When Kobe Bryant’s moves forward further in world domination by starting up his Chinese personal Web site Thursday, the Chinese company that is doing most of the work (the SINA Corporation) is having a lavish introductory ceremony for it.
Included in the plans is a fortune-cookie reading, and I laughingly told Bryant on Wednesday night how ridiculous that is. The fortune cookie isn’t even really from China. It’s actually an American creation that came out of California and become linked with Chinese food.
Bryant said he wasn’t the one who planned all that, and I said that I knew but I figured he might want to know, just in case. So he smiled and proceeded to show off a little. He said: “Xie xie” … which means “thank you” in Mandarin Chinese.
My parents came to the U.S. from Taiwan, which is an island separate from mainland China. I can speak some Taiwanese, but I knew enough Mandarin that Bryant’s little joke wasn’t lost in translation.
Anyway, what Bryant and I were talking about for my column before the whole fortune-cookie discussion was also along the lines of his world domination: Bryant is assuming leadership for USA Basketball again by saying he’s willing to commit to playing in the FIBA World Championship in 2010 at a time when few others are.
