Outside the Paint: When Basketball Ruled at the Chinese Playground

Synopsis

This fascinating book reveals that Chinese Americans began "shooting hoops" nearly a century before Chinese superstar Yao Ming turned pro. Drawing on interviews with players and coaches, Outside the Paint takes readers back to San Francisco in the 1930s and 1940s, when young Chinese American men and women developed a new approach to the game--with fast breaks, intricate passing and aggressive defense--that was ahead of its time. Every chapter tells a surprising story: the Chinese Playground, the only public outdoor space in Chinatown; the Hong Wah Kues, a professional barnstorming men's basketball team; the Mei Wahs, a championship women's amateur team; Woo Wong, the first Chinese athlete to play in Madison Square Garden; and the extraordinarily talented Helen Wong, whom Kathleen Yep compares to Babe Didrikson. Outside the Paintchronicles the efforts of these highly accomplished athletes who developed a unique playing style that capitalized on their physical attributes, challenged the prevailing racial hierarchy, and enabled them, for a time, to leave the confines of their segregated world. They learned to dribble, shoot, and steal.

Copyright:

2009

Book Details

Book Quality:

Publisher Quality

ISBN-13:

9781592139446

Publisher:

Temple University Press

Date of Addition:

07/11/13

Copyrighted By:

Temple University

Adult content:

No

Language:

English

Has Image Descriptions:

No

Categories:

History, Nonfiction, Sports, Art and Architecture, Social Studies, Sociology

Submitted By:

Bookshare Staff

Usage Restrictions:

This is a copyrighted book.