Basketball stars wowed fans at Yao foundation charity game

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The Yao Foundation held a charity basketball game Sunday night between the Chinese National Basketball Team and NBA-star team.

Yao Foundation, set up by the retired Chinese basketball legend Yao Ming in 2008 after the massive earthquake in Sichuan Province, is now focusing on sports and education charity.

It is the 7th year to host the annual basketball charity game by the foundation since 2010, and this year's charity match was a big part of Hong Kong's celebrations of the 20th anniversary since its return to China.

US NBA player Trey Lyles (2nd R) of the Denver Nuggets maneuvers past Chinese players Shen Zijie (2nd L) and Liu Zhixuan (R) during a friendly basketball match for the Yao Foundation Charity Game between the American Professional Nike Rising Star team and the Chinese Men's Basketball Stars team, in Hong Kong on July 30, 2017. /AFP Photo

Fans who packed the Hong Kong Coliseum were not disappointed as they witnessed the powerful slam dunking of Justin Anderson from the Philadelphia 76ers, the three-pointer attempts of J.R. Smith of the Cleveland Cavaliers and the goal-scoring skills of Gary Payton II. China’s national team members Wang Zhelin and Sun Minghui also put on a show impressing fans.

In the end, the China Star squad, beat the NBA Star team 86-83, but this game is mostly about raising funds to promote the development of China's rural education to help young people grow up physically and mentally.

Yao Ming, founder of the Yao Foundation, speaks to the press at the foundation's charity forum on Saturday. /CGTN Photo

"I hope this game can help bring about change in young players' lives, and that people recognize sports can make a difference, and can be inspirational. Things have changed quite quickly since the foundation was built ten years ago, but we still have plenty of hopes. I think we can do much better in future," Yao said at the foundation's charity forum on Saturday.