Former NBA lottery pick Jimmer Fredette recently talked to HoopsHype about his experience playing in the Chinese Basketball Association. Halfway through the conversation, he mentioned that fellow players are constantly reaching out to him to ask how they can compete in the CBA too.
“That actually happens all the time,” Fredette said. “[Over] text, Instagram, Twitter… A lot of guys want to know how they can get over to China. I try to help them find a Chinese agent because they won’t talk to you if you don’t have one… China is a great place to be. I think it was the best thing that could have happened to me.”
This got us thinking: When a player wants to sign in China, what should they do? Should players hire an overseas agent to start the process? How is the CBA’s free-agency process different from the NBA’s?
HoopsHype turned to several agents and players who explained everything in detail.
Tracy McGrady, Qingdao (Photo by AFP/AFP/Getty Images)
Before getting into specifics, there are some basic things to know about the CBA. There are 20 teams in the league and each franchise can sign two foreign players (also known as imports).
This season, the list of imports includes former NBA players such as Fredette, Donatas Motiejunas, Brandon Bass, Marreese Speights, Jason Thompson and Andrew Nicholson among others. Imports are typically asked to play a major role on their respective team, but league rules state that the duo can only play six quarters collectively (and only one import is allowed to play in the fourth quarter).
Of all the non-NBA leagues, Chinese teams have the most money to offer free agents, which is why so many big-name players have surfaced in the CBA over the years. For example, Stephon Marbury, Tracy McGrady, Gilbert Arenas, Metta World Peace and Steve Francis have all played in China.
“If you talk to players who aren’t in the NBA, just about every player’s first choice is China,” said one agent who asked to remain anonymous since he discussed sensitive information. “The vast majority of players outside of the NBA want to sign in China. There are a lot of players who make seven-figures in China. Even the smaller deals are solid, paying at least $300,000 after taxes. It’s also a relatively short season compared to other leagues. The Euroleague season is 9-to-10 months long, but the CBA season is closer to six or seven months. When the CBA season ends, players can try to join an NBA team for the remainder of the season. It’s attractive for many reasons.”
While playing in the CBA is currently a no-brainer for most former NBA players, the arrival of standard contracts and a fight over guaranteed salaries may prompt some of these big names to leave China in the near future potentially (but we’ll get to that in a bit).
How much money do these CBA teams have to offer? Over the summer, the Zhejiang Golden Bulls reportedly offered Dwyane Wade a three-year deal worth $25 million. Considering Norris Cole reportedly signed a one-year deal worth $5 million with the Shandong Golden Stars in 2016, it’s no surprise that a future Hall of Famer like Wade could’ve earned over $8 million annually.
Other former NBA players like Donald Sloan (who reportedly earned $2.7 million) and Andray Blatche (who reportedly earned $2.5 million) made a lot of money in past seasons too, proving CBA teams will hand out huge paychecks if it allows them to land a star player – especially if that player has National Basketball Association on his résumé.
Every agent we interviewed mentioned the same thing: Chinese teams love former NBA players. There are a total of 38 roster spots for import players in the CBA each season since one team – the Bayi Rockets – is affiliated with the Chinese military and therefore has no foreign players.
“The only players whom I have done deals for in the CBA have had NBA experience,” former agent Matt Babcock said. “I know there have been some players who signed in China without NBA experience, but it isn’t very common. [Chinese teams] certainly favor former NBA players.”
“CBA teams are almost exclusively looking for players with NBA experience,” another agent added. “They think, ‘If this guy played in the NBA, he must be good.’ They also understand that fans will be more interested in a player if they can use the word ‘NBA’ to market him. It helps them sell tickets and things like that. I always tell players if they want to sign in China, they either need NBA experience or they need to be absolutely dominating wherever they’re currently playing.”
Assuming a player checks one of those boxes, the next step is finding a team and negotiating a deal.
Andray Blatche, Xinjiang (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)
CHOOSING AN AGENT AND STARTING THE TALKS
Pierre Jackson has experience playing in the NBA and Europe, but this is his first season in China. Calling his transition successful is an understatement considering he’s currently leading all CBA players in scoring with 42.9 points per game. Jackson says the negotiations with CBA teams were unlike his past free-agency experiences when he was in talks with European teams or NBA teams.
“This is my first time playing in China and the contract negotiations were kind of different,” Jackson said. “They didn’t know exactly how I would adjust over here, so they just threw a number out there and then they wanted to see how I felt about it. I’m used to signing in Europe, in the G-League or in the NBA, so I wasn’t super involved in the process. My [US-based] agent handled most of it. When I signed in the NBA, I was one of the lower-tier players, so I was just trying to get in where I fit in. That was the biggest difference. The process is different when you’re weighing your options overseas.”
During the NBA’s free-agency process, players largely make their decision based on things like each team’s personnel, head coach, front office and city. The player is knowledgeable about the NBA and that informs their decision.
However, those factors typically don’t play big roles during CBA negotiations. Most former NBA players who are signing in China for the first time don’t know much about the various teams competing for their services. Jackson admits he didn’t know any of his teammates until he first met (and Googled) them, and he’s still trying to learn about opposing players.
“Honestly, I still don’t really know the other players and who plays on each team,” Pierre said. “I’m still scouting all the different teams. The only player I knew when I went up against him was Jimmer Fredette.I didn’t know any of the guys on my team either.”
Some players hire an overseas agent to handle their negotiations since that individual specializes in that specific market. Overseas agents are knowledgeable about the different cities and franchises and decision-makers, and they typically have relationships with executives and coaches around the league.
For example, Matt Beyer is an agent who works out of China and he has represented a ton of players who have suited up in the CBA. Some US-based agents continue to represent their clients when they sign in China – relying largely on translators or individuals within the franchise who speak English – Beyer points out that it can help to have someone who’s an expert on that specific region and culture.
“China is a very large country and it’s very different from Western countries,” Beyer said. “There’s the language barrier and cultural context is important too; sometimes, the words you say don’t convey the [correct] meaning. If you’re an agent that wants to get into the Chinese market, you probably want to have someone who’s working with you who can build a relationship with the club and also help you navigate the cultural context.”
After the player signs with his new team, Beyer also helps with day-to-day tasks that a US-based agent couldn’t handle because they’re so far away. Not all overseas agents remain this involved after a deal is completed, but Beyer prides himself on being “very hands-on” and helping the player get acclimated.
“Once a deal is done, [the overseas agent] makes sure it’s executed smoothly – [ensuring] timely payments, resolving disputes and things like that,” Beyer explained. “We’ll take on a lot of managerial duties that wouldn’t fall in the lap of the US agent – things like figuring out his living situation, picking up food he’ll like – which is an issue many players have in a new country – and just making sure all of his needs are met off the court. ”
Beyer stressed that players need to do their homework when they are weighing their CBA options, especially if they don’t have a Chinese agent to guide them away from franchises that will take advantage of their ignorance.
“I would just tell every player to know what you’re getting into beforehand,” Beyer advised. “Look at the club and their history, and ask people about [their experiences]. How often do they change foreign players? If you have an injury, how will they deal with it? If you have two or three off games, is this team going to cut you or do they tend to be more sympathetic? Who is the coach? Who is managing the team? What foreign players have they had in the past? Just do your homework because these things are important to know.
