After a first season that combined the drama and tension of reality TV with the thrills and spills of streetball, hit basketball show Dunk of China (这就是灌篮; literally “This is Slam Dunk”) is gearing up for a second series on major Chinese streaming platform Youku — and has announced that NBA legend Dwyane Wade will be joining the fray.
Also due to appear on the show are Wade’s former Miami Heat teammate Udonis Haslem and Golden State Warriors’ Nick Young. The trio are all being billed as “coaches” for the new series, the first episode of which is scheduled to air on August 25.
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Wade is one of basketball’s most popular stars in China and has been careful to build his profile in the country, even considering a move to play in the CBA last year. He recently wrapped up a summer tour of the country, meeting hordes of fans and still impressing on the court in showpiece games and exercises.
Respectez Dwyane Wade pic.twitter.com/41XHZaLI2X
— The Daily Dunk (@dailydunkfr) July 2, 2019
Wade also has a “lifetime deal” with Chinese sports brand Li-Ning and his own spin-off line, Way of Wade.
The first season of Dunk notched up over 50 million views for its first episode inside just four days, and its combination of 1v1 and 3v3 games, raw basketball talents, and celebrities such as Jeremy Lin and Jay Chou saw it go on to be a ratings hit. Lin seems unlikely to join season 2, though as he told us in an exclusive interview recently, he will be taking part in another Chinese TV show themed around basketball, entitled Game On (Wo Yao Da Lanqiu 我要打篮球).
Read more from our interview with Lin here:
