From a business standpoint, I don’t fault the NBA at all for playing to the China crowd. Naturally they get a player to try out some Mandarin

video here

(h/t truthfromfacts — I’d never find the video on my own, since, truthbetold, I have a hard time telling one ballgame from another)

Two moderately noteworthy items from the video:

1. Dwayne Wade, to my ear, gets most of the tones right most of the time in his multiple renditions of gōngxǐ fācái. Beginner’s luck? Without any further info, I’d argue not. He might just have an ear for this kind of thing. There’s no doubt that most complete beginners get the tones completely wrong when trying out a Mandarin phrase.
2. The newscaster is from… where? You have to watch to the end of the video clip to here her switch to Mandarin. My guess, purely on accent, is that she did not grow up in China, although Mandarin might be a native language for her.

I seem to remember, but can’t find it now, a good post someone did recently about how it’s silly to learn gongxi facai if you’re coming to the north. If anyone remembers this, I’d appreciate a link.