Wu Chun & Jay Chou dazzle crowd at basketball charity exhibition
Source: The Straits Times
Posted on 14 August
BY CHARLENE CHUA
They weren’t National Basketball Association (NBA) stars, but that didn’t stop Wu Chun and Jay Chou from stealing the show.
On Friday night, 15,000 fans went wild watching their favourite celebrities dunk it out in Shanghai.
The third annual Sprite “True To Yourself” Star Basketball charity exhibition saw actors and singers such as Jaycee Chan, Jiro Wang, Blackie Kuo and Fu Xinbo rub shoulders with NBA great Kobe Bryant.
As Bryant was recuperating from an injury, he could only coach his green team from the sidelines which left open room for teammates Wu and Chou to dazzle the crowd with their fancy moves.
Wu, who used to play for the Brunei national basketball team, impressed by pouring in shots at close range.
Chou, on the other hand, monopolised the ball at times in an audacious display of stylish dribbling.
Wu, 33, a big Michael Jordan fan, told The New Paper: “Kobe is very down-to-earth... Having a superstar telling me ‘Hey, its good to see you again!’ and asking me, ‘So, what are you doing in the upcoming months? Filming? Put up a good show ya!’... the feeling was just great.
“If Michael Jordan wasn’t my idol, I might choose Kobe (as my idol) as he has such an incredible competitive spirit and he’s a very humble guy.”
The Bruneian movie star’s regret was that he couldn’t shoot hoops side by side with Bryant this year. In the previous two years of competition, he had played with and against the basketball legend.
Sportsmanship
This year, he and Chou, whose legions of fans were in the crowd holding up lightboards with their names on them, also showed their sportsmanship when they didn’t react to rough defending by the opposition.
The tackles had at times come fast and furious but the celebrity pair shrugged them off without breaking a sweat.
Wu was also key in making good passes and set up his teammates for getting their names on the scoreboard.
In the end, both he and Chou made their coach very proud. Bryant was all smiles when his green team finally claimed victory with a closely fought score of 104-100.
Bryant even autographed a jersey which was thrown into the audience.
Apart from lauding his basketball skills on social media, Wu was also praised by fans, who felt his on-court fashion sense was spot-on.
Wu said: “The wristband was an inspiration from Michael Jordan because he never plays without it. I wore the bandana as I didn’t want my hair to interfere with my eye-sight during the game.
Then there was the elusive green and orange Air Jordan sneakers that Wu was proudly pounding the arena in.
He said, with a laugh: “It’s a pair of Nike ID shoes which I ordered from the Internet. I had my birth date (10) stitched onto the shoe and the feeling of having this one and only Air Jordan in the world just makes me more competitive on the floor.”
Source: The Straits Times
Posted on 14 August
BY CHARLENE CHUA
They weren’t National Basketball Association (NBA) stars, but that didn’t stop Wu Chun and Jay Chou from stealing the show.
On Friday night, 15,000 fans went wild watching their favourite celebrities dunk it out in Shanghai.
The third annual Sprite “True To Yourself” Star Basketball charity exhibition saw actors and singers such as Jaycee Chan, Jiro Wang, Blackie Kuo and Fu Xinbo rub shoulders with NBA great Kobe Bryant.
As Bryant was recuperating from an injury, he could only coach his green team from the sidelines which left open room for teammates Wu and Chou to dazzle the crowd with their fancy moves.
Wu, who used to play for the Brunei national basketball team, impressed by pouring in shots at close range.
Chou, on the other hand, monopolised the ball at times in an audacious display of stylish dribbling.
Wu, 33, a big Michael Jordan fan, told The New Paper: “Kobe is very down-to-earth... Having a superstar telling me ‘Hey, its good to see you again!’ and asking me, ‘So, what are you doing in the upcoming months? Filming? Put up a good show ya!’... the feeling was just great.
“If Michael Jordan wasn’t my idol, I might choose Kobe (as my idol) as he has such an incredible competitive spirit and he’s a very humble guy.”
The Bruneian movie star’s regret was that he couldn’t shoot hoops side by side with Bryant this year. In the previous two years of competition, he had played with and against the basketball legend.
Sportsmanship
This year, he and Chou, whose legions of fans were in the crowd holding up lightboards with their names on them, also showed their sportsmanship when they didn’t react to rough defending by the opposition.
The tackles had at times come fast and furious but the celebrity pair shrugged them off without breaking a sweat.
Wu was also key in making good passes and set up his teammates for getting their names on the scoreboard.
In the end, both he and Chou made their coach very proud. Bryant was all smiles when his green team finally claimed victory with a closely fought score of 104-100.
Bryant even autographed a jersey which was thrown into the audience.
Apart from lauding his basketball skills on social media, Wu was also praised by fans, who felt his on-court fashion sense was spot-on.
Wu said: “The wristband was an inspiration from Michael Jordan because he never plays without it. I wore the bandana as I didn’t want my hair to interfere with my eye-sight during the game.
Then there was the elusive green and orange Air Jordan sneakers that Wu was proudly pounding the arena in.
He said, with a laugh: “It’s a pair of Nike ID shoes which I ordered from the Internet. I had my birth date (10) stitched onto the shoe and the feeling of having this one and only Air Jordan in the world just makes me more competitive on the floor.”
