There are 300 million basketball players in China, according to the Chinese Basketball Association.

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"Shaq is a larger-than-life hero with Chinese basketball fans, " says Terry Rhoads, founder of Zou Marketing, a sports consultancy in Shanghai.

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The plan, says Zhao Qian, another manager at Taihe, is to put the Back Dormitory Boys together with their idol, Yao Ming, a Chinese basketball prodigy who plays centre for the Houston Rockets.

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Over the last 30 years, the NBA has engaged in extensive efforts to bring the sport of basketball to the Chinese people.

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Last month, Yao launched the Hope Primary Schools Basketball Season to teach basketball skills to Chinese youth in the hopes of improving their self-confidence and sportsmanship.

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One must also factor in that soccer is probably the most televised sport in China, although basketball, especially with Chinese stars in foreign leagues, has exploded in programming during the past decade.

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Consumer purchases ranging from buying a new car to purchasing movie tickets or seats to see a favorite NBA basketball team all help illustrate both the extent to which Chinese companies have entered our lives in America, and underscore the fact that typical American consumers, may not even know which companies are made in China in the first place.

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