On Saturday, Toronto will host the fourth Celebrity Classic basketball game headlined by two close friends — and household names — actor Simu Liu and hoop star Jeremy Lin.
“The most rewarding thing is being able to inspire young people by bringing this wide spectrum of accomplished individuals to my home city,” said Liu, who has starred as Shang-Chi in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and as a memorable Ken in last year’s “Barbie” phenomenon.
Clement Chu founded the CCYAA in 2020. “It started off as a celebrity basketball game because Simu wanted to fundraise and raise awareness for Jeremy Lin’s Foundation, but we realized that there was this broader interest beyond basketball,” said Chu. He recalled a special moment that occurred at a game a couple of years ago. “A [biracial] child went up to their parent and said, ‘You know, I feel pretty cool about being Asian.’”
“We saw that a lot of the community wasn’t necessarily coming just to watch a bunch of people play basketball. They wanted to (have) a broader celebration of what (Asian) culture has to offer,” he said.
That realization sparked this year’s rebrand — and growth. The Celebrity Classic game will now be played at TMU’s Mattamy Athletic Centre, with the goal to bring out 3,000 fans. FreshFest — the food festival that occurred outside at Varsity Stadium last year — will move indoors to create a more convention-like atmosphere, now dubbed “The Con.”
Chu has an ambitious vision for the CCYAA: to be for Toronto’s Asian community what the Caribbean Carnival (popularly known as Caribana) — North America’s largest cultural festival — is for the Caribbean community. “It’s a little localized right now, but our objective is definitely to bring visitors from outside of the city to celebrate what our community has to offer.”
Part of that momentum is rooted in continuing to redefine cultural media narratives about Asian people. In the past, Asians have rarely been portrayed as being “cool” on screen — instead, they’ve often been the butt of jokes or relegated to quiet, supporting roles. But when Asian kids see a Marvel superhero like Liu or a former NBA player like Lin, a world of possibilities opens up.
“Growing up, I never really felt a strong sense of community,” said Liu. “I didn’t have sports camps and athletic programs, access to mentorship across different industries, or even just a sense that certain things were even possible.”
In his 2022 memoir “We Were Dreamers,” Liu shared the pressure he felt to follow a traditional career path in accounting before he ultimately followed his heart and pursued acting. He knows, first-hand, how important it is to Asian kids to make success seem attainable in non-traditional paths, and to normalize those choices.
Lin is also a trailblazer. The media attention in 2012 at the height of Linsanity challenged the very notion of what a pro athlete was, or could be. The Harvard-educated undersized (and unathletic by NBA standards) Asian guard became the focal point of basketball’s biggest stage at Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as “The Mecca.”
In a widely circulated Grantland article at the time, Jay Caspian Kang wrote that Lin’s narrative of being humble, hard-working, and smart simply mirrored “the quiet way in which we succeed in this country.”
Chu, however, wants the CCYAA to go beyond representation. “Role modelling, but not just role modelling,” he said. “Role modelling of people in spaces, which require you to really be out there, front and centre — be loud and be a leader.”
The convergence of three friends giving back to their community isn’t just about the Asian community — it’s about how they are contributing to a predominantly Black space as Toronto continues to become an attractive summer basketball destination.
NBA Summer League descends on Sin City every summer, but Toronto has recently started bringing the basketball world here. Globl Jam brought the Kentucky Wildcats to Toronto in its second year (on pause this year due to the Olympics), and the Canadian Elite Basketball League’s Scarborough Shooting Stars, co-owned by OVO’s Niko, helped J. Cole actualize his hoop dreams back in 2022. Pro-Am showcases like Ball Don’t Lie, Toronto Pro-Am (built on the back of Crown League’s legacy), and OVO Bounce have all lured star power to the city. And Hoop Queens has been a successful proof of concept for Toronto’s WNBA team, which will debut here in 2026.
This year, Liu and Lin will face off against each other on the court for the first time. “I’m really looking forward to the matchup,” said Liu, “although I’m not really loving my chances.”
