China's "love for basketball came through" during today's Nets-Lakers preseason game in Shanghai, which was played without incident despite the recent controversy. Some fans who came to the arena in street clothes "could later be seen donning team gear." On the streets around Mercedes-Benz Arena, "vendors hawked Chinese flags," which locals "confirmed was not the norm for sporting events" in the city ( N.Y. POST, 10/10 ). Few fans "waved their small Chinese flags once in the arena." Several "wore stickers that said I (heart) China," and others "had a Chinese flag painted on their cheeks." But that was the "extent of the demonstration inside the arena" ( L.A. TIMES, 10/10 ).
The scene inside the arena "never morphed into the intense nationalist display one could easily envision." On the other hand, the "juxtaposition of symbols of state and sport was the perfect representation of the competing interests that have come to define the week here" ( THEATHLETIC.com, 10/10 ).