“If you’re in the NBA, you know that you’ll be fine and treated well regardless of which team you join. If you join the Milwaukee Bucks, you won’t be abused. It’s not like NBA players are only fine and treated right if they join the Los Angeles Lakers. It’s standard across the board! That’s not the way it is in China. There isn’t the same professionalism from club to club. There needs to be standard across the board, and there needs to be parity.”
Sometimes, US-based agents will collaborate with an agency in China, allowing the local agent to handle the bulk of the negotiations with CBA teams due to the language barrier. This is what Babcock, the former agent, did whenever he had a client who was nearing a deal in China.
“They would market all my clients to the teams in the country and when a team would show interest in one of my clients, they would translate for us and essentially serve as an intermediary throughout the entire negotiation process,” Babcock explained. “When doing a deal in the NBA, I would do all of the communicating with teams directly. When doing a deal in China, I leaned heavily on my collaborating partner due to language barriers.”
In 2014, Babcock and his collaborating partner helped former Los Angeles Clippers center Miroslav Raduljica ink a lucrative deal with the Shandong Lions. When it came time to finalize the contract, Babcock was thankful the Chinese agent was there to walk him through the intricate final steps of the process.
“First, in order to fully execute the contract, Miroslav and I needed to sign the contract and apply our fingerprints in red ink to each page,” Babcock said. “Then, the entire ownership group of the team, which consisted of many members, would do the same. Just a few days later, I received the fully-executed contract. It was completely covered with red fingerprints all over it!”
Some agents prefer to work alone, though. The anonymous agent explained that he would handle the negotiations himself, getting help from translators or English-speaking team employees. He said these days, most people in the business of basketball speak English so he doesn’t run into many issues.
“One thing I’ve noticed in recent years is that almost everyone seems to speak English,” the agent said. “If [the GM] doesn’t speak it, there’s always someone who speaks it in the organization. I don’t mean to sound like an a**hole, but there really are a lot of people who speak English! A contract in China is 50-pages long because it’s written in both Chinese and English. We have a clause that says the English portion of the contract supersedes the Chinese portion. That way if there’s ever a dispute, the English portion is what prevails.”
Beyer said that some clubs insist that the Chinese portion supersedes the English section. Oftentimes, he says, this is because they’ve had a bad experience with a sleazy agent who changed terms in the English portion and proceeded to screw them over. However, most teams and agents are professional and just want to ensure everyone’s on the same page regarding the contract’s terms.
And in China, just about every contract will inevitably include a list of incentives and protective clauses.
Pierre Jackson, Beijing (Photo by ARIS MESSINIS/AFP/Getty Images)
NEGOTIATING INCENTIVES AND PERKS
Chinese teams love to fill contracts with performance-based incentives.
“Pretty much every player and coach contract in China has an incentive for individual wins – and road victories typically pay out a larger bonus since it’s harder to win on the road,” Beyer said. “There are also team-record bonuses as well as bonuses for making the playoffs, getting to the quarterfinals, getting to the semifinals, getting to the finals and winning the championship. Some of the teams that don’t have a chance of making the playoffs won’t even put the incentive in the contract.
“Individual-performance bonuses exist for some teams, but that seems to be sort of a philosophical split: Some teams give them out, some teams don’t want to encourage the foreign players to jack up shots and try to score too much. That just depends on the team. Typically, the team must win for the player to receive their individual-performance bonuses for that game. If you score 50 points in a loss, you aren’t getting a bonus. There are also bonuses for awards like league MVP and Finals MVP, but those are less common. ”
Every incentive is negotiated during the contract talks, and they depend on the player and his strengths. Teams don’t want to offer bonuses that will encourage the player to focus on his own statistics rather than the team’s success. The player wants realistic, achievable incentives so he can make extra money.
A center may get bonuses for averaging a certain number of rebounds, averaging a certain number of blocks and totaling a certain number of charges. The team would likely be in favor of this arrangement since the big man is incentivized to make hustle plays. The center would likely appreciate this because it’s a way to make some extra cash on top of his salary and the bonuses are well within reach as long as he plays hard.
“Incentives are very common in CBA deals. There are incentives included in some NBA contracts, but it’s not quite as common,” Babcock said. “There is not a standard set of incentives to include in contracts for players, so it is all negotiable. The incentives are mutually agreed upon by the agent and the team, and they differ depending on which player it is and what the realistic expectations are for that player.”
“Some guys really obsess over these bonuses too,” an agent told HoopsHype. “I mean, it makes sense. Let’s say a guy is making $1 million and then his team is paying him $200 for every offensive rebound he grabs, which is how some teams structure their bonuses. If he plays in 40 games and grabs five offensive rebounds in every game, he’s earning an extra $40,000. Guys get really into it.”
The agent added that it’s pretty rare to see a team offer incentives for hitting a certain scoring average or for, say, leading the league in scoring. This is likely because they don’t want to encourage bad shots and shift the player’s focus away from the team’s success.
Pierre Jackson says he’s focused on performing to his full potential rather than worrying about specific incentives during the heat of battle. With that said, he does appreciate the bonuses.
“There are a lot of incentives in my deal, but I think that’s the case with every foreigner,” Pierre said. “You have to make sure you’re getting [as much as possible]. We carry a big load here; a lot of the game depends on us. They put those kind of things in your contract to give you some extra motivation, to make sure you’re giving it your all. I don’t pay really attention to [the bonuses] since I have such a big load over here and I’m just trying to do whatever I can to win. But they do add up and, especially with me having a family, every dollar helps!”
Aaron Jackson is apparently one of the few foreigners who doesn’t have many stat-related incentives in his deal, but his agent did negotiate certain perks into his contract. This is where CBA teams go above and beyond in an effort to make foreign players feel comfortable.
“One of the biggest benefits to players signing overseas is that, generally, all of their expenses are covered,” Babcock explained. “Housing, transportation, extra flights for friends or family and, oftentimes, food. Again, this is all negotiable.”
Most foreign players have these perks included in their deal, and teams are willing to pay for just about anything the imports want.
“American players typically live in five-star hotels during the season and the team pays for that,” one agent said. “Typically, the team provides the player with their own driver who will take them wherever they need to go. That’s pretty standard. Usually, the driver also serves as a translator; he’s sort of a jack-of-all-trades to help the player. Think of the driver almost as the player’s personal assistant. Their primary task is to drive the players around, but they often help with other stuff too. They also give each player extra plane tickets, so their family can come visit whenever. And if their family visits, the team will pay for another hotel room for the player’s guests. In the NBA, teams won’t just give a player five plane tickets so his family can fly in to Miami and stay with him. But in China, that happens all the time. That’s, like, 100 percent standard in China.”
For meals, the team has a chef at the facility cooking breakfast, lunch and dinner – all free. On top of that, some teams give foreign players a monthly allowance of $1,500 for eating out at restaurants, according to one agent.
Pierre has played for the Dallas Mavericks, Fenerbahçe and Maccabi Tel Aviv, while Aaron has been on the Houston Rockets and CSKA Moscow. In other words, this isn’t their introduction to a luxurious lifestyle. But even they have been really impressed by the way their CBA teams have spoiled them.
“They really take care of us; they do what they can,” Pierre said. “And when you’re playing really well, they take care of you a little bit more (laughs). That aspect has been really cool so far.”
“You get the free housing, the driver who gives you rides all year, the cafeteria – which is similar to the NBA – where they have a chef after games or practices,” Aaron said. “I’ve heard so many stories about guys having a difficult time overseas or stories about guys being in a nightmare situation, but I’ve been really fortunate. ”
Oh, and there are some perks for agents as well.
