Lakers, Warriors to entertain fans at appreciation day in Shanghai

SHANGHAI - NBA China will host NBA Fan Appreciation Day on Oct 17 at the Oriental Sports Center in Shanghai to thank fans for their support of the NBA Global Games 2013 in Beijing and Shanghai feature the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors.

Fan Appreciation Day is a free, interactive event that will give more than 13,000 fans the chance to watch the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors participate in drills and conduct a variety of basketball activities. Lucky fans will have the chance to join the teams on the court to participate in three-point and half court shooting contests.

adidas, smart and ZTE Mobile are partners of NBA Fan Appreciation Day will conduct a variety of activities to enhance the fan experience. Appearances from special guests will include NBA Legends Dell Curry, A.C. Green and Muggsy Bogues, the NBA Fan Patrol, the Lakers Girls and Warriors Girls and the Warriors’ Dunk Team the Flying Dubs.

Fans will also witness a historic moment, counting down the last five shots of the “Shoot Two Million Hoops” program, a joint campaign between the NBA and the Shanghai Sports Bureau, designed to promote an active and healthy lifestyle. The program began on May 31 and encourages fans to shoot baskets in hundreds of schools and communities across Shanghai. The final five shots will be taken by the NBA players and Legends on center court to commemorate the occasion.

Prior to NBA Fan Appreciation Day, the Lakers players, along with head coach Mike D’Antoni will host a NBA FIT clinic for 60 Special Olympic athletes. The clinic will feature a variety of fitness drills and basketball competitions encouraging youth to live a healthy lifestyle.

Tickets to the NBA Fan Appreciation Day will be free to the public and made available through a series of promotions conducted by NBA digital and marketing partners. For the first time, the NBA official Weixin account (NBA_Big) will launch interactive promotions to distribute tickets to fans across China. In addition, the Shanghai Sports Bureau will select thousands of basketball fans to attend the event.

The inaugural Fan Appreciation Day took place last year in Shanghai as part of the NBA preseason games in China featuring the Miami Heat and the Los Angeles Clippers.

For more information on how and where to get tickets to the NBA Fan Appreciation Day, please log onto the official NBA Global Games 2013 website: http://china.nba.com/globalgames2013/index.html.

The full 2013-14 NBA Global Games schedule includes a total of 12 NBA teams playing 10 regular season and preseason games in eight cities in six countries and territories. This will be the most NBA teams to play internationally in a single season in league history. Along with Beijing and Shanghai, NBA Global Games also includes games in Bilbao, Spain; Istanbul, Turkey; London and Manchester, UK; Manila, Philippines; Mexico City, Mexico; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and Taipei.