HONG KONG: It didn't matter if he was 15 minutes late or not, Kobe Bryant, the NBA megastar and Asia globetrotter, was met with thundering cheers in his visit yesterday to Hong Kong.

It is the fourth time the Los Angeles Lakers guard has visited Hong Kong and his second trip there since 2007. He met up with fans to promote his newly launched trainer shoes that bear his namesake.

When the NBA Finals MVP saw the flurry of pictures his fans took of him, he said, "I love Hong Kong. I absolutely love this place. I feel like coming back to my family."