When you walk around the Yuanshen, you quickly realize that this is Yao Ming’s house. His image adorns the walls, the banners and the advertisements, whilst his retired jersey hangs from the rafters. During home games, Yao watches from his private box up high in the arena, looking down on players and fans alike like an emperor.

Yet if Yao is the liege of Shanghainese basketball, then Liu Wei is very much the heir-aparant. The two man are childhood friends, playing in same youth team together before both found themselves called up to the Sharks at the age of seventeen in 1997. There, under the tutaledge of coach Li Qiuping, they won a CBA title together, beating the then mighty Bayi Rockets in 2002, having lost to the military side in the two previous finals.

Lifting the trophy would be Yao’s last act for the Sharks before the NBA beckoned and the giant centre would not return to the team in an official capacity until 2009 when he bought the ailing basketball club. Yao and Liu were re-united in Shanghai but with an odd twist; one man was now technically the boss of his close friend.

Though Liu also made it to America, it never worked out like it did for Yao. On trial with the Sacrimento Kings in 2004, Liu played against his old team mate in the ‘China Games’, two preseason matches between the Kings and the Houston Rockets that  got obviously high viewing figures in Asia. This was as close as the guard came to making the NBA; Liu played thirty-four minutes over three games, scoring two points and getting four rebounds. Sacrimento didn’t pick up the option and the point guard returned to carry on playing for the Sharks.

Yet inspite of not being able to make it to the NBA, Liu Wei remains a popular, well-respected figure in Chinese basketball. As well as captaining his country, he has won one gold medal with China at the FIBA championships and two at the Asian Games. Last year, he became the first player in the CBA’s history to score 6000 points, 1600 steals and 700 assists. Within China’s social media sites, he is one of its most ‘liked’ figures, and fans at the Yuanshen will still gather by the players’ tunnel before and after games to reach down to Liu for a high five or an autograph.

There have of course been controversies, most notably in 2008, when along with three other team mates, he got involved in a post game confrontation with Gabe Muoneke, then playing for the now defunct Yunnan Bulls. The American was chased and cornered by the players in front of Muoneke’s family in what the CBA referred to as ‘[an] incident [that] was abominable and serious in nature, casting a terrible influence over society and seriously harming the CBA’s brand and reputation”. The point guard had the book thrown at him, and was fined heavily and suspended for ten games.

Its testament to his popularity however, that despite the Muoneke incident and the Sharks record in recent years (they have only had two winning seasons since 2002), Liu is still an important figure to the Shanghai supporters, who fete him with the same adoration as other fanbases in other sports might regard Derek Jeter, Paolo Maldini or Mario Lemieux; one-club players who have stayed with their team through thick and thin. Their mistakes on and off the court are excused by the supporters because these players have become fused to the very identity of the club. By staying around for so long, they have shown the same passion and commitment to the team as the supporters do.

Liu’s willingness to give his all for the Sharks has been well documented, although as he gets older, it will need to be stored and used carefully. In a recent CBA game against Lioaning, with Shanghai falling behind to a high scoring offense,  Liu, who had previously hobbled off due to knee pain, dragged himself back onto the court to help with the chase. It was ultimately fruitless as Shanghai were beaten decisively and Liu may well have made the injury worse (he would leave the subsequent game against Guangdong Tigers in the first quarter and has missed every Sharks game since then) but it underlined his desire to help his team win.

Liu will be thirty-two by the end of this CBA season and depending on the state of his body, he could play for a few more years to come. In a young team with masses of raw potential, the guard might be tempted to keep on playing into his thirties as his team mates mature, although he has also suggusted an interest in coaching.

When he does call it a day, Liu’s number will almost certainly be retired and raised to the rafters along with Yao’s. The two friends then will probably end up sitting together in the owner’s box, watching the team they led to a title almost a decade ago move onto its next chapter. Yao has already secured his legacy and in what time he has left, Liu will be seeking to make his already lengthy list of achievements that little bit longer.

Picture: QQ.com

Two men exchanged pleasantries via Weibo on Wednesday night, one complimenting the other on a job well done. So far, so normal, considering this is China’s leading social networking site, with over 25o million registered accounts. Yet the big difference was who was doing it; Stephon Marbury, two-time NBA All-Star, now with the Beijing Ducks, was congratulating  J.R. Smith, the former Denver Nugget, on playing his part in Zhejiang Golden Bulls’ victory over Guangdong Leopards that night.

