TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwanese-American basketball talent Robert Hinton has been nominated for the 2024 McDonald’s All-American Game, making him the first athlete of Taiwanese descent to be nominated for the prestigious high-school all-star basketball game.
On Tuesday (Jan. 9), the official Instagram account for the McDonald’s All-American Game released the full list of players nominated for 2024, and Hinton was among 44 boys included. However, it is not yet certain whether Hinton will participate in the game as the field will be narrowed down to 24 players.
Even if he is not chosen to take part, he still holds the distinction of being the first high school basketball player of Taiwanese descent to be nominated for the nationally televised exhibition. The event brings together the best male and female graduates from American and Canadian high schools and is divided into East and West teams to compete.
It also features a three-point shooting contest, skills challenge, and slam dunk contest. The game has showcased future NBA superstars such as Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwight Howard, and Kevin Durant.
Robert Hinton going up for a dunk while playing for the national team. (Chinese Taipei Basketball Association)
Hinton, who will turn 18 in February, is 6 feet 5 inches (approximately 196 cm) tall, plays the combo guard position, and is currently enrolled at Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles, California, per ETtoday. In the previous season, he was already recognized as a four-star high school player by two major American sports media outlets — ESPN and 247SPORTS.
At the age of 16, he had already received a scholarship from Harvard University, where he plans to follow in Jeremy Lin’s (林書豪) footsteps while majoring in law. Hinton, who obtained Taiwan’s ID card at age 12, returned to Taiwan last summer to join Chinese Taipei White, the national squad’s Team B, in the 2023 William Jones Cup invitational in Taipei last August, alongside his brother Adam Hinton.
Hinton played in eight games, averaging 25 minutes per game and achieving 11.3 points, 3 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.3 steals.
He showcased an impressive field goal percentage of 48.6% for two-pointers and a three-point shooting rate of 38.5%, contributing to the Chinese Taipei team’s record of 3 wins and 5 losses, finishing in 6th place in the William Jones Cup Invitational.