“When Miroslav finalized his deal with the Shandong Lions, the agent fees were paid by the team in full instantly,” Babcock said. “I got 10 percent of the entire contract immediately, without having to ask once!”
CHINA ISN’T FOR EVERYONE
Perhaps the biggest issue for foreign players is that there’s a ton of turnover when it comes to imports. Things are great while they’re under contract, but teams tend to go through foreign players very quickly. Whenever you hear news of an American player nearing a deal with a Chinese team, it means another import player is about to be released.
Even though there are only 38 imports in the CBA at any given time, the number of Americans who sign in China each season is closer to 60 or 70 since teams are quick to replace their imports if they aren’t living up to their contract or meeting the club’s expectations.
“Through 16 games, 11 teams have already made a total of 16 import switches and only three were injury-related,” Beyer said. “That shows how fast teams are pulling the trigger on these switches.”
Al Jefferson, Trevor Booker, Chris McCollough, Russ Smith and Adreian Payne are among the former NBA players who have been replaced so far this season.
Jefferson made headlines over the summer when he decided to sign with the Xinjiang Flying Tigers rather than continue to weigh his NBA options. After just 10 games, the team released Big Al (replacing him with Nick Minnerath) since the 33-year-old was only averaging 15.1 points and 7.5 rebounds.
If a former All-NBA selection like Jefferson only has 10 games to prove himself – after playing 915 NBA contests – imagine how anxious a lesser-known player must feel when he’s struggling early in the year (all while he’s trying to get acclimated to a new country, new league, new team and new lifestyle).
Remember Norris Cole and his $5 million contract with Shandong back in 2016? He was released after just nine games because the team felt he wasn’t living up to the deal. They signed AJ Price instead and Cole went on to sign with the Oklahoma City Thunder three months later. That’s right: CBA teams have no problem cutting an NBA-caliber player if he’s making too much money or struggling to carry the squad.
“You have to make sure to play really well because otherwise, they might get rid of you,” Fredette acknowledged.
This just shows how much competition there is for a deal in China. Even after a notable player has secured a contract, there’s no guarantee that they’ll be there very long.
Many players who are hoping to one day play in the NBA will talk about signing in China as “a backup plan,” as if it’s as easy as joining a YMCA team. Remember, it’s extremely difficult to land in the CBA without any NBA experience.
“The vast majority of players have no chance of signing a deal in China; that’s just the reality,” one agent said. “When teams have this much money, when they have the ability to hand out seven-figure deals, they have a ton of options and they can afford to be picky. A lot of guys think they’re good enough to play in China, but the truth is they aren’t.”
To make matters worse, the agent pointed out that when players are released by their Chinese team early in the season, it can be difficult for the player to find another opportunity right away. They’re now a free agent in the middle of the season, when most teams are done making moves and much of their money is committed. Also, the fact that the player struggled in China and was released so early in the season may be seen as a red-flag by some decision-makers.
This puts an enormous amount of pressure on foreign players. Even if an individual gets off the strong start, there’s the fear that one slump could lead to unemployment.
“I like to call China ‘the Wild West of basketball.’ It can be crazy, man,” said one agent. “If you’re American, you have to put up monster numbers or you’ll be replaced. Some of the scoring numbers coming out of China are absolutely insane. I’ve been to CBA games and it’s very interesting to watch because the game is extremely fast-paced, there are so many three-pointers and defense isn’t stressed.Darius Adams is one of the top scorers in China and he averaged 14.7 three-point attempts per game last season! He had one game where he took 24 threes! That’s just viewed as normal over there. China can be very lucrative and great for players, but it can also be chaotic.
“There’s so much pressure on these players. Every year, we see former NBA players go to China, struggle and then get released. There are quite a few players in the NBA right now who wouldn’t do well in China since they want you to put up insane numbers and play a certain style of basketball to thrive there. You need to be able to get buckets. Most of the NBA’s glue guys and great defenders wouldn’t last long in the CBA.”
Agents believe the reason there’s constant turnover among foreign players this season is due to the non-guaranteed and partially-guaranteed contracts that have become more common in China as of late. They feel that most teams wouldn’t constantly release imports if they had to pay each player their fully-guaranteed salary after waiving them, which they had to do until recently.
What changed? The CBA introduced standard contracts for players, which created an opening for teams to start negotiating how much of the deals are guaranteed.
“As of this year, there’s now a standard contract in effect in China,” one agent said. “In this standard contract, there are basically blank spaces throughout the contract that are filled in depending on the terms of the deal. The standard contract makes it easier for teams to sign players to a non-guaranteed contract. In the past, almost every contract signed in China was fully guaranteed. When you’d hear about a player getting cut in China – and it happens a lot – the player would still be entitled to all their money. Now, more and more players are signing a non-guaranteed or partially-guaranteed deal in China. That means if a player doesn’t put up crazy numbers, they may not get their money.”
“At the end of the day, I think the top playing talent will go to China if it’s an option,” Beyer said. “If the teams want these players, and if they can pay for these players, then there will be a way for deals to be guaranteed in a way that the players feel safe about signing in China. If it gets to the point where there are no guarantees whatsoever, then I think we’re going to see a reduction in the caliber of talent on the market.”
Bryan Kalbrosky contributed to this article.
American basketball players share tales of what it's really like to play in China
Jan 17, 2017
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It wasn't too long ago that outsiders considered the Chinese Basketball Association one of the great unknowns in professional sports.
But in recent years, especially since the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, the CBA has emerged as a viable option for borderline NBA players or veterans looking to extend their careers.
Case in point: Former New York Knicks star Stephon Marbury, who earned more than $150 million in 13 NBA seasons. He jumped to the CBA in 2010, won three championships and became beloved in China. The erstwhile lottery pick now has a small museum and a statue dedicated to him in Beijing, and a postage stamp in his honor. He also appeared in a theatrical production that portrayed his life story, and a movie is in production.
Word of Marbury's larger-than-life success abroad quickly spread among American players, and dozens of them have followed him to China. Former NBA players Carlos Boozer, Jimmer Fredette and J.J. Hickson are playing in the CBA this season.
CBA teams haven't been shy about luring foreign players with fat paychecks. While accurate salary figures are difficult to obtain, anecdotal evidence suggests Americans often can earn more in China than in any other league, aside from the NBA. The average salary of foreigners is reportedly climbing upward of $500,000, and $1 million deals are now common. Former Washington Wizards big man Andray Blatche reportedly earns $2.5 million per season on his current deal with the Xinjiang Flying Tigers.
Stephon Marbury is surrounded by fans and photographers after helping the Beijing Ducks win the 2014 Chinese Basketball Association championship. AP Photo
It's not NBA money for the most part, but it's definitely an attractive payday for a league that plays a 38-game regular season over the course of five months.
With all that in mind, we tapped five Americans to share some of their experiences of what it's really like to play pro basketball in China.
Randolph Morris: 'A tremendous experience'
Morris, a former standout at the University of Kentucky who played in the NBA with the Knicks and Atlanta Hawks, has enjoyed one of the finest CBA careers of any American. He's playing in his seventh season with the Beijing Ducks, having joined the franchise in 2010.
