The China men's national basketball team (Chinese: 中国国家男子篮球队; nickname Team Dragon) represents the People's Republic of China in international basketball tournaments. The national team is governed by the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA).^[2] Based on the number of tournament titles, China is considered a major basketball powerhouse in Asia and has by far the most successful basketball program on the continent.

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China

FIBA ranking	29 (1 March 2024)[1]
Joined FIBA	1974
FIBA zone	FIBA Asia
National federation	CBA
Coach	Aleksandar Đorđević
Nickname(s)	Team Dragon
Olympic Games
Appearances	9
FIBA World Cup
Appearances	10
FIBA Asia Cup
Appearances	22
Medals	Gold: (1975, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1983, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2011, 2015) Silver: (2009) Bronze: (1985, 1997)
Asian Games
Appearances	13
Medals	Gold: (1978, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2006, 2010, 2018) Silver: (1982, 2002) Bronze: (1974, 2022)
Home Away
Medal record Event 1st 2nd 3rd FIBA Asia Cup 16 1 2 Asian Games 8 2 2 Total 24 3 4

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China has traditionally been the basketball powerhouse in Asia and won the FIBA Asia Cup 14 out of 16 times between 1975 and 2005. At the 1984 Summer Olympics basketball tournament, the Chinese made their debut, starting a streak of nine qualifications in a row.

At the 2000 Olympics, Li Nan had a noteworthy performance as he scored 25 points on 6 three-pointers in a win against Italy.^[3]

The Chinese failed to defend its championship at the 2007 FIBA Asia Cup. This was due to the automatic berth at the 2008 Beijing Olympics as the host nation, thus, China sent its "U23"Team to the 2007 tournament and finished 10th^[4] while its primary "A" team participated at the 2007 Stanković Cup which took place around the same time as the 2007 FIBA Asia Cup.

The team often struggled against top flight non-Asian competitors. However, in some cases, China refuted their critics and beat some the top European teams. In the 2004 Athens Olympics, China, coached by Del Harris, advanced to the final eight^[5] after a 67–66 win over defending world champion Serbia and Montenegro.

At the 2006 FIBA World Cup, China, coached by Lithuanian Jonas Kazlauskas also advanced to the second round from Group D, earning two victories against Senegal and Slovenia in five group play matches before falling in the round of sixteen to the eventual silver medalists Greece, 95–64; the team's overall placing by the end of the tournament from amongst the twenty-four competing sides was fifteenth.^[6]

In 2008, some questions surrounded whether the recently injured Yao Ming would still captain the squad. In mid-July, it was confirmed that he would still continue to be the captain.^[7]

At the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Yao ended up as the third leading scorer of the competition with 20.7 points per game while also leading in rebounds with 9.3 per game. The game where Yao really made his mark was against New Zealand where he scored a tournament-high 39 points while also grabbing 13 rebounds, second most in a single game that year.^[3]

In the following years, the Chinese faced major struggles with injuries. In 2008, a then NBA prospect Xu Yong was forced to end his career at the age of 19 after being diagnosed