Both men are the star name for their respective CBA teams, but their fates will differ after this season. Smith has already stated he will return to the NBA in the summer of 2012; Marbury will be 35 by then and the chances of finding a starting job back in America are unlikely.

Moreover, the Weibo feeds show the different adventures each man is having in China. Marbury, whose weibo address is in his own name, whilst Smith’s still has the serial code from its initial registration, posts pictures of himself on the Beijing underground on the way to practice, and can’t help himself from doffing his cap to his Chinese audience. He regularly posts pictures of himself with fans and showing a politicians touch for populatity, recently slammed current China coach Bob Donewald for his perceived mistreatment of Yao Ming. A fan asks him what his next move with be and the reply is imediate “I would Love to End My Career here in Beijing. That would be a Perfect ending [sic]“.

Smith on the other hand struggles to hide the fact that his time in China will be a year at the most. His Weibo account has recently been compelling viewing due to the American publicly arguing with his club’s owner over the internet about the physios he can use and Smith’s subsequent absconsion to Beijing. Determined and idioscentric like the majority of young, up-and-coming athletes, Smith’s recent behavior underlines the frustrations of a man who simply wants to play basketball and when not clashing with his boss about who can treat his injury, is knuckling down for a season of basketball and then retreating to his house away from the unpredictable country he has now found himself in. In the build up to his matches, he posts messages constantly- all he can think of is getting on the court and playing. In his downtime, he fires out questions about where he can buy Xbox 360 games in Shanghai or even where his nearest mall is, as if stocking up with supplies until the next game.

Both Marbury and Smith share a clear love for basketball but whereas the former is throwing himself into his new enviroment, the latter is simply trying to understand it. “Coming from the US it’s a 180 difference but being willing to understand an willing to learn is key![sic]“, Smith admits to Marbury in response to the latter’s post-game Weibo post. Marbury on the other hand, relentlessly lambasted during his later days in New York, seems liberated by the respectful passion of Chinese basketball fans and the aura of Beijing itself; “I’m so happy we have another game for all of Beijing to see. It’s a blessing playing basketball in China!”, he announces, shortly after professing his love for Beijing Guaon in the Chinese Super League. Another time, he appologises for not being able to oblidge all the autogragh hunters who find him in and around the city. He has business links here too, one of which is the online retailer for his Starbury brand of trainers and seems very much settled

Via Weibo, the outlook of the two men are easy to read. Marbury, a trailblazer for coming to China in the first place, may well become even more remarkable for staying in China. He has already talked about moving into coaching and has admitted to making notes and watching the technical bench from afar during the Ducks pre-season games, although its foreseeable that Marbury could be playing for a while longer. “When your mind is right, the body is easy to condition. CHINA gives me the peace within to have a clear mind and a free loving heart. I love China because of the peace and love it breeds[sic]” came another recent post. Smith, on the other hand, knows that his talent makes his antics tolerated but probably will not get away with it for more than one season, “Just want to say thank you to my teammates! I know I’m not the easiest to understand but they are willing to help me get threw everything[sic]“.

It’s unlikely that Smith will be posting notices on Weibo in 2013 but Marbury will hope to be around for a while longer, existing as a quasi-Yoda figure sending messages of support to  newly arrived NBA exiles but at the same time becoming further engrained in the city he now calls home.

Photo: china.org.cn

The ongoing NBA lockout has understandably been a massive coup to other basketball leagues around the world, who have invited a number of its currently unpaid players for a spot of moonlighting in a variety of interesting locations. Deron Williams is in Turkey, Tony Parker and Rudy Fernandez are turning up for teams in their native France and Spain, and players from the basketball’s most lucrative league  can be found plying their trade in Israel, Russia, Brazil, Poland, South Korea, Slovenia, Serbia, Lithuania and Montenegro to name but a few.

China has also got in on the act but with a crucial difference. Though the NBA lock-out allows for players to play for other teams, the majority of the players playing overseas have opt-out clauses in these invariably year-long contracts that will allow them to return to the NBA if and when the labour dispute ends. China on the other hand is taking a firm line with teams in the CBA reaching out to NBA players, insisting that only free agents can be signed, all of whom will be expected to fulfill the duration of their CBA contracts.

