samples of Chinese food at the first-ever Chinese cuisine carnival.
Spectators attend the Chinese Cuisine Carnival, part of the Chinese New Year celebrations before the 2023-2024 NBA regular season game between the Brooklyn Nets and the Boston Celtics in New York, the United States, Feb. 13, 2024. (Photo by Michael Nagle/Xinhua)
It was hoped that spectators could get to know Chinese culture, especially Chinese cuisine through the carnival, said Tony Hu, founder and chairman of U.S.-China Restaurant Alliance.
The carnival was well received and people still lined up to get the food even after the game was kicked off, added Hu.
Tuesday's game ended with the Boston Celtics beating the Brooklyn Nets by 118 to 110. ■
