Mario Ho, son of "Macao's King of Gambling" Stanley Ho, has successfully bid to become a co-owner of the Boston Celtics, the team with the most championships in NBA history.
On Aug. 20, the Celtics announced that after unanimous approval from the NBA Board of Governors, the investment group led by William Chisholm had completed the acquisition of a majority stake in the Celtics. The investment group is led by co-owners and board members of the Boston Celtics, including Ho.
In an interview, Ho stated that transitioning from a fan to one of the shareholders gives him a greater sense of involvement and responsibility, and he hopes the team can achieve more and perform better.
Origin
Graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States, Ho became a Celtics fan during his studies abroad. Since then, he has frequently posted Celtics-related content on social media, with Jaylen Brown being his favorite star on the team.
It is reported that to join the management of an NBA team, participants must undergo a rigorous background check by the league and obtain unanimous approval from the owners of the other 29 teams.
The Celtics were founded in 1946 and are the NBA team with the most championships, boasting 18 NBA titles and over 40 Hall of Famers. Over the past 23 years, the Celtics have won two NBA championships and have consistently been one of the best-operated teams in the league. In March of this year, the Celtics announced that Chisholm, a managing partner at the Software Technology Group (STG), had acquired the team at a valuation of US$6.1 billion, setting a record at the time for the highest transaction price in North American sports history.
What else?
In fact, the NBA truly entered the awareness of most Chinese people not through the television broadcasts that began in 1987, nor through the visit of the Washington Bullets to China in 1979 for exchanges, but rather through the 7'6 center Yao Ming, nicknamed "China's Hope" and "The Great Wall," who officially joined the NBA's Houston Rockets through the draft in 2002. Since the Rockets' jerseys were primarily red, aligning with "China red," the Rockets became the de facto home team for Chinese fans at the time. Since then, Chinese capital has gradually set its sights on opportunities in the NBA.
In 2016, Jiang Lizhang, founder of China's Contemporary Group, acquired a 5% stake in the Minnesota Timberwolves, becoming the first Chinese minority owner in the NBA. Of course, whether in terms of the team's strength at the time or the overall legacy of the franchise, the Timberwolves were not among the best NBA clubs, and coupled with the small shareholding, this matter was not widely known. It was later reported that he had sold this stake in recent years due to financial issues, though the NBA does not seem to have officially confirmed this change.
The one who can truly be considered a major owner is Joseph Tsai, co-founder of Alibaba Group and a Canadian Chinese, who acquired the Brooklyn Nets. He first purchased a 49% stake in the Nets in 2018, and then acquired the remaining 51% stake in 2019, along with ownership of the home arena, Barclays Center, at a total cost of approximately US$3.5 billion—a substantial investment. Other Chinese capital indirectly holds shares in NBA teams through investments in U.S. private equity funds, making these holdings non-public.
The 2019 Daryl Morey incident, however, undoubtedly dampened the expectations and trust of many potential Chinese shareholders in the NBA. The ambiguous official stance greatly affected investment willingness. After that, no one followed Tsai's approach of directly seeking controlling stakes in NBA clubs, instead opting for more low-profile methods, such as market sponsorships and commercial collaborations.
Influence
Currently, apart from Yang Hansen, who has already been drafted by the Trail Blazers, China has another basketball player, Zeng Fanbo, who just signed a contract with an NBA team—specifically, Tsai's Brooklyn Nets. At the same time, media reports suggested that if no other team selected Yang Hansen in the draft, the Nets would choose him as a fallback option. Previously, young Chinese player Cui Yongxi also signed a two-way contract with the Nets but was unfortunately cut after getting injured before being able to play.
The choices of the team were obviously influenced by Tsai's Chinese heritage. As the saying goes, "It takes three helpers to make a hero out of a man." Within the rules, such support could indeed play a role in the development of Chinese basketball.
(By Darius)
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