the basketball hall of futian stadium buzzed with cheers and applause for a one-armed basketball player from the united states, kevin laue, on saturday.
on the fifth day of their shenzhen trip, laue and another three basketball players from the united states played a game against a local team composed of four teenagers aged from 17 to 19 years old. the game finished with laue’s team winning, but they praised young rivals at the end of the game.
“these guys were very quick and talented even though we might be stronger and older. … i’m just very impressed. we played a lot of basketball games on the chinese mainland, hong kong and taiwan over this trip and these guys can really play,” said laue.
the teenage team came from yi camp, a basketball training camp founded by yi jianlian, a well-known chinese nba basketball player from shenzhen. all of the members of the camp are selected based on ability.
“i think the young players should continue to go through that training program. usually i can block a shot a lot easier and those guys have the best up and under i have ever seen. they are very talented,” said laue.
before the game, laue delivered a speech to the audience, mainly children accompanied by their parents.
“we are here for a purpose, just to show these kids that their dreams are possible,” said laue before signing his chinese-language autobiography.
laue was born with one forearm missing because the umbilical cord cut his left arm before he was born. the disability did not stop the 26-year-old from pursuing his dream to be a basketball player.
with years of effort and persistence, laue gained a place to play at the national collegiate athletic association and was received by former u.s. president, george w. bush.
his story has inspired a lot of people to pursue their dreams.
a woman surnamed li brought her son, known as chen, to meet with laue and asked for the basketball player’s signature after the game. the mother said that she hopes her son “can accept his imperfections and strive to make his dream come true.”