Hoops in Translation
In the bustling streets of Shanghai, the passion for basketball is tangible. Chinese have embraced the NBA in a unique way. Drawing inspiration from phonetics, on-court charisma, and even the players' distinct appearances, they've came-up with playful and evocative nicknames for NBA stars on social media
I tried translating these nicknames into vibrant anime-like visuals. Each artwork is not just a portrait of a basketball star; it's a fusion of East meets West, capturing the essence of a player through the lens of Chinese fandom
Jordan's ordinary name in Chinese is 乔丹 (qiao dan), but Qiao is also the surname of Qiao Feng, the leader of the "Beggars' Sect" in popular wuxia martial arts novels, often known simply as "Gang Boss Qiao" (乔帮主)
James Harden is nicknamed 大胡子 “Big beard” for obvious reasons.
Kevin Durant is 死神 “God of death”, because of his lethal shooting skills. He is also known as 书包杜 - Shūbāo dù or “Schoolbag Du" because he often used to wear a backpack to press conferences ("Du" is short for "Durant").
Derrick Rose is 玫瑰 "Red Jade” , a poetic way to translate Rose.
In China fans of LeBron James call him 詹皇 - Zhan Wang which translates to King James. He also used to be dubbed "The Little Emperor” which was a play on a slang term for a "spoiled only child"
Giannis Antetokounmpo is known as 字母哥 - Zìmǔ gē or Letters Bro because his name has a loooot of letters.
Kawhi Leonard sound like “Cute” in Chine 可愛 （Kě'ài）
Joel Embiid is 大帝 “The Great Emperor”