MIES - Social Media giant Sina Weibo has designated FIBA as one of its 10 most influential sports organizations for 2018.

Yin Hao, Managing Director of the FIBA China Office, accepted the award on FIBA's behalf at a ceremony in Beijing.

FIBA has had a strong presence on Weibo, especially owing to the build-up to the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 in China. There has been a lot of additional coverage and fan engagement due to other important events like the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2018 in Spain and youth championships.

The number of followers of FIBA's Weibo accounts hit new milestones in 2018 with Weibo.com/FIBAofficial reaching 3 million fans and Weibo.com/FIBAWC reaching 1 million fans.

The World Cup and the various Qualifiers were a constant source of dialogue, which the official hashtag #FIBAWC (#篮球世界杯#)'s impressions soaring to over 330 million.

The news that really set Weibo abuzz in 2018 was the announcement of Kobe Bryant becoming a FIBA Basketball World Cup Global Ambassador, joining Yao Ming in holding that prestigious role. Bryant was among the most loved sports personalities in China when he represented the USA at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and he remains very popular.

The video of the announcement that Bryant had become the World Cup's second ambassador, with the @FIBAWC account, has been played more than 7.4 million times with extremely high engagement.

FIBA