The Views: Hoop, Life, and Dedication
Nelson “Nelly” Chan didn’t take the conventional route to professional basketball. While he did play the sport in high school, Chan was not a collegiate athlete. Chan decided to follow a career in professional basketball while in college and documented his journey on YouTube on his channel Hoop and Life. But how did Chan beat the odds? How did he successfully rise to a professional career despite being an average Joe?
Handle: Chan posts primarily on his YouTube channel @HoopAndLife. He has accounts on other social media platforms that act under the Hoop and Life brand as well as accounts specifically promoting himself. For example, Chan runs both the Hoop and Life associated Instagram account @hoopandlife as well as a personal Instagram account with the handle @nellynelchan. The only other Hoop and Life associated social media account is @hoopandlife on Facebook, though this account seems to be defunct. Chan also has accounts on X (@nellynelchan), TikTok (@nellynelchan), and Twitch (@nellynelchan). These accounts are public despite not being associated with the Hoop and Life brand.
Series: Chan has had many series on Hoop and Life over the course of its existence, but his current series include, “WATCH BEFORE BUYING!”, a sneaker review series where shoes undergo a performance test as Chan plays basketball and also various videos of him playing different styles of basketball such as 1v1. Though his series on basketball stereotypes was what gained him popularity, the last video posted in this series is from three years ago.
Creators: Nelson “Nelly” Chan is the face behind Hoop and Life.
Platform: Hoop and Life is first and foremost a YouTube channel. The only other platform with an active handle related to the Hoop and Life branding is @hoopandlife on Instagram. Chan has his own personal accounts on Instagram, X, and Twitch.
Genre(s): Hoop and Life falls into the Sports genre. Content on the channel is dedicated to basketball.
Subscribers: The Hoop and Life channel currently sits at 351K subscribers. The channel’s associated Instagram account has 15.8K followers. Chan’s personal accounts range in following with his Instagram account amassing 37K followers, X account 2.7K followers, TikTok account 7.2K followers, and Twitch account reaching only 198 followers.
Born in Macau, Chan moved to Los Angeles as a child. He started playing basketball at the age of ten, eventually joining his high school’s team, though he admits he wasn’t very good. Chan found passion for the game in college, thinking he wanted to play collegiate basketball. Considering his height and his race, he knew that his dream would be difficult to achieve. He tried out for a junior team at his college unsuccessfully, but eventually joined a traveling team in his local Asian basketball community. This team was where he honed his skills, building his mentality and developing a drive to do better every day.
Like all professions and hobbies, basketball has its own stereotypes. It’s an open secret that most basketball players are tall – Nelson Chan is only 5’7, and he’s well aware of the stereotypes that surround basketball. Keeping these in mind, Chan posted a video titled “Basketball Stereotypes!” eight years ago. It quickly became his most popular YouTube video, spawning a series with thirteen installments.
While “Basketball Stereotypes!” was not the first video on the Hoop and Life channel, it is emblematic of Chan’s goals for making the channel in the first place. Getting a secure corporate job as a financial advisor straight out of college, Chan felt lost in his career. He eventually met Andrew and David Fung of the FUNG BROS. through the LA gym scene. The brothers were shocked when they saw Chan dunk during friendly basketball games and eventually started making content with him. Two years later, Chan moved to New York with the Fung brothers and began creating his own content on YouTube.
Chan began to see his younger peers in both the Asian-American community and in content creation play basketball at a professional level as his YouTube career began to grow. In the United States, the definition of success at basketball is playing for the NBA. This obviously wasn’t an option for Chan. Collegiate level basketball also wasn’t something that Chan could aspire to since he was already a college graduate. Looking at his friends, Chan decided he would set his sights on where they were playing – overseas.
The process began with a lot of research. Chan was not sure which overseas team would take him as a member. Being an import player--a player with a passport outside of the country they are playing for--was an option for Chan, but rules and restrictions vary from league to league. Additionally, overseas teams were more interested in stereotypical tall basketball players rather than Chan.
The ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) was an international professional men’s basketball league composed of teams from countries in Southeast Asia including Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. The aforementioned friends that Chan saw move to professional basketball played for the ABL, which allows members based upon ethnicity. Chan was born in Macau, which did not have a team in the ABL at the time. But in 2018, one of Chan’s friends who played for the ABL informed him that Macau would be joining the league. Seeing his opportunity, Chan reached out to as many people as possible. After months of networking, Chan was told he could only be let on as a practice player with no pay due to his lack of collegiate experience. Given the circumstances, Chan did not move out to Macau. His YouTube channel was finally beginning to flourish, and he did not have the finances to move to a different country without pay.
Chan anxiously rooted for the Macau Black Bears during the 2018-19 season, essentially studying the game. He doubted himself, worrying that he should’ve taken the opportunity as a practice player and risen through the ranks. Right as the season ended, Chan reached out for another chance and was taken on.
The ABL unfortunately lost their support from the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) in 2023. The chances of the league’s continuation are slim, but Chan’s dedication to the game continues.
Chan continues to upload videos on Hoop and Life, typically focusing on basketball tips, 1v1 games, and sneaker reviews. Chasing his dream of professional basketball has been inspirational to many leading to collaborations with other channels, a continued rapport with the Fung brothers, and guest spots like an interview with Mike Tran on The AM Podcast. Chan is proof that practice and dedication brings a person closer to their dreams.