"It's been a tremendous experience -- not just basketball, but culturally, very enriching and giving me a new perspective on the world that we live in," Morris said. "So overall, [it was] a pretty good decision to take that leap. "
Morris averaged 29.9 points and 12.2 rebounds in his first season with Beijing and has hovered right around 25 points and 10 rebounds over the course of his CBA career. Morris said the quality of CBA play is already good and continuing to improve, which surprises some Americans who come over expecting to produce eye-popping numbers.
Randolph Morris has been part of three CBA championship teams for Beijing, along with Marbury. Morris was MVP of the 2014 finals. VCG/VCG/Getty Images
"They come here, and they think it's just going to be easy and they're going to average 30 or 40 points," Morris said. "It's very difficult. It's not that easy to just come over here and dominate. You can't cheat the game and think you're not going to put the work in and you're going to dominate just by being American."
As one of the longest-tenured Americans in the CBA, Morris is able to reflect on the recent evolution of basketball in China. He has seen a notable rise in attendance, a great increase in financial resources and considerable upgrades in arenas and facilities. Morris said he's proud to have played a role in that advancement and appreciates the opportunities he has received in China.
"That's one of the cool things I've gotten to see is the steady growth and being a part of that growth, knowing that we had a profound impact on the basketball scene," Morris said. "We can look back and say, 'We were here before it got huge. We were [part of] the grassroots process.' "
Jordan Crawford: 'They really rely on you'
Remember when a young college player dunked on LeBron James during a summer basketball camp in 2009 and Nike confiscated videotapes of the incident, purportedly to keep embarrassing footage of its star pitchman under wraps? That player was Crawford, a sophomore at Xavier University who would go on to be an NBA first-round draft pick a year later. The Detroit native then played four seasons in the NBA, suiting up for the Hawks, Wizards, Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors.
In 2014, his career path led to China, where he signed with the Xinjiang Flying Tigers for a reported $2 million.
"I was intrigued by, of course, the money, and the span of the season," Crawford said. "But from a basketball standpoint, I was intrigued because they really rely on you. I wanted to see how good I really was. They want the Americans to be the best players on the floor."
Crawford played in only five games with Xinjiang, scoring 49 points in his last game before returning to the United States with a severe eye infection. Still, the veteran shooting guard made enough of an impression for Tianjin to bring him in last season, and he rewarded the Gold Lions by leading the league in scoring at 43.1 points per game.
Jordan Crawford last appeared in the NBA with the Warriors in 2014. Kyle Terada/USA TODAY Sports
Crawford made headlines back in the States in January 2016 by racking up 72 points and 16 rebounds in a game.
Crawford said American stars are treated "like royalty" in China and that some teams offer perks unlikely to granted in the NBA. For example, he asked if younger brother Jalen, a rapper who performs under the name Willie Mac Jr. , could perform at halftime of a Tianjin game. The team obliged.
"That was dope," Crawford said. "It was cool. They liked it."
Food, however, was another matter entirely.
"They just kind of throw you into the fire and expect you to eat live fish and go play!" Crawford said with a laugh. "You're in the hotel, and basically they have like five or six plates of octopus -- stuff you're not going to eat. You can go a day or two without eating, and they expect you to play the game?"
So what's the most unusual thing Crawford ate in China?
"The stuff you think is chicken that's not chicken!" he said. "Everything else, the time, the money, you can't complain."
Crawford is playing for the Grand Rapids Drive of the NBA Development League this season.
Shavlik Randolph: 'Offers were just staggering'
Like a number of Americans, Randolph was first lured to the CBA during the 2011 NBA lockout. With the possibility of losing most or all of the season, many players looked abroad, with Europe and China providing the most lucrative options.
"Compared to the leagues in Europe at the time, China was just offering so much more money," Randolph said. "The offers were just staggering per month compared to what Europe was offering. ... Plus, a lot of players that I had played with and against in the NBA had signed in China. That made me feel more comfortable that I was going to know players over there."
Randolph, who played sparingly in his first five NBA seasons, remained in China after the lockout was resolved and routinely averaged more than 20 points and 10 rebounds in his first four CBA seasons. Because the CBA calendar spans only five months, players are able to finish seasons in the NBA -- something the former Duke University product did in 2013 and 2014.
Shavlik Randolph has played for three CBA teams, including the Liaoning Flying Leopards last year. VCG/VCG/Getty Images
Officiating is a sensitive topic among Americans playing in China. Some have called it downright horrible. Former NBA star Tracy McGrady harshly criticized referees in 2013 and was suspended for a game after calling one crew "three blind mice. " When asked about the CBA officiating, Randolph was relatively diplomatic.
"The officiating over there makes me really appreciate the officials in the NBA and be able to confidently say they are the best officials in the world," Randolph said with a laugh. "It makes me appreciate the skill set that they have much better. So to answer your question, the officiating isn't really up to par."
Last season, Randolph played in Liaoning, which lost to Sichuan in the CBA finals. The team put its players up in a hotel during the playoffs, even for home games. One night, he was bored and decided to get out for a change of scenery. Before long, hundreds of fans surrounded him, and he had to be escorted back to the hotel by police, who then asked him not to leave because of the commotion it created.
"It's absolutely crazy," said Randolph, who returned to play in Liaoning this season. "I'm not going to lie -- it kind of felt good. It felt cool, but I don't think I'd want that to happen every time I went out in public. "
Shelden Williams: Difficult to be away
Williams has a different perspective on playing abroad than most players.
The former Duke standout, who played in the NBA for six seasons, competed in the CBA during the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons. At that time, his wife, WNBA star Candace Parker, was playing for a Russian pro team, and they could see each other only a couple of times during the season. Parker would visit Williams in Tianjin for Christmas, and he would visit her in Russia during the Chinese New Year holiday. Although their daughter, Lailaa, who is now 7, was in good hands with Parker's mother back in the States while her parents were overseas, the absence was understandably difficult for all involved.
"It's always hard to leave my little girl," said Williams, who is now a scout for the Brooklyn Nets. "[Until] last year, I had been away from her eight months every year of her life. At that point, we're trying to do what's best for our little girl and make sure that she's financially stable when she gets older. "
That's why the CBA presented a better opportunity for Williams than returning to the Euroleague, where he had played for French club Chalon-Sur-Saone in 2012-13.
A photo posted by Shelden Williams (@sheldenwilliams) on
"The money was good, and it was half the time," Williams said. "So I was able to get back to my daughter a lot faster than if I was playing in the NBA or Europe. That was my main thing, to be able to make money and still have time to be with her."
Williams played alongside longtime NBA point guard Sebastian Telfair with the Tianjin Gold Lions in 2013-14 and helped them reach the playoffs for the first time in franchise history.
CBA teams are allowed to employ only two American players at a time, and league rules also place restrictions on playing time for international players. Williams said this meant the Lions would typically play Telfair in the first quarter, him in the second quarter and both of them in the third and fourth quarters.
Although the level of play in China is on the rise, Williams said the CBA will remain a notch below European basketball as long as those regulations remain in place.
"You can't have that if you're trying to be a top-tier league," Williams said. "As far as Euroleague, you might have four or five guys who aren't native to that country playing for a team, and they can play as much as they want."
Josh Akognon: 'How LeBron and Kobe feel'
There are few, if any, American athletes more qualified to speak about playing in China than Akognon.
The Cal State Fullerton alum, who played briefly in the NBA with the Dallas Mavericks, has played for five CBA franchises in six seasons while averaging 29.6 points per game.
