Brooklyn Nets hosts Chinese culture night in New York

The Brooklyn Nets hosted Chinese culture night on Jan 29 at the team's home arena Barclays Center in New York City.

To celebrate the Year of the Mouse, the team wore Lunar New Year pregame shooting shirts and its starting lineups were announced in Chinese. Videos of players saying internet buzzwords in Chinese won rounds of applause from the audience.

Traditional Chinese lion dancing and fan dancing were performed at breaks during the game between the Brooklyn Nets and the Detroit Pistons.

Fans could also have their names written in custom Chinese calligraphy and receive a sampling of rice cake desserts.

In addition to the traditional Chinese cultural performances, the evening's celebration also included more modern elements to meet the taste of the young people, said Joe Tsai, owner of the Brooklyn Nets.

Well-known Asian American rapper MC Jin performed at halftime and wished everyone happy Chinese New Year in both Cantonese and English. The evening also featured unique dance routines from the Brooklynettes and TAKALA LAND, a Chinese kids hip-hop dance team.