By Jason Cruz
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
Welcome to another edition of The Layup Drill. In this month’s edition, we take a look at Eileen Gu’s Olympics, an honor for Yeo, the Harpers enjoying NBA All Star Weekend, and Leonard Williams and his celebration activities.
Eileen Gu medals in Italy, responds to critics
China’s Eileen Gu celebrates competes during women’s freestyle skiing slopestyle qualifications at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Eileen Gu capped off another successful Olympics adding three more medals to her collection. She won a gold medal in women’s freeski halfpipe, a silver medal in Big Air, and another in Slopestyle. The Chinese American skier representing China found out that her grandmother passed away shortly after winning the gold medal in the women’s halfpipe. She honored her late grandmother in an Instagram post.
“Because I promised I’d be brave like her,” wrote Gu in a post, which showed her pictured with her grandmother in a hospital bed.
At 22, Gu was named as the highest-paid Olympic athlete per major sport, earning $23 million with her winnings and endorsements. But, it is the endorsements that are 99% of her pay despite being the all-time leader in freeskiing World Cup wins.
Former NBA player Enes Freedom Kanter accused Gu of being a traitor for deciding to represent China instead of the place she was born. While Kanter’s accusations may be performative for a hypercharged political climate, Gu made the conscious decision when she was 16 and has not regretted it. In an Instagram post, she wrote: “Skiing for Team China meant the opportunity to uplift others through the universal culture of sport, and to introduce free skiing to hundreds of millions of people who had never heard of it…” She went on to add, “I can look back now at 22, and tell 12 year old Eileen that there are now millions of girls who have started skiing since then, in China and worldwide.”
Yeo earns All-WCC Honors
Junseok Yeo (Credit: Seattle University)
Seattle University men’s basketball’s Junseok Yeo earned West Coast Conference (WCC) Honors. Yeo earned All-WCC Honorable Mention playing for the RedHawks this season. The transfer from Gonzaga averaged 11.7 points and 3.8 rebounds during the WCC season. He had two games of 20-points this season, both coming against Saint Mary’s. His 24 points, including six threes, in Moraga, Calif., stands as his career high. Yeo also recorded his first career double-double—a 17-point, 12-rebound effort at Santa Clara.
Harpers enjoy NBA All-Star Weekend
Former NBA player Ron Harper Sr., left, San Antonio Spurs guard Dylan Harper, center, and Boston Celtics guard Ron Harper Jr. participate in the shooting stars competition at the NBA basketball All-Star weekend festivities Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Dylan Harper of the San Antonio Spurs was joined by his brother, Ron Harper, Jr., and Ron Harper as part of NBA’s All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles last month. The three played as part of the NBA Shooting Stars competition on Saturday.
In addition, the Harper brothers played against one another in the NBA Rising Stars Challenge on Friday. Dylan secured the win for his team in the game with a jumper over Ron, Jr.
Ron Harper, Jr. went to Rutgers and played professionally for three years with the Toronto Raptors and now the Celtics. Harper was drafted last year and plays for the Spurs. Ron Harper played most of his career with the Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Bulls.
The Harper brothers’ mother, Maria Pizarro, is Filipino American. She played collegiate basketball at the University of New Orleans and continues to coach at the AAU and high school level.
Williams celebrating an event bigger than Super Bowl
Seattle Seahawks Defensive Lineman Leonard Williams had a great month of February and is looking for a bigger March. Williams helped the Seahawks win the Super Bowl over the New England Patriots. He then helped the city celebrate with a parade down 4th Avenue in downtown Seattle two days later. Williams and his wife, Hailey, are expecting their first child together in early March. Williams’ wife was 36 weeks pregnant while she watched her husband from the stands at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. The couple will be having the baby in Seattle as opposed to their off-season home in Fort Lauderdale as the Super Bowl was the last day Hailey could fly. Williams’ father is half African American and half Japanese. His mother is half African American and half Hispanic. Williams was born in Bakersfield, California, but moved around as a child going from California to Michigan to Arizona and ending up in Florida to play high school football.
As a standout in high school, he was recruited to play football at USC. He was the 6th overall pick by the New York Jets and played with them before being traded to Seattle in October 2023.
Williams, 31, visited Japan in March 2024 on vacation for three weeks. He interrupted the vacation to sign a three-year, $64.5 million extension with the Seahawks.
Jason can be reached at newstips@nwaskianweekly.com.
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