ESPN.com SHANGHAI, China -- Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is on a mission to teach trash talking in Shanghai. The NBA's career scoring leader will lead a camp exploring cultural differences between American and Asian players. Along with teaching his famous skyhook, Abdul-Jabbar will touch on using language to intimidate opponents. Chinese players Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets and Wang Zhizhi of the Miami Heat came from a basketball tradition that is less physical and more team-oriented, and needed some guidance to get used to the more individualistic, aggressive American style of play. Josh Smith of the Atlanta Hawks and the Desmond Mason of the Milwaukee Bucks will join Abdul-Jabbar in the camp, which begins Saturday. Players, coaches and psychologists hope to use the experience of Yao to prepare Asian players for real-life situations. Campers will also learn about footwork, rebounding, nutrition and mental preparation. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Man how i'd love to observe this interaction. I wonder what kind of preparation Kareem made. He seems pretty cerebral & I'm sure (or hope) he took some time, however nominal, to study China & it's culture.
Wow.... why does it even matter if the Chinese team is more team oriented. Isnt that supposed to be a good thing. O'well it doesnt matter to me unless Yao is getting trained. Will Yao Ming take part in this ? Will he be trained by Kareem? I would love to see Yao start developing his skyhook.
Kareem will teach trash talking? He was the quiet type when he was in the NBA, wasn't really flamboyant or a big talker period.
