Slamball, one of the hottest new sports hitting China these days is one that got started right here in Los Angeles, CA. A cross between basketball and a free-for-all, the game is an exciting new take on regular basketball.

If you’ve never seen SlamBall courts or know much about the game, take a look at the video. It is pretty unbelievable watching these guys soar off what is basically a trampoline at ground level and go 12 feet in the air to perform a slam dunk that makes some NBA players jealous.

In China, this new game is taking the country by storm. In a report by the Los Angeles Daily News, SlamBall is creating as much hysteria as NFL Sunday football does in this country. In an excerpt from the Los Angeles Daily News…

Maybe in the same way Americans were surprised by how the Chinese embraced Kobe Bryant and the U.S. basketball squad at last summer’s Beijing Games, Gordon was amused and confused by this wild reception to his hybrid hoops.

Wondering if that was an isolated response, Gordon took it to the streets. At some pickup basketball courts in downtown Beijing, where the games are so serious that the wait can be more than two hours, he found someone who understood English and showed him the same DVDs.

“Pretty soon, there’s a throng of people looking at this, asking questions, `How do I play? Can girls play? How do I get a jersey?’ When’s the video game coming out?”‘ said Gordon. “We end up out there for six hours. The guy translating for me probably hated himself by the end for getting involved.”

The net result: A sport that looks like crazy basketball has caught the fancy of a basketball-crazy nation. L.A. may be SlamBall’s birthplace, but China could be the tipping point of international acceptance.

Gordon might have hatched this egg, but Tollin has nurtured it through his connections and creativity.

“The dream of this is not to just have it as a made-for-TV event, but played internationally with kids ultimately putting the leagues together,” said the Toluca Lake-based Tollin. “It’s the first real action sport that combines athleticism and the context and consequences of a league.”

Gordon says he’s received positive reaction to SlamBall in places like Japan, Australia, Holland, Spain, Italy and Turkey.

But China, where the two national obsessions are basketball and gymnastics, seems most ready to embrace it.

“Hosting the world’s most renowned basketball tournament (last August) has opened massive doors for a nation that has a tremendous sports infrastructure,” said Gordon. “There are empty arenas there hungry for content. And their economy is unbelievable.”

As you can see, this is one hot game that is only going to grow in the coming years. I must admit that when I watched this on Versus it was pretty interesting. I can see how it is becoming popular.