It’s games like that which have caught the imagination of Chinese fans over the last few years. And it’s partly their interest which saw the NBA enjoy its most-watched season on television, online and mobile platforms last year. And to ensure that success continues, individual U.S. teams are now courting Chinese fans both at home and abroad.

Warming up for a game that’s rapidly going global…

U.S. basketball teams are expanding their marketing push…and they’re looking to a growing fan base across the Pacific.

The Golden State Warriors recently created an account on the Chinese microblogging site, Weibo.

And they launched a Chinese language version of warriors.com, where fans can get news, schedules, ticket information and more. Also on the website…videos and photos from the team’s latest effort to build its brand in Asia: a pre-season trip to China.

The Warriors played another West Coast team, the Los Angeles Lakers, in Beijing and Shanghai.

Warriors’ President, Rick Welts, says his team aims to be the focal point of the game in China.

"Some of the largest Chinese populations in the United States reside in San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland. The Warriors should be the connection point for China to the NBA. We know we’re not starting from that place, we know that somebody like Yao Ming might have made the Houston Rockets a little more prominent early on but we think long term because of the connection between the Bay Area and China, we’re the team that China should associate with," said Rick Welts, president of Golden State Warriors.

And it’s a two-pronged attack.

As well as bolstering their fan base in China, the Warriors hope to appeal to more local Asian-Americans.

About 13 per cent of the season ticket holders come from that community.

The Warriors have held an Asian Heritage Night and celebrated Chinese New Year during the past three seasons. And that’s not all.

"The Warriors are planning to wear a special jersey for Chinese New Year later this season and to cash in on Chinese-themed merchandise over the next couple of years… " Rebecca Bowring reported in Oakland.

Fans at this Warriors showdown with Oklahoma City Thunder say they support the outreach effort.

Some people think the initiative won’t gain much traction with local Chinese-American teenagers, many of whom can’t read Chinese.

Michael Tran runs a youth center in Oakland’s Chinatown called The Spot.

He says there are better ways of encouraging young people to go to basketball games.

"Our youth in general across the board can’t afford the price of tickets, even the cheapest tickets, so making the tickets more affordable, giving away more free ones, but coming to specific places where these communities are at, giving them away there, doing it in person, I think that would go a long way, " said Michael Tran.

The Warriors HAVE already had a local impact -- they’ve refurbished more than 40 basketball courts, some here in Chinatown.

Playing basketball remains very popular among Asian-American youth, although few break into it on a professional level.

The Warriors hope their work in the Asian community will encourage more youngsters to follow in the footsteps of their former teammate, NBA star Jeremy Lin.

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