Akognon makes no qualms about what convinced him to go China. It was purely a business decision when he signed with Dongguan after weighing offers from European clubs in 2010.
"I'd never heard of the CBA, but when they told me the money, then you start looking at everything else," Akognon said. "I realized that Marbury was playing there, so I started looking at it more. ... As long as they said that money was where it was at, I was sold, and I was ready to go."
Josh Akognon's international experience isn't limited to China; he played for Nigeria, his father's homeland, at the Rio Olympics. Jeff Swinger/USA TODAY Sports
Akognon has also played professionally in Estonia, Serbia and Italy and is with Lithuanian club Lietuvos Rytas this season. The California native competed in the 2016 Olympics for Nigeria, where his father was born. He said that while the fan behavior in China can be crazy, it's still a far cry from the fervor exhibited by basketball die-hards in Europe. And that might be a good thing.
Akognon said that when he played for famed Serbian club Partizan, the team once had to take a circuitous 30-minute bus ride from the hotel to the arena across the street because the scene was too hectic to simply walk over to the venue.
"It's night and day between Europe and China," Akognon said. "China is like the NBA. People come to watch the game and get a little bit rowdy. But in Europe, it is really their lives."
That's not to say Akognon wasn't treated as a celebrity in China. He remembers one moment in particular, when he and his wife were walking around looking at Christmas lights in Dongguan. After a fan called out to him, Akognon waved back and then bent down to pick his young son up from his stroller. When Akognon looked up, hundreds of fans were gathering around him. Before long, police officers showed up to push Akognon and his family through the masses all the way back to his apartment.
"It lets you know how LeBron and Kobe feel all the time," Akognon said. "You get a taste of the type of life they have, which is very stressful if that happens all the time."
How long is a basketball game in China?
Basketball is one of the most popular team sports in the world. Basketball is played in all countries from childhood.
One of the trendsetters in this sport is the United States, where the strongest league in the world, the NBA, was created. With all this, not every person in the world knows the rules of basketball.
Many even find it difficult to answer that a time in basketball is called a quarter. A basketball game consists of four quarters or two halves of two quarters each.
Content
What is the difference between a quarter and a period and a set, why are they called so
Features of time tracking in basketball
How many quarters does a basketball game consist of
Duration of a half
How long does the fourth quarter last between
How long is the break between quarters
Helpful video
How many periods are there in a basketball game?
How long is a quarter in basketball (NBA and FIBA)?
What is the difference between a quarter and a period and a set, why are they called that way
Sports terms such as "quarter", "period", "set" are familiar to all athletes and professionals in this field, but they often raise questions among ordinary people. The terms "quarter", "period", "set" are used in various sports.
A basketball game consists of four parts, each of which, logically, is called a "quarter". The starting two quarters form the first half of the match, the remaining - the second half. Quarters vary in length.
In European competitions they last 10 minutes each, in the National Basketball Association (NBA) the set lasts 12 minutes.
As for the periods, they last 20 minutes each in basketball in Europe and 24 minutes in the NBA. The game consists of two periods, each of which includes two quarters.
It is worth noting that the term "period" refers, first of all, not to basketball, but to hockey. A hockey match consists of three periods, each of which lasts 20 minutes. If after three periods the teams are tied, an extra period is played.
The same applies to the term "set". This word often denotes parts of a match in volleyball and tennis, lasting 12 minutes.
Features of time tracking in basketball
At the beginning of the match, the referee takes the starting throw-in in the center of the court. One player from each team is fighting for the ball. From this moment, the countdown begins.
A basketball match consists of four quarters. In Europe, the 1st quarter lasts 10 minutes of "dirty" time, in the NBA - 12 minutes. However, you should not think that the European quarter ends strictly in 10 minutes, and the American - in 12. In basketball, time is counted only when the player dribbles or holds it in his hands. All basketball halls are equipped with electronic scoreboards, on which seconds and minutes are counted.
Photo 1. A special electronic scoreboard used in basketball games. It displays the number of the period, the time of the game and the score.
If a player fouls an opponent, the ball goes out of bounds, or the coach takes a time-out, time stops and the clock starts ticking again only when play resumes.
The team has 24 seconds for one attack. If during this time a throw is not made on the ring, the ball goes to the other team. If a foul is committed during the 24-second possession, the team gets 14 more seconds to attack, or the fouled player enters the free throw line. Some more possession restrictions:
In the first 8 seconds, the basketball player must move the ball from his own half to the opponent's half.
When throwing the ball in from the endline or when taking a free throw, a player may not hold the ball for more than 5 seconds.
The time spent by a player under the ring cannot exceed 3 seconds, otherwise a violation of the three-second zone rule is recorded.
During matches, coaches have the right to take timeouts (in the NBA, players on the court are also given this right). While the break lasts, playing time is not counted.
Attention! The number of timeouts in the NBA was reduced in the summer of 2017. Instead of 18 total pauses per game, teams for two were left with 14. This was done in order to increase the dynamism of the game.
In the NBA, each coach can take 7 time-outs during a match, each lasting 75 seconds. In Europe, each team has 5 breaks. During the last 3 minutes of the match, you can take only 2 time-outs (the same rule applies in Europe). In overtime, NBA coaches can use 2 extra breaks, while in Europe - 1.
How many quarters does a basketball game consist of
Previously, a basketball game consisted of two halves, each lasting 20 minutes. Since 2000, the basketball game has been divided into four quarters.
If a draw is recorded in basketball after four quarters, an additional quarter is assigned - overtime, which lasts 5 minutes.
If, according to its results, the teams again did not reveal the winner, another 5-minute period is assigned.
The number of overtimes is not limited.
Half time
A basketball quarter can last either 10 or 12 minutes. A longer version is used in the NBA, as well as in the not very popular championships of China and the Philippines. In other tournaments, the regulations set the duration of the quarter at 10 minutes. The total dirty play time is 48 minutes for the NBA, China and the Philippines, and 40 minutes for the rest of the tournaments.
Important! When organizing competitions in universities and school institutions, these rules are often neglected. In this regard, in such competitions, as a rule, the game consists of 2 halves, each of which lasts 20 minutes.
How many minutes is the fourth quarter
The fourth quarter of a basketball game is no different from the first three in "dirty" time. According to the regulations, it lasts 12 minutes in the NBA and 10 minutes in European tournaments.
However, sometimes the 4th quarter can drag on for 20, 30 or more minutes of “clean” time.
This is explained by the fact that at the end of the game meeting, the team that concedes (with a slight difference in the score) can use the tactics of deliberate fouls.
Its essence is to break the rules on the opponent's player, whose athlete has the worst free throws (usually centers and power forwards).
Often, the so-called big men miss their free throws, and then the losing team has a chance to snatch a victory or send the match into overtime. Of course, during the penetration of penalties, the game time stops, sometimes the judges resort to video review of controversial moments, which is why the duration of the match is seriously delayed.
How long is the break between quarters
Teams get the longest break in basketball between the second and third quarters - 15 minutes. After a long break, the teams change baskets. Between the rest of the segments, basketball players rest for two minutes.
Useful video
Watch a video that explains the rules of basketball, including the length of periods.