This caveat has not slowed CBA teams making deals with a variety of close-to-household names and the depth of new talent arriving into the Chinese league remains impressive;

Foshan Dragons – Gerald Greene

Jiangsu Dragons- Dan Gadzuric

Jilin Tigers- Cartier Martin

Liaoning Dinosaurs- Josh Powell and Jermaine Martin

Xingiang Guanghui Flying Tigers- Kenyon Martin

Zhejiang Golden Bulls- J.R. Smith and Josh Boone

Zhejiang Lions- Wilson Chandler

Amongst the new arrivals, that include the first overall pick in the 2001 NBA Draft (Kenyon Martin) and a two-time champion (Powell, albeit tentatively), all bar Jermaine Martin have play-off experience in their career and all of them played anywhere from often to continuously  during the last NBA regular season. Only  Kenyon Martin and Gadzuric are in their 30′s and in the cases of Smith and Chandler, are players approaching their prime. For CBA fans, who have spent last season with only the aging, broken Stephon Marberry as their sole marquee name, the NBA’s problems are Chinese basketball’s gain.

Likewise, the short term benefits for the free agents are clear to see. Though there won’t be an immediate exit route back to the NBA, what they can look forward to are regular games and the chance to develop (something Chandler has already acknowledged) whilst the rest of the NBA’s players head to Europe to play (but not too hard lest they injure themselves too close to the lockout finishing) or stagnate through inactivity. Equally important is the fact that all of the new arrivals will being paid handsomely;  Zhejiang will be paying Smith a cool $3 million salary for his year in East China, Kenyon Martin will be taking home $2.65 million,  whilst Chandler can expect to make somewhere between$2-$3million. By comparison, Shanghai’s presumably new starting centre, Tseng Wen-ting will be taking home $310,000 during the same time frame.

The sudden chaos in American basketball has created an unexpected bonanza for the CBA, certainly in the short-term but it remains to be seen what will happen when the 2012-2013 season rolls along.

Firstly, the CBA is still a small league where its highest-points-in-a-game record is still held by Andre Emmitt, a journeyman who played six games for Memphis in his rookie season in 2004 and has since diligently moved from weak league to weak-ish league, picking up high points per game averages in Venezuela, France and Belgium as well as China. A similarly nomadic guard, Leon Rodgers hit a record fifteen three-pointers in a game in 2008. For a country as crazy about basketball as China, its domestic league measures up poorly in comparison with its European counterparts and the arrival of out-and-out ‘big’ names will give the CBA the legitimacy that a developing league needs to improve, both in terms of marketability but also standard of play. Further along from 2011, one of the core criteria for assessing how Chinese basketball utilised this unexpected diaspora of NBA talent will be if it will still be possible for unremarkable players to score 71 points in a game, or whether the admittedly temporary arrival of top drawer talent can rubber stamp the CBA as a respectable, competitive league that can continually attract competent, talented athletes.

Secondly, the CBA will be faced with the challenge of maintaining the fan interest that will be created by the arrival of Mssrs Smith, Chandler et al once they have returned to the States. Ideally, team owners will resist the urge to raise prices for CBA matches too much this season (although you obviously can’t afford to pay someone three million dollars for thirty-two games without some gameday price raise) and find ways to  keep the arenas and gymnasiums full once the current crop of stars have moved on.Whilst the CBA shouldn’t become a lucrative elephants graveyard, the idea of NBA players considering Chinese teams in free agency shouldn’t be so unusual anymore and owners, players and agents alike will no doubt be aware of the marketing potential that would come with being part of a successful Chinese team and through it, a more widely supported and attended CBA.

Ultimately, the greatest benefactors from the NBA lockout chaos should be the Chinese basketball players themselves. The arrival of players like Smith and Chandler could be a gimmick that is coyly exploited for one year and then China will return to watching basketball on their tv screens rather than live and in person. Yet it could easily be the spark that improves the CBA, the quality of players it can attract and with time, the standards of the players it produces for the NBA and the national team. The upcoming CBA season promises to be an exciting one for obvious reasons but in the long-term, it may also be one that shapes the league’s progression and ambition for a decade to come.

Photo: SI.com

A new CBA season and a new team for guard Stephon Marbury

Aside from the Euroleague, the only other basketball anyone will possibly be watching this year is from the China Basketball Association as players and owners work feverishly to hammer out a deal to save the NBA season. With the start of the 2011-2012 season approaching there is a lot of anticipation an excitement.

Defending champions, the Guangdong Southern Tigers, will try to match the Bayi Rockets record for the most overall CBA titles, which stands at eight. They stand a good chance of accomplishing it with the temporary return of forward Yi Jianlian. Meanwhile, last season’s finalists, the Xinjiang Guanghui Flying Tigers, will try to overcome their defeats in the past three CBA Finals by winning their first ever championships with recent additions including national team coach Bob Donewald. Attention will be focused on some of the free agents signings from the NBA, especially former Denver Nuggets stars J.R. Smith, Kenyon Martin and Wilson Chandler. Lastly, Beijing basketball fans will be paying close attention to new signing Stephon Marbury, as he tries to erase their memories of Steve Francis once and for all (He’s probably already scored major points with fans in the capital for taking the subway to and from practice).

The season looks promising for the CBA

This could possibly be one of the most exciting seasons ever since the league started in 1995. However, there is still much work that needs to be done to make the CBA the top league in all of Asia and the latest incident does not help their cause.

Despite the fights and questionable officiating, the CBA still has a chance of improving its reputation and this seven-point plan could be used as a platform to steer them in the right direction:

1) The media could do a better job of promoting the league

One problem that the league needs to address is its coverage on television. Watching the games of the week on television shows that even the media lacks any motivation to promote the league to its domestic base. This has got to change if the CBA is to be successful.

One of things that can be done is for league officials to follow in the steps of the NBA and start its own channel (CBA TV). Provide year-round programming on its own channel that gets basketball fans more insight on the players, teams and games. This has worked for the NBA and it can work in China.

Another move that could work is for national and provincial channels to show more commitment to the league. Instead of having play-by-play commentators and analysts in a studio covering the game, get a team out to the arenas to cover the game. Hire sideline reporters to interview coaches and players prior to the game, at halftime and after the game.

If there is so much effort put into showcasing the NBA during its season, the same can be done for the domestic league.

2) CBA referees should be better trained and evaluated throughout the season

It’s not the easiest job in the game, but CBA referees are the most scrutinized, by the fans and media at least. Missed calls or phantom calls during important games have made referees the target of ridicule and objects thrown from the stands. Last season could be used as a great case study for what is wrong with officiating in the league.

So what is reason behind some poor decision-making by the referees? Many reasons could be thrown out, but the real question is how to alleviate the problem? CBA officials made the right move to bring in foreign referees during the latter stages of the playoffs and finals, but that can only be done for so long.

The CBA must put more investment into training their own referees. Development is key to the improvement of referees and one of the best steps that can be done to improve the quality of the officiating is by conducting annual training sessions before the start of the season. Bring in experienced referees from abroad and have them sit down with local referees to examine game film and show them how they can improve their performance on the court. Put the referees in practice games where officials can evaluate their performance and point out their mistakes before they go into actual games in the season.

If it were up to Coach Donewald, this referee would be getting further training.

The CBA should also develop an evaluation system for referees. Monitor their progress during the regular season and choose the top referees to officiate playoff games. If a referee makes careless mistakes that affect the outcome of a game, then punish him like other leagues do. By doing nothing, referees do not learn from their mistakes.

If the league can punish players for infractions, then referees should be given equal treatment.

3) Follow the example of the Euroleague and expand the FIBA Asia Champions Cup to a league format

The basketball version of the UEFA Champions League has proven popular in Europe as some of the top teams ranging from Barcelona to CSKA Moscow compete in the league annually. It provides some of Europe’s top players, as well as foreign imports, quality competition that they may not always get from teams in their domestic leagues.

Currently, FIBA Asia organizes a Champions Cup tournament that invites some of the top teams on the continent. While it is a rather commendable effort on the part of the officials, the tournament can be improved by inviting the top club teams from China, South Korea, Japan and other Asian nations. Add in clubs from Australia and New Zealand (FIBA Oceania representatives) and an expanded format of the club competition can be very strong.

