Saturday, July 26, 2008

Retired NBA stars to visit Taiwan

NBA Taiwan announced Friday that Scottie Pippen, Clyde Drexler, Glen Rice and B.J. Armstrong will visit Taiwan for NBA Madness, a NBA-sponsored event, from August 29-31.

The NBA veterans will participate in the NBA Madness in Taipei after a pair of Legends Games at Taipei Arena on August 29 and at Jhubei Stadium (Hsinchu County) on August 30.

The NBA Madness, now an annual event organized by the NBA, will be held at the following sites:

Aug. 16-17: Dream Mall, Kaohsiung City
Aug. 23-24: Shin Kong Matsukoshi Department Store, Taichung City
Aug. 30-31: Danshui MRT Station, Danshui, Taipei County

In the Legends Games, the NBA veterans will be paired with local players. According to the China Times, the roster will be:

Team A:
Clyde Drexler
Glen Rice
Wu Tai-hao (TB)
Ho Shou-cheng (TB)
Lin Chih-chieh (TB)
Chen Shih-nian (TB)
Hsu Hao-cheng (TB)
Yang Chin-min (TB)
Yen Hsin-shu (TB)
Chou Jun-san (TB assistant coach)
Rex Manu (former CBA player with Hung-kuo Elephants)
Hsiung Jen-cheng (former player with Hung-fu Rams)

Team B:
Scottie Pippen
B.J. Armstrong
Hsu Chi-chan (BOT)
Doug Creighton (Pure Youth)
Cheng Jen-wei (dmedia)
Chang Yu-lin (Pure Youth)
Chen Shun-hsiang (BOT)
Ouyang Ching-heng (dmedia)
Chien Ming-fu (BOT)
Cheng Chih-lung (former CBA player with Hung-kuo Elephants, current Taiwan Mobile head coach)
Huang Chun-hsiung (former CBA player with Hung-kuo Elephants, current Taiwan Mobile assistant)
Liu Yi-hsiang (former CBA player with Hung-kuo Elephants)

One interesting thing though, the ticket price for the Legends Games will range between NT$ 4,000-8,000 (USD$131-263). I'm wondering will anyone actually buy the tickets to watch these guys play? I mean, these players were all great players, but the ticket prices are simply too high for kids and middle-class fans.