It is very difficult to name the average duration of a basketball game. The duration of the game depends on many factors: the difference in the score, the presence / absence of foul tactics in the end, the number of time-outs taken, the presence / absence of overtime. On average, the game lasts 1.5-2 hours, however, this framework is very arbitrary. For example, in 2006, the North Carolina and Duke teams played for 56 hours, although this match was an exhibition and charity match, and therefore the organizers did everything possible to make it colorful.
It so happened that some of the rules of basketball in Europe and North America are different, and this primarily concerns the duration of the periods. The number of quarters in FIBA and NBA matches is the same, however, Americans, for whom basketball is considered one of the most popular sports, like to enjoy this wonderful game longer, therefore, in their rules, they increased the duration of each half by two minutes (compared to the International Federation of basketball)
Interesting fact: In the early days of basketball, there were only 13 rules, now there are more than 200.
How many periods are there in a basketball game?
A basketball game consists of 4 quarters (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th), this applies to both NBA and FIBA. Conventionally, the 1st and 2nd periods are the first half of the match, and the 3rd and 4th are the second. Between each quarter there is a two-minute break, but between the second and third half, the duration of the break is as much as 15 minutes.
According to the officially established rules, there can be no draw in basketball. If after 4 periods the score is equal, another quarter is played lasting 5 minutes. The number of extra periods is not limited, there may be several such five-minute periods until the winning team is determined.
How long is a quarter in basketball (NBA and FIBA)?
In Europe, tournaments held under the auspices of FIBA, the duration of each game is 40 minutes, that is, each quarter lasts 10 minutes.
In the United States of America, where the ruling organization in basketball is the NBA, the duration of the match is 48 minutes, that is, the time of each period is not 10, but 12 minutes. It turns out that in the USA, due to these two minutes added to each quarter, advertisers there is more time to show the viewer their products (the longer the viewer is at the TV screens, the more money the clubs earn on advertising). That is why the NBA is the richest and most popular basketball league on the planet.
Also, many are interested in how long a basketball game lasts in Europe and the USA. In general, taking into account the duration of all quarters, half-time intervals and dead ball situations (eg fouls, free throws and other stoppages), the total duration of the match is 2-3 hours.
The average regular season game in the NBA is 137 minutes.
The duration of basketball matches in the Olympic Games and competitions under the auspices of FIBA is shorter than in US tournaments, since the same match duration is 8 minutes shorter. FIBA also has fewer timeouts. In the NBA, both teams get 14 timeouts per game for two, with 2 timeouts in each period being mandatory (so-called television timeouts). FIBA and the Olympic Games have 5 timeouts, and teams may not necessarily use them.
Do you know how long the longest basketball game lasted?
The record for the length of a basketball game was recorded in 2006 in the United States of America. The duel was held specifically to set a record, the student teams "North Carolina" and "Duke" played each other for more than 58 hours in a row, the victory was won by "Duke" with a score of 3688:3444. All proceeds from ticket sales went to charity.
Some NBA and FIBA basketball rules differ. So, one of the main differences is the duration of the periods, in US tournaments each lasts 12 minutes, and in Europe - 10 minutes. A basketball game can never end in a draw, so there is no limit to the number of added halves. If you are planning to visit a basketball game, please note that it can take as much as 2-3 hours to watch.
This is interesting: the tallest basketball players in the world.
Basketball in China • China News Portal PRC.today - China Today
Content:
Last revised 09/27/2021
Basketball has become one of China's favorite sports, and this can be evidenced by the daily workload of the basketball courts of public sports complexes . In addition, Chinese fans of this sport actively follow all the events that take place, from matchmaking games to live tournaments. As entertainment, basketball is quite widespread in China, for example, in China, the last season of the NBA was watched by almost half a billion people, which was facilitated by the technology giant Tencent, which on July 28, 2019extended its exclusive digital partnership with the NBA for another five years.
The origins of basketball in China
The origins of basketball in China began in 1895 when the sport was introduced by American missionaries at the same time as China's second Youth Christian Association (YMCA) in Tianjin, who saw it as a tool to promote the Christian ideals of masculinity and health.
However, in reality, the game began to gain popularity in China precisely because of the educational institutions and later the soldiers of the People's Liberation Army of China (PLA). At 19In 13, at the Far East Championship, the first silver medal was won by the first Chinese national team, consisting entirely of students from educational institutions.
Even as sports and leisure gave way to wars and survival efforts during the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II, basketball still found its place as a pastime for PLA soldiers, which laid the foundation for how this sport will develop after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949 year.
In communist China, the sport took on a life of its own, with political support and official recognition as a national pastime. The members of the PLA founded one of the first national teams, the Bayi basketball team, which later became one of the most famous basketball teams in the country. The "Bayi" team, literally "eight one", was named after the founding date of the military organization - August 1.
China's love of sports was unwavering - it survived the Cultural Revolution, and after the launch of "Ping-Pong Diplomacy" in the 70s, basketball became another way to reconnect China with the world.
Interesting fact! The first color sports film in the PRC was the female basketball player No. 5 basketball film. In the film, released in 1957, the image of the main character reflected the outstanding player of the women's team of that time - Yang Jie.
Recognition
A decade after Deng Xiaoping reopened the country, Chinese basketball has seen an explosive rise. Under the leadership of David Stern, in 1987 the NBA began giving away free recorded broadcasts of games on CCTV. Two years later, this agreement quickly grew into a full-fledged live-to-air deal, which few media companies were able to pull off at the time.
The introduction of the American League and its stars, such as Magic Johnson, on public television prompted a reorganization of China's professional basketball system. The Chinese Basketball Association (CBA), was founded in 1995 and became the league that revealed the names of outstanding Chinese basketball players to the basketball world,
Surprisingly, it was the Women's League of America (WNBA) who first took the risk of betting on a Chinese professional basketball player - Los Angeles Sharks at 19In 1997, she chose Zheng Haixia, a member of the Chinese national team, who won the WNBA Sports Conduct Award the same year. The NBA followed suit four years later when the Dallas Mavericks selected Bayi Rockets center Wang Zhizhi.
Although Zheng and Wang's American league careers were relatively short-lived, spanning only one and four seasons respectively, they set the stage for the sensation that would follow.
In a way, it can be said that for decades Chinese basketball players have played in relative obscurity, but a unique Chinese style of play has been developed to compensate for the relatively limited height of most of the players. Skillful footwork, accurate shots and sophisticated ball skills became the hallmarks of the Chinese game until a guy named Yao Ming came along.
Before joining the NBA, Yao Ming had already played for the Shanghai Sharks as a teenager and spent five years with the CBA. After signing with the Houston Rockets, Yao helped the team reach the playoffs multiple times (2004, 2005, and 2007–09), became the face of Chinese sports, and raised the market competitiveness of NBA stars in China to a new level. Shortly after Yao joined the Houston Rockets, the NBA began holding annual pre-season games in Chinese cities for fans to watch in person. An injured Yao retired from professional basketball in July 2011. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016 and he became CBA president the following year, having been president and franchise owner of the Shanghai Sharks CBA since 2009of the year.
The Yao Phenomenon
At 7ft 6in, Yao wasn't just tall for a Chinese, he was a human mountain by any standard. With his fluid play and even smoother sense of humor, he became an international sensation and helped turn the idea of China as a basketball nation into the mainstream.
It really can't be overstated how phenomenal Yao and his Houston Rockets team were in China in the early to mid 2000s. The Chinese love to be proud of their own, and here they had a homegrown star taking the world's biggest stage by storm.
Yao knitwear sells in the millions (and millions more in fakes). He was the spokesman for a ridiculous number of brands and companies, and his face graced billboards all over the country.
Yao's first game against NBA superstar Shaquille O'Neal in 2003 drew over 200 million viewers in China, nearly double the American audience for the most watched Super Bowl in history.
Yao (and later Jeremy Lin) helped attract more casual Chinese fans and gave the country a single star and team to root for, but there are many other interesting elements that make basketball so popular in China.
Yao Ming's NBA arrival
Interesting moments! In 1935, basketball was declared a national hobby in China, and in 1936, China fielded an Olympic team. During the Mao era, it was played under the slogan "friendship comes first, competition comes second" and players would apologize after breaking the rules. Basketball was one of the few Western pastimes not condemned by the Cultural Revolution, and members of the People's Liberation Army were encouraged to play basketball during exercise.
Popularity
The popularity of basketball in China is not waning, but rather increasing. For example, Jeremy Lin is a popular current NBA player in China, according to social media followers, Baidu mentions and searches. But that's not all, and as a testament to the popularity of basketball in China, it should be noted that the NBA itself is looking for ways to connect with its mainland Chinese fans. In 2010, the league began streaming its games live on the Chinese Weibo platform. It also struck a deal with Chinese tech giant Tencent, allowing the latter to stream games and sell them to consumers through popular social media platforms like QQ and WeChat (both Tencent products). Individual teams have also found their own ways of communicating with Chinese fans. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban encouraged online users in January 2018 to create a new Chinese name for the team, which was then adopted.
Interesting fact! Charles Barkley is one of the greatest basketball players and is also considered an entertainment expert on American television. Once he kissed a donkey on the ass. Yao Ming, the superstar of Chinese basketball, is to blame for this. This was back in November 2002. Barkley lost a bet he hinted that Yao would never score more than 19 points in a single game in his first season in the NBA. Yao Ming proved Charles Barkley wrong by scoring 20 points against the Los Angeles Lakers after just eight games.
It is possible that the popularity of basketball in China led to the fact that after leaving the NBA, Stephon Marbury continued to play professionally in the CBA for eight seasons and finally retired only in 2018.
The stars in the CBA, and not only them, have gained a following, as evidenced by the popularity of streetball tournaments and reality shows such as Dunk of China with numerous star refereeing squads. (After Jeremy Lin and Taiwanese pop star Jay Chou performed on the first season of Dunk of China, Dwyane Wade and Nick Young have since appeared.)
Stars in and out of the CBA have gained a following, as evidenced by the popularity of streetball tournaments and reality TV shows such as Dunk of China with numerous star refereeing squads. (After Jeremy Lin and Taiwanese pop star Jay Chou performed on the first season of Dunk of China, it was followed by Dwyane Wade and Nick Young.)
Dunk of China aired its first episode on Saturday, August 25, 1918 , racking up over 51 million views in four days, which isn't surprising considering there are around 300 million people who practice basketball in China. While 1v1 and 3v3 television competitions are nothing new in China, Dunk of China marks the first time basketball has been put into a reality TV format, and sponsorship from multinational brands like Head & Shoulders brings the familiar streak of permanent product placement.
In parallel with basketball becoming a part of China's daily life, the massively popular HUPU online forum was first formed around basketball before it expanded to cover other topics such as football, esports, film and music.
NBA Opens Basketball Training Center in China
Mission Hills Group designed and built the facility to be operated by NBA China.
Development will improve the standard of play in the country
The Chinese government strives to promote sports culture in Hainan Province
China's first National Basketball Association (NBA) basketball training center jointly developed by the league's Chinese division and the Mission Hills group officially opened.
The sprawling resort campus in the Chinese island province of Hainan has five international standard indoor basketball courts. The complex also has a number of support facilities including gyms, a rehab center, gyms, indoor pools, medical offices, player apartments and player restaurants.
The project also includes an interactive NBA experience center and specialty stores that have been operating since 2018. The project was originally introduced in 2017 by five-time NBA champion Kobe Bryant.
NBA Certified Coaches will develop professional basketball training courses and will be responsible for training basketball players and developing players at the facility. Active and legendary NBA players will also visit the training center to give students additional guidance.
NBA to open China's first basketball school
"The completion of the NBA Basketball Training Center demonstrates our commitment to developing youth basketball in China," said Shi Gerui, vice president of NBA China Basketball Operations. « I believe that under the guidance of NBA-trained coaches, more young male and female players will learn basketball skills at the NBA Basketball Training Center and enjoy the sport ".
At the opening ceremony, NBA China also announced that Yingyi International Medical will be the official partner of the training center for sports rehabilitation and sports training.
Covid-19
The emergence of Covid-19 brought many troubles and problems, which also affected the CBA, but the players and teams did not stand aside and provided all possible assistance in confronting Covid-19 — Yao Ming, being the president of the CBA, took an active part in the camp donations within the league to buy medical and protective supplies as soon as the coronavirus struck China's Wuhan. He continued to use his influence in the Chinese basketball world to donate more money and medical supplies. Yao's actions also prompted a group of league stars including Stephon Marbury, Jeremy Lin, and Yi Jianlian to get involved and donate.
The contribution of the CBA teams and players has gone beyond helping to fight the epidemic in China, but has also spread throughout the world. On March 23, after former CBA Liaoning Flying Leopards fitness coach Sergio Pérez sent messages asking for much-needed masks and gloves in Spain, he was soon contacted by the team to send much-needed supplies.
Former NBA star Stephon Marbury worked with Chinese manufacturer to deliver 10 million N9 masks5 to his hometown of New York, which has become the epicenter of the US coronavirus outbreak. The head coach of the Beijing Royal Fighters also provided donations to help Chinese medical workers.
Today, more than 300 million people play basketball in China, and the CBA now has 20 men's teams located throughout the country. Despite decades of various upheavals, basketball has taken root and has become a part of everyday life and entertainment in China. Today, the sport is as popular as ever, and its stubborn Chinese fandom isn't likely to die down anytime soon.
Chinese basketball in brief
Chinese people love basketball. It is estimated that about 300 million people play this game. Some Chinese who have money spend it on basketball shoe collections. Data from the mid-2000s suggests that basketball and football were roughly tied as the most popular sport in China, with table tennis in third place.
Andrew Higgins wrote in the Washington Post: “Hundreds of millions of Chinese people play basketball and watch it on TV. China's professional league, the Chinese Basketball Association, has 17 teams. The country's national basketball team, the best in Asia, delights Chinese fans with its aggressive play and noisy fights with rivals."
Basketball courts can be found in villages and urban areas. For many Chinese, their main form of exercise is playing basketball. One of the first things you see when you enter the main courtyard of the Forbidden City are the basketball courts, one with grass and the other with regular concrete for a playground. They are mainly used by security guards and other employees for informal games.
Basketball is the most popular school sport and the most popular sport among Chinese youth. It's hooked in part because it's easy to play and doesn't require a lot of hardware. Most schools have nets and shields, and new playgrounds are being built all the time.
With the advent of the NBA, more and more kids are playing NBA-style sass and wearing Adidas, Nike and Reebok, often fake shoes and clothes. At the university level, an organization similar to the NCAA has been created that sponsors an NCAA-like tournament with a Final Four.
The Chinese national basketball team is considered the best basketball team in Asia. She regularly defeats her closest rivals, Japan and South Korea.
The Chinese have established some good centers.
Members of the national team undergo grueling training twice a day, six days a week. This practice often includes hours of the same ball handling exercises performed by younger students.
In international competitions, Chinese women usually perform better than Chinese men. One of the most dominant players in women's basketball in the 1990s was Zheng Haixia, a 6ft 10in, 240lb player, half a foot taller than the tallest woman on the American team, who had amazing results - once scoring over 60 points in one game.
The national team was coached by Lithuanian head coach Jonas Kazlauskas and assistant coach Donnie Nelson, who was officially with the Golden State Warriors.
Many people think that China will be one of the top four teams in the world in about ten years. Team USA coach in 2008 Mike Kryzewski said: “They are a good team and they will continue to get better. They have too many resources and passion to get better. They will commit to getting better because they live for the game."
The Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) is the main organizing body for basketball in China and the name of the professional league it administers. Among the 12 teams in the CBA League are the Peking Ducks, the Guangzhou Southern Tigers, the Hong Kong Flying Dragons, the Hubei Cranes and the Shanghai Sharks. The latter is jointly owned by the Shanghai government and the state television station. Other sponsors include the People's Liberation Army. By 2015, it is planned to transfer 12 teams to private ownership.
The practice is very hard. When Yao Ming first turned professional at age 13, his coach spent four sessions a day with the Sharks: the first at 6:30 am, the last one ending at 8:30 pm.
Under CBA rules, each team is allowed no more than two foreign players on the court at any one time, and they may play no more than five quarters in each game. Some have experience in the NBA. Many have played at US universities with good teams and have some experience playing in Europe, Argentina, Turkey, Israel or elsewhere.
Americans who have played in the CBA include Mike McGee, former LA Laker, Tyrone Dolemna and Maurice Barnett, both former Harlem Glotters, and Michael Hudson, once an All-Star Magic Johnson. Mediocre basketball players in the United States have become big stars in China. Former NBA star Steve Francis played in the Peking Ducks.
American players and coaches communicate using hand signals and interpreters.
The Chinese league "will lose huge support from fans if it refuses American imports," Bruce O'Neill, president of the United States basketball academy, told the Washington Post.
“The vast majority of players outside of the NBA want to sign in China. There are a lot of players who make seven-figures in China. Even the smaller deals are solid, paying at least $300,000 after taxes. It’s also a relatively short season compared to other leagues. The Euroleague season is 9-to-10 months long, but the CBA season is closer to six or seven months. When the CBA season ends, players can try to join an NBA team for the remainder of the season. It’s attractive for many reasons.”
“They think, ‘If this guy played in the NBA, he must be good.’ They also understand that fans will be more interested in a player if they can use the word ‘NBA’ to market him. It helps them sell tickets and things like that. I always tell players if they want to sign in China, they either need NBA experience or they need to be absolutely dominating wherever they’re currently playing.”
Jackson admits he didn’t know any of his teammates until he first met (and Googled) them, and he’s still trying to learn about opposing players.
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It’s standard across the board! That’s not the way it is in China. There isn’t the same professionalism from club to club. There needs to be standard across the board, and there needs to be parity.”
When it came time to finalize the contract, Babcock was thankful the Chinese agent was there to walk him through the intricate final steps of the process.
I don’t mean to sound like an a**hole, but there really are a lot of people who speak English! A contract in China is 50-pages long because it’s written in both Chinese and English. We have a clause that says the English portion of the contract supersedes the Chinese portion. That way if there’s ever a dispute, the English portion is what prevails.”
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The incentives are mutually agreed upon by the agent and the team, and they differ depending on which player it is and what the realistic expectations are for that player.”
Again, this is all negotiable.”
That’s, like, 100 percent standard in China.”
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“That shows how fast teams are pulling the trigger on these switches.”
They signed AJ Price instead and Cole went on to sign with the Oklahoma City Thunder three months later. That’s right: CBA teams have no problem cutting an NBA-caliber player if he’s making too much money or struggling to carry the squad.
A lot of guys think they’re good enough to play in China, but the truth is they aren’t.”
Darius Adams is one of the top scorers in China and he averaged 14.7 three-point attempts per game last season! He had one game where he took 24 threes! That’s just viewed as normal over there. China can be very lucrative and great for players, but it can also be chaotic.
If it gets to the point where there are no guarantees whatsoever, then I think we’re going to see a reduction in the caliber of talent on the market.”
He jumped to the CBA in 2010, won three championships and became beloved in China. The erstwhile lottery pick now has a small museum and a statue dedicated to him in Beijing, and a postage stamp in his honor. He also appeared in a theatrical production that portrayed his life story, and a movie is in production.
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Morris said he's proud to have played a role in that advancement and appreciates the opportunities he has received in China.:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/3472116/img15460704.0.jpg)
, could perform at halftime of a Tianjin game. The team obliged.
" When asked about the CBA officiating, Randolph was relatively diplomatic.
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"I realized that Marbury was playing there, so I started looking at it more. ... As long as they said that money was where it was at, I was sold, and I was ready to go."
"China is like the NBA. People come to watch the game and get a little bit rowdy. But in Europe, it is really their lives."
The terms "quarter", "period", "set" are used in various sports. 
One player from each team is fighting for the ball. From this moment, the countdown begins. 
If a foul is committed during the 24-second possession, the team gets 14 more seconds to attack, or the fouled player enters the free throw line. Some more possession restrictions: 
In other tournaments, the regulations set the duration of the quarter at 10 minutes. The total dirty play time is 48 minutes for the NBA, China and the Philippines, and 40 minutes for the rest of the tournaments. 
On average, the game lasts 1.5-2 hours, however, this framework is very arbitrary. For example, in 2006, the North Carolina and Duke teams played for 56 hours, although this match was an exhibition and charity match, and therefore the organizers did everything possible to make it colorful. 
Conventionally, the 1st and 2nd periods are the first half of the match, and the 3rd and 4th are the second. Between each quarter there is a two-minute break, but between the second and third half, the duration of the break is as much as 15 minutes. 
That is why the NBA is the richest and most popular basketball league on the planet. 
The duel was held specifically to set a record, the student teams "North Carolina" and "Duke" played each other for more than 58 hours in a row, the victory was won by "Duke" with a score of 3688:3444. All proceeds from ticket sales went to charity. 
In addition, Chinese fans of this sport actively follow all the events that take place, from matchmaking games to live tournaments. As entertainment, basketball is quite widespread in China, for example, in China, the last season of the NBA was watched by almost half a billion people, which was facilitated by the technology giant Tencent, which on July 28, 2019extended its exclusive digital partnership with the NBA for another five years. 
5 basketball film. In the film, released in 1957, the image of the main character reflected the outstanding player of the women's team of that time - Yang Jie. 
The NBA followed suit four years later when the Dallas Mavericks selected Bayi Rockets center Wang Zhizhi. 
Shortly after Yao joined the Houston Rockets, the NBA began holding annual pre-season games in Chinese cities for fans to watch in person. An injured Yao retired from professional basketball in July 2011. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016 and he became CBA president the following year, having been president and franchise owner of the Shanghai Sharks CBA since 2009of the year. 
He was the spokesman for a ridiculous number of brands and companies, and his face graced billboards all over the country. 
Basketball was one of the few Western pastimes not condemned by the Cultural Revolution, and members of the People's Liberation Army were encouraged to play basketball during exercise. 