This can only help Chinese basketball players as they will get a chance to challenge themselves and enhance their skills against competition outside of their own domestic league. In addition, an expanded FIBA Asia club competition is going to attract fans as they will be attracted by visiting teams they don’t normally see.

An Asian Champions League for basketball can work in this region, but it will take basketball officials in China and other nations to get it up and running.

(Part 2 to be posted next week)

Additional Articles

• NBA owners’ dual wants put more games in jeopardy
• Yao’s Retirement Forces China to Rethink Basketball System
• NBA Lockout: Why the NBA Is a Lock To End the Lockout Soon
• If I Ruled the (NBA) World

Photos

Hoop China

Chinaassistor

News-MSN

Could this man be wearing the uniform of a CBA team during the lockout?

With all of the hoopla around former Houston Rockets’ center Yao Ming’s retirement, some may have forgotten that the NBA is still in lockout mode. As players and owners still haggle over an agreement, many of the top NBA stars have had a lot of free time on their hands this summer and it looks like they will still have a lot of down time come September when teams should be heading into training camp getting ready for the new season.

So what does an NBA player do while he is banned from team facilities or contacting anyone remotely affiliated with his team?

Perhaps Kevin Durant will bring his game to China for a brief period?

The Oklahoma Thunder’s star forward, Kevin Durant and Los Angeles Lakers’ guard, Kobe Bryant recently made appearances in China hosting basketball clinics. Bryant’s teammate, Pau Gasol and newly crowned NBA champion, Dirk Nowitzki, are back in Europe with their respective national squads preparing the 2011 European Basketball Championships. Meanwhile, KFC is trying to entice one of their former employees, the Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade, to comeback and work for them.

Despite all of the tours or international basketball ongoing at the moment, the big question is what will these players do come September if there is still no end to the lockout? Some players are already considering playing basketball elsewhere in the world.

Things started off with New Jersey Nets’ point guard Deron Williams signing with Turkish league team Besiktas. Slovenian national team guard Sasha Vujacic otherwise known as the future Mr. Maria Sharapova, followed in the steps of his Nets teammate by also signing with a Turkish team, Anadolu Efes.

This is only the beginning as more players maybe looking to what options they have overseas in order to stay fit while negotiators try to hammer out a new agreement.

Some serious thinking is needed by CBA teams

One of the options that some players may look at is playing in the Chinese Basketball Association. The Orlando Magic’s Dwight Howard and Durant have been on record as to saying that they are considering the possibility of playing in the Chinese basketball league should the lockout persist.

While many basketball fans in China maybe drooling over the idea of having a few top NBA stars in China’s top league, one needs to take a step back and be totally realistic about this prospect.

First, a CBA team signing a player the likes of Howard, Durant or anyone else would be a huge coup and most likely fill arenas in every CBA city. However, teams are probably considering whether it would be worth the gamble offering a lot of money to a player when the lockout could possibly end at any point. It would definitely be a poor investment on the part of a CBA team to part with so much money. Certainly, many of these teams are also wary of the whole Steve Francis fiasco during the previous season.

If anything, the CBA teams would most likely pursue offering a contract to a host of NBA free agents that are on the market. The likes of Russian Andrei Kirilenko, Tyson Chandler and, yes, Yao Ming’s former teammates in Houston, Tracy McGrady and Shane Battier are in the pool of players possibly looking for new teams. Perhaps a stint over in the ‘Middle Kingdom’ would be useful for them.

Second, if any of the top NBA players are strongly considering to play in China during the lockout, they have to realize that there are only a few big market cities in the country. Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou can certainly provide these players with a rather comfortable life off the court, but would any of them be willing to sign for teams in Liaoning, Jilin or Shanxi?

In addition, how will the players adapt to the lack of luxuries they receive while playing in the American ‘Association’? They have to face the reality of playing in cold gyms, changing in makeshift locker rooms and possibly sharing a room with a teammate while on the road. These are certainly things they haven’t experienced since high school. There is going to be a lot they will have to sacrifice and adapt to if they choose to play in China.

Wukesong Basketball Arena: NBA players won't be seeing the inside of this place

Third, there is no guarantee that fans will see any of the top NBA stars in the league due to the strict rules that are imposed on teams by the CBA. With the number of foreign players allowed on each team limited, the amount of minutes they can play limited and a strict salary cap imposed, this could lead to most players looking to the European leagues or other places to play.

While it may seem like a smashing idea to have the rare opportunity of a star NBA player on a CBA roster during the lockout, fans should not hold their breath on this. It going to be a long time until there is confirmation that the 2011-2012 NBA season will be canceled and a few of the well-known ballers signing contracts with teams here.

Photos

For the Record Sports

Yiqiyou

When the lanky Shanghainese first landed in Houston in 2002, few expected him to achieve what he now stands for. In his nine seasons of playing in the NBA, Yao Ming averaged 19 points, 9.2 rebounds per game. Yet his contribution to basketball and the NBA cannot be told by these stats, as Yao basically globalized the sport more than anyone in history.

The news came out yesterday from Yahoo Sports that the 7-foot-6 player is to retire soon due to left foot and ankle injury, which already cost him the past two seasons. Yao’s injury was a typical result of over-playing. Since the 2004 Athens Games, the “Moving-Great Wall” constantly found himself moving over the Pacific Ocean to reunite with his Chinese teammates for glories in the Asian Champs, the Olympics after at least four surgeries.

Yao Ming to Retire Soon

There’re claims from both sides, the Rockets and the Chinese sports bureau, about the other’s irresponsible role in playing Yao too much to a degree that even the Shanghai native himself tried to downplay the spat a number of times. At the age of 30, Yao can probably still play a reduced role in the NBA, but decides retirement as his best option for future career development. And what he left after the retirement are a multiple layers of assets that cannot be easily measured.

Yao Ming’s humble image and witful, humourous talk not only made his countrymen proud, but also made Chinese kids glue to the game. For sport in China, the most valueble legacy after he leaves should be those boys playing hoops around the country. There’re, according to the NBA’s estimation, 300 millions of Chinese playing basketball. And most of these 300 million grew up watching Yao Ming play in Shanghai and then Houston and drew inspiration from him. The game would not only make the next generation of Chinese more athletic and healthy, but more team-work oriented through competitions on the court.

But for the moment, this vast player base doesn’t equal the height of Chinese basketball, as there’s a great divide between grassroots and pro players. The CBA, the country’s basketball association, doesn’t really interested in organizing non-professional league in schools. In recent years, sports brands assumed CBA’s role in doing that, because for them, schools are excellent opportunities to market their brands and products. Chinese basketball could further unleash its potential given proper restructure work of league-building.

The professional league, the CBA, has its own faults too. After 17 years of operation since its establishment in 1995, the basketball players in the country still cannot be traded. This correlates with China decades-old sports school system, in which a player, like Yao Ming, is found, trained and developed in a local sports school and then supplied to a local club. Of course no Chinese club wants to lose a player in Yao’s stature, but an average bench player would also find it very hard to move due to a lack of regulation on players’ trading. The move-around of players every season is mainly done behind the closed doors between local sports bureaus and clubs, with so much guanxi involved. The result? You get only three champion teams in the past 16 seasons and familiar faces every year in the CBA All-Star Game.

Yao Ming Left Due To Foot Injury

Yao may not be as fortunate as Mengke Bateer and Sun Yue, who received their NBA champ rings respectively with the Spurs and Lakers and, more important, both are still playing. Yet his fortune allowed him to do something his national teammates have never dreamed of. In 2009, Yao purchased Shanghai Sharks, his former team before joining the Houston Rockets in the Chinese top league. The team is reportedly costing Yao RMB 20 mln a season, but the new management he brought to the Sharks is strikingly positive and could herald change in the CBA if more investors come in.

On 20th this month, Yao will get back to his hometown to announce his future plans. His decision of retirement will become yet another lesson to many Chinese kids looking up to him but few had a chance experiencing themselves: When things go wrong, we move on. Let it be said that Yao is the greatest player in the history of sport in China so far and, as his name ‘ming‘ suggests, Yao’s legacy will be carried on in the generations to come.

Photo: Netease

Previously:

• What can Yao get from the Sharks

Dong competing in the Sydney Games

Five golds, two silvers and four bronzes – the performance of Chinese athletes at the Vancouver Games has been nothing but outstanding during the celebration of Chinese New Year. But back home, sports officials in Beijing are fumbling, as a bronze medal the Chinese gymnastic team won at the 2000 Sydney Olympics could be stripped soon.

As gymnastics officials may have helped Chinese athletes falsify birth documentations just like the football and basketball teams have been doing in the country, it looks they forgot to remind the players that they should keep lying.

The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) posted their ruling last Saturday on its Web site. Excerpt below:

In the case of Dong Fangxiao, the Executive Committee constituted that there was a violation to the FIG Statutes and Regulations. Consequently, the results obtained by Dong Fangxiao at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games have been cancelled. The FIG Executive Committee decision was forwarded to the IOC Executive Board with the recommendation to withdraw the Bronze medal obtained by the Chinese Team including the results of Dong Fangxiao in Sydney. In addition, the FIG Executive Committee pronounced the cancellation of all results obtained by Dong Fangxiao at the 34th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships 1999 in Tianjin (CHN), of all results obtained at the FIG World Cup Series 1999 – 2000 and at the Artistic Gymnastics 2000 World Cup Final in Glasgow (GBR) The costs of the disciplinary procedure are awarded to the Chinese Gymnastics Association.

The Committee decided that in the case of Yang Yun the concrete and objective evidence available is insufficient to prove that the birth date indicated on the official documents was falsified. Ms. Yang Yun is awarded with a warning for the declaration she made during the interview with CCTV5. The only mention of age in this case was on a television interview. The costs of the disciplinary procedure are awarded to the Chinese Gymnastics Association.

Should the punishment be made by the International Olympic Committee, it can kind of prove that the Chinese gymnastic team lied to the world, also putting the results at the Beijing Games highly questionable. And now the Chinese Gymnastics Association claims the evidence held by the FIG is unconvincing.

“We believe that to date, there is no sufficient evidence to prove that there were problems with Dong Fangxiao’s age in 1999 and 2000, therefore we feel great regret toward the FIG’s punishment decision,” a staffer of the association said last Saturday and later put their statement on its Web site.

The whole thing left us with a comical situation that while there’s evidence suggests the players were under age when they competed in the Olympics, without reliable help from sports science, it seems these young ladies can never get caught by lying.

And the problem in China is, if the players do get caught here, like the CBA players we’ve mentioned earlier (also see here and here), they face little punishment according to China’s sports law.

Call me a pessimist, but unless the new licensing system implemented by the FIG is super cool, it looks very unlikely that the age fraud shall be gone from here soon. Let’s hope not to continue the talk after the London Games.

Update 1: In an interview with China Youth Daily, Luo Chaoyi, director of Gymnastics Administrative Center under the General Administration of Sport, the top governing body of Chinese sport, said the age of Dong Fangxiao is her personal matter and the fact that Dong’s age had been shifted 3 yrs younger after her retirement was Dong and her family’s own practice. (According to the FIG’s findings, Dong registered a birth date of January 20, 1983 at Sydney but when accredited to act as “secretary” at vault at the 2008 Beijing Games, had declared her birth date as January 23, 1986.)

Links and Sources:

• The FIG: Sanctions pronounced!
• msnbc: IOC: No proof China cheated in gymnastics
• AP: China expresses regret over gymnastics punishment
• Time: Can Science Tell a Gymnast’s Age?
• China Youth Daily via NetEase: Dong Fangxiao’s age fraud a personal practice (in Chinese)

Photo: NetEase

“The aim of signing Marbury is to pay back our fans and try to win more games in the rest of the season,” Shanxi boss Wang Xingjiang told ESPN.

Reports indicate Marbury is expected to help boost the team’s chances of making the playoffs. Currently, Shanxi sits 15th out of 17th in CBA league standings.

Shanxi made headlines last year when former NBA player Bonzi Wells joined the team, and two months later took a vacation and subsequently did not return to China.

— Zachary Franklin

I dug through the news reports from Ohio to China, trudging through the same list of accolades and accomplishments of Albert Hung, one of the wealthiest businessmen in Hong Kong, who is finalizing a deal to buy a 15 percent stake in the Cleveland Cavaliers, which is expected to be completed by the end of the year. Then I waited for the negative backlash.

There was none.

The NBA in China blog did a writeup of Hung, stating “Hung is a member of numerous powerful groups and committees including: the Standing Committee of National Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the Vice President of China Sports Foundation, Vice Chairman of Major Sports Events Committee, the President of All Stars Sports Association Ltd. of Hong Kong, and Vice President and Director of the South China Athletic Association.”

I was waiting for the harsh comments concerning a Chinese Communist Party member getting his hands on an American basketball team. He’s a member of the CPPCC, which is now a sort of advisory group to the National People’s Congress, and has been chaired by the likes of Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping and Li Xiannian.

The NBA in China blog went even further: “Perhaps his most valuable political affiliation is with the Hong Kong Selection Committee, which is the group that elects the chief executive of the massive Asian commerce and cultural hub.” Judging by previous news reports, the Hong Kong Selection Committee — chosen by the Chinese government — was somewhat unpopular when it was charged with selecting the first leader of Hong Kong’s provisional government as well as its other legislatures, after the citizens in Hong Kong had already selected a group in a free election. No one batted an eye.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer, Ohio’s largest newspaper, reported much of the same information as the NBA China blog report. I was waiting for Hung to face the same gauntlet radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh got hit by when he was stonewalled from purchasing the St. Louis Rams. Nothing.

It was reported Tsingtao beer signed a multi-year partnership with the Cavaliers’ Quicken Loans Arena. Ohio is the fourth largest producer of beer in the United States, and the third largest consumer, according to statistics. Pabst Brewing Company, one of the oldest beer companies in the United States, is now produced in Ohio. Annheuser-Busch, which makes Budweiser, and Miller Brewing both have production plants in the state. No resident in Ohio has bothered to question a Chinese beer company setting up shop inside the Cavs’ arena.

My speculation that negative commentary would be the result of both a 15 percent purchase by a Chinese businessman and a Chinese beer company coming to town was from some of the more negative headlines concerning the People’s Republic in 2009. Australia steel giant Rio Tinto backed off a deal for Aluminum Corp. of China to purchase a 18 percent stake in June, according to the Wall Street Journal, and mixed in with the deal’s rejection was concern that the Chinese government was getting too close to a national industry in Australia — a similar sentiment made by United States politicians four years ago when the Chinese made an attempt to purchase a U.S. oil company. The rioting in Xinjiang that took place in July brought a second major protest in China over a span of two years to the front lines of major newspapers and television stations, the result has been 22 people sentenced to death since the rioting stopped.  The Guardian reported that China showed some ire in September after threatening to boycott the Frankfurt Book Fair — where China was the guest of honor at this year’s event — unless two authors, which the Chinese government deemed dissidents, were removed from the list of participants. Most recently, the Guardian blasted China for what it called “hijacking” the Copenhagen climate meetings, stating the PRC wrecked any attempt at making a real deal at the summit.

That’s a long paragraph that has little to do with sports. But from all this, I was expecting the worst when I read that Hung would be purchasing a stake in the Cavs. There was nothing. There wasn’t much praise either. Only a few ripples within the news. But I have yet to read any negative commentary with regard to Hung and his business dealings.

The silence around Hung’s recent move and the deal to be finalized come the start of 2010 should be taken as a good sign for the NBA, which has seen its stock in the Chinese market steadily rise over the years, particularly since the league brought pre-season games over to the Mainland. Then again, Hung, and partner Kenny Huang — who was the original man selected to invest in the Cavs — might just be the future to bringing more of America’s sports to China.

— Zachary Franklin

“Yunnan’s poor business operation last season resulted in unpaid wages for players and coaches and a negative impact on the league,” said Zhang Xiong, director at Chinese Basketball Management Center, the governing body for Chinese basketball. “The club operation remained stagnant at Yunnan after the 2008-2009 season. According to CBA regulations, Yunnan Honghe is not qualified for the new season.”

Zhang further announced that players in contract with the Yunnan side are allowed to move freely for the new season and a decision is yet to be made as to whether the club can attend the 2010-2011 season.

Yunnan Bulls won the 2004 National Basketball League championship, the second-tier league in China, and were promoted to the top-flight CBA  for the 2004–2005 season

The 2009-2010 season of CBA will kick off on December 19 and end on April 30 in 2010. There will be no North- and South-divisions in the new season of CBA. During the regular season, each club plays the others twice, once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents, for a total of 32 games as opposed to 50 matches last season.

Previously:

• Yao Not Owner of Shanghai Sharks

Links and Sources:

• Sina Sports: Red card for Yunnan Honghe over unpaid wages (Chinese)