HOOPS & DREAMS

From Sichuan boy to holding court in the US, heartthrob actor Wang Hedi is forging his own, confident path, Xing Wen reports.

There's an old saying in the West that you should never meet your heroes, they'll only disappoint you. Fortunately, Wang Hedi didn't grow up in the West.

He grew up in Leshan, Sichuan province. It was there, around 15 years ago, as a primary school student, he found himself flicking through a basketball magazine. Inside was the story of a man who would become a sporting legend, LeBron James.

Like the young student, James was born in a small city, in his case Akron, Ohio. Raised by a single mother, James defied the odds by rapidly rising to prominence, from high school success to entering the NBA at the age of 18, before being crowned "King "of the court.