Beijingers spoilt for choice: Brazil or the Lakers?

Today is one of those rare sports days in the Chinese capital, especially given that it’s a Tuesday.

For those with nothing better to do (and plenty of money), you can spend the day watching the Tour of Beijing, which finishes its fifth and final stage near the Bird’s Nest today.

Then at 6pm, head into the stadium itself to see the Brazilian national soccer team play.

Leave at half time and jump into your helicopter to head to the west of town in time for the 7.30pm tip-off between the LA Lakers and the Golden State Warriors at the Mastercard Arena.

It’s a beautiful day to spend outside, plus you get to see Neymar and Kobe.

Now, of course, those with half-empty glasses might argue that the cyclists are all doped up to their eyeballs, Neymar and co are playing Zambia (a team ranked below other African powerhouses such as Burkino Faso and Cape Verde Islands), and Kobe is injured, but that would be nit-picking.

Brazil’s Neymar against Zambia in Beijing, China

It is also the perfect response after the smog blighted both the LPGA’s Beijing debut and the China Open tennis ten days ago, after which I argued that the pollution may force high-profile sports events to look elsewhere.

Of course, it’s more down to how the dice fall on any given day, and those favourable rolls are becoming less and less frequent, as even China Daily admits:

“…the day of reckoning will soon come when blaming the weather or geographic conditions for air pollution will not be an option.”

So enjoy it while you can. If you don’t have tickets and that helicopter is not an option, CCTV will have you covered.