Basketball cartoonist able to follow dreams as his work gains popularity

An artwork by Lian Zongbo showing legendary NBA players. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

For many people, the perfect career would be one in which they do what they love to make a living, but in reality, not many have either the luck or the luxury to do so, given financial concerns and other considerations. Freelance digital cartoonist Lian Zongbo is fully aware of the pitfalls, but decided to take the plunge and chase his dream, anyway.

After graduating from the South China Agricultural University in 2010, he started as a junior animator at a company in Guangzhou city, Guangdong province, but after six years of mediocrity in the industry, Lian was becoming jaded with life.

"I'd struggled for quite some time at my company. Most of my work was childish. I was looking to do something I was really into," the 36-year-old says.

A huge basketball fan growing up, and adept at a range of drawing methods, Lian discovered a niche market in sports artwork. "I doodled a lot when I was young, daydreaming of becoming a manga legend like Akira Toriyama one day. Then I fell in love with basketball later, and would mimic Kobe Bryant's moves all day long," he explains.

In early 2016, he had the idea of combining his interests. Lian started drawing illustrations based on the NBA and shared them on social media platforms like Sina Weibo and Instagram, but the sporadic feedback initially dampened his enthusiasm.

"I would tag many big sports accounts to no avail, which motivated me to try harder, because I was too proud to admit failure," he says, jokingly.

In January 2017, about a year after he started, he received the message on his Instagram account that would change his life forever. Sent by Conscious Basketball, a team of artists based in the United States that produces art related to the sport, the message invited Lian to display his work at art shows in the US.

A comic strip by Lian featuring NBA stars LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Vince Chang, founder of Conscious Basketball, later explains that he came across Lian's work on Pinterest and that to him, what separated Lian from the others was that he was a multifaceted creator. He also had "the illustration skills and the ability to develop in-depth concepts", and his background in animation allowed his work to cross over into different mediums, from still to motion.

Lian happily accepted the offer, seeing it as a boost to morale. "To be honest, I was on the brink of giving up on the idea of doing basketball illustrations," says Lian, who goes by the handle "Boblian1206" on Instagram.

The group also shared social media marketing strategies that helped him get the ball rolling.

Lian began visualizing everyday stories from the league, and adding memes to them. His narrative approach quickly won him a growing number of enthusiasts, including former NBA superstar Dwyane Wade.

"Dope." This was the comment Wade once left on a comic strip about the 2019-20 season's MVP race between LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo. The dialogue-free episode ends with the victorious Greek Freak (Antetokounmpo's nickname) watching James running after a goat, which represents a sports acronym that stands for the "Greatest of All-Time".

Through experiments like this, Lian developed a humorous and varied style and managed to overcome cultural barriers with his paintbrush.

"Sports itself is a universal language. And drawing is my medium. You can easily resonate with your audience if the content and creativity are there," he says.

As his name became more familiar in the global basketball community, more commissions started coming Lian's way. A few months after receiving that fateful message from Conscious Basketball, Lian quit his job and started making basketball-themed artwork full time.

Today, the freelancer has over 210,000 followers on Instagram and Sina Weibo, and regularly creates illustrated and animated content for professional sports teams, brands and media agencies.

A cartoon self-portrait by Lian. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Jin Tianyu, social media director of NBA China, says that he thinks highly of the cartoonist. "We see great value in Lian's art," Jin says. "His remarkable imagination has grabbed the spotlight in the basketball world. It is only logical that we reached out to partner with him."

One of the illustrations Lian produced for NBA China is the huge piece that has been decorating a wall at the company's new office in Beijing since 2021. Featuring 75 well-known NBA players, the drawing has won the hearts of many pundits and fans.

"This is amazing. I looked at it for 10 minutes," wrote one Instagram user with a handle "scjunglist" after seeing it online.

Looking back, Lian summarizes his career as a process of defying the odds.

He says that he was obsessed with manga as a teenager, but that his parents teased him about his passion, never thinking that he would make a career out of it one day.

"And then there were the cold shoulders I got on social media early on," he says. "But I hung in there, and succeeded."

His childhood hobby has now turned into a promising career that has given Lian a more comfortable life, including a large apartment and a brand-new car.

Every morning, he watches NBA matches before turning the highlights into memes and illustrations.

"This is a dream come true. The most satisfying thing isn't the pay, but being able to work with some of my favorite brands, which affords me the freedom to be creative," he says, adding that he earns much more than before.

He says that being consistently creative is the hardest part. "Sometimes I have to rack my brains (to be creative)," he says. "You have to closely follow what's going on in the game, and try to relate that to memes and trending topics."

When asked if he has any advice for others who also want to change jobs to pursue their passions, Lian advises prudence and rational thinking.

"I wouldn't tell people to abandon their current jobs if they are not ready. Financial insecurity could result in anxiety that might bog them down," he says. "Rather, I'd tell them to make full use of their spare time to explore their passions. Be calm; hone your skills. One day it will all pay off."

Yan Weijue contributed to this story.