China's women's basketball national team player Li Meng remains headfast in chasing her dream, despite facing several hurdles along the way.
Li Meng
The path to pursuing her basketball dream started from the age of five, despite her coaching labelling her as "too small". In her twenties, Li suffered anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) ruptures to both knees within six months.
But the 25-year-old Chinese international just kept it rolling towards her basketball dream.
"Because I love it," she told Xinhua in an exclusive interview.
Li was hailed for her sporting talent at a young age, and her parents wanted her to take up a sport, so they brought her to a swimming class when she was four years old.
After swimming for just one year, Li often suffered from painful ear ache, so her mother took her to see a doctor.
"Do not let your child swim again, as she may get otitis media due to her ear's constant exposure to water," the doctor said.
Her mother finally gave up hope of Li becoming a future swimming star. She heard about a basketball class from a friend, and decided that her daughter should give that a go.
Li Meng
"When the coach saw me, he immediately refused as I was only five years old then. From his viewpoint, such a young kid could not hone anything. But my mom persuaded the coach to give me a chance. As you see, I've persisted in playing basketball until now," Li recalled.
Li immediately fell in love with basketball. "At five years old, I never knew what it would bring me. But after I took it up and was involved in it, I found a passion for the game."
Li rose to fame at the FIBA U17 Women's Basketball World Cup in 2010. She averaged 15.4 points and 6.2 rebounds as China claimed the bronze medal. Her stellar performance earned her the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award at the competition.
"I was taking photos with teammates at the ceremony, and suddenly heard my name called and received the trophy. I didn't realize how important it was until my coaches informed me after I returned home."
Li began to look ahead to her professional career. But the darkest days of her basketball career arrived, when she ruptured the ACL in both knees in less than six months.
"When I was injured for the first time, I was not quite worried about it. But then I got injured again, I began to think about it seriously," Li revealed.
She told her mother she wanted to stop playing basketball and go to school.
But following her coaches' persuasion, Li decided to persist with her life-long dream.
Li made her professional debut in the 2012-13 Women's Chinese Basketball Association (WCBA) season.
Li Meng
"You can be successful in the youth leagues with good skills. But in the pro league, you have to know how to spur your teammates on with your character and strength."
China punched its ticket to the Tokyo Olympic Games this February, which carried more weight as China was already battling against the COVID-19 outbreak.
Li was the driving force in China's successful qualification campaign, and again won the MVP award.
"It is my dream (to play at the Olympics), and my responsibility to represent my country. It also boosted everyone's confidence during that special period," she noted.
Li believes the postponement of the Olympics will offer the team more preparation time, while calling for the team to maintain its training level and match fitness.
"Getting an Olympic spot is not our destination. We have to fully prepare for the Games. We have to review and see if there are some weaknesses, whether in mentality, condition or technique. Hopefully everyone can make some improvements before the Olympics," Li commented.
After missing out at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Li expressed her anticipation towards the Games in Tokyo.
"I will strive to win an Olympic medal. This is also the team's target," she said.
Due to her outstanding physical quality and all-around performance, Li is dubbed "LeBron Meng" in China, in reference to her idol and NBA megastar LeBron James.
Li Meng
"Mentally he (James) has a huge impact on me. He can step up anytime when the team needs him. I have a big gap from him, but I will spare no effort to get closer to him," Li said.
Li, who recently signed an agreement with world-renowned sports brand Nike, said it reflected the brand's recognition towards her, while pushing her to work harder in future training.
"Now more and more people are following women's basketball. We are also getting better to make more people realize our value," she commented.
"I'm on a road of challenging myself. I have a lot to improve on," said Li, who received a contract from Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) side Minnesota Lynx last year, but decided not to go overseas to better prepare for her national duties.
"No matter in the national team or club, I always target the top of the podium," she added.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Another major international law firm has reached a deal with President Donald Trump to dedicate at least $100 million in free legal services to causes such as supporting veterans and combating antisemitism, the White House announced Tuesday.
The agreement makes Willkie Farr & Gallagher the third law firm in the last two weeks to cut a deal with the White House to avert sanctions from the U.S. government.
It was reached just two days after leaders at Willkie learned that the White House intended to issue a executive order against the firm, an action that could have carried “potentially grave consequences,” according to an internal email from the firm's executive committee obtained by The Associated Press.
The resolution reflects the differing responses being taken by the legal community as Trump continues to target some of the world's most elite law firms and extract concessions from them, such as the renunciation of diversity, equity and inclusion considerations in hiring and promotion decisions. Many of the firms that have been the subject of his executive orders are associated with lawyers who previously investigated Trump, either when he was president or between his terms in the White House.
Willkie is home to Doug Emhoff, the husband of 2024 Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, and Timothy Heaphy, who was chief investigative counsel to the House of Representatives committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capito l. The firm also represented two former Georgia election workers in a successful defamation lawsuit against former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Three of the targeted firms have now made deals with the White House — resolutions that critics within the legal community call a capitulation — but others have challenged them in court and have been successful in getting key portions of the edicts blocked.
The internal email from Willkie acknowledged that ambivalence.
“While the agreement ultimately reached with the Administration focuses on activities that are already in place at our Firm, similar agreements at peer firms have been publicly criticized, and there is heightened conversation across our industry as law firms grapple with the consequences of potential Executive Orders and the impact for their clients, their employees and their businesses,” the email said.
“In making this difficult decision, we concluded, after due consideration of the implications of each possible course of action, that accepting the Administration’s final proposal was the path that best serves our clients’ needs and protects the Firm’s various stakeholders, avoiding potentially grave consequences,” it added.
Leaders of Willkie learned Sunday that they would be targeted for an executive order like the one leveled at nearly a half-dozen other major firms over the last month, the email said. The White House then “outlined a proposed alternative” consisting of three principles on which an agreement could be based.
Emhoff made it known internally that he disagreed with this deal and told firm leadership they should fight, according to a person familiar with the situation who insisted on anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
The firm email downplayed the scope of reforms and suggested that firm had simply agreed to continue its longstanding practices. That includes following “the law related to our employment practices," representing clients across varied political and ideological spectrums and continuing to “represent underrepresented individuals and groups.”
The White House, by contrast, portrayed the changes in more sweeping terms, saying Willkie had affirmed “its commitment to Merit-Based Hiring, Promotion, and Retention. Accordingly, the Firm will not engage in illegal DEI discrimination and preferences.”
The Trump executive orders have threatened the security clearances of attorneys at each of the targeted firms as well as the termination of the firms' federal contracts and access by employees to federal buildings.
Last Friday, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom agreed to provide $100 million in pro bono legal services to avert an executive order, following the path of Paul Weiss, a firm that cut a deal just a week after it was targeted. The Paul Weiss chairman has said the Trump action risked destroying the firm.
In some instances, federal judges have blocked from enforcement key portions of the orders having to do with federal contracts and access to federal buildings, as has happened in lawsuits brought by WilmerHale, Jenner & Block and Perkins Coie.
WilmerHale is the firm where special counsel Robert Mueller, who investigated Trump during his first term, worked for years before retiring. Jenner & Block previously employed Andrew Weissmann, who was a top lawyer on Mueller's team, and Perkins Coie represented Hillary Clinton during her 2016 presidential campaign.
The first firm to be targeted was Covington & Burling, which has offered legal services to special counsel Jack Smith, who investigated Trump in his second term.
Associated Press writer Zeke Miller in Washington contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump waves to the media as he walks on the South Lawn of the White House, in Washington, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
