One of the league's most recognizable international superstars is once again working to help grow the NBA globally.
Kobe Bryant will join Sina as a guest analyst for Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Tuesday, Sina and NBA China announced Monday. Bryant, a five-time NBA champion with the Los Angeles Lakers, will share his thoughts before and after the game remotely from L.A.
Leveraging Bryant's enormous celebrity to help push the finals in China is a savvy move by the league, as Bryant has long held a large profile there, even becoming one of the first famous Americans to join the Chinese social media site Weibo in 2013. A two-time Olympic gold medalist and one of the game's most familiar faces over the last two decades, Bryant spent time in China last season to help promote the Nike RISE campaign.
He's famous enough in China that the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts Sculpture Museum hosted a sculpture of Bryant being bitten on his Achilles by a Black Mamba last summer.
Sina is a Chinese online media company that specializes in live-streaming and has over 100 million users globally. The NBA and Sina have connected plenty in the recent past, having forged a strategic partnership in the summer of 2013.
