Kobe Bryant arrives in Hong Kong for China tour

[July 24, 2009]  HONG KONG (AP) -- Kobe Bryant ran drills for a group of Hong Kong youngsters as the Los Angeles Lakers star arrived in China for the final leg of his summer Asian tour.

"It's great to be back in Hong Kong," Bryant said Friday after walking into a packed basketball stadium in Hong Kong's Wan Chai office district to chants of "Kobe, MVP."

After watching a group of local youngsters play in a brief game, the 30-year-old guard picked three players and drilled them on moves like the hook shot, the jump shot and the crossover.

When one player struggled to follow Bryant's instructions to accelerate abruptly during the dribble, he comforted him by saying that he also had trouble learning the move.

"I kept practicing, practicing. It never came," he said.

Bryant, who last visited in Hong Kong in 2007, ended the clinic by tossing signed basketballs and T-shirts into the crowd, then autographing the shoes he wore and also giving them to two fans.

Bryant visited Manila, Singapore and Taipei earlier this week and will now move on to the Chinese cities Shanghai and Chengdu.

[Associated Press; By MIN LEE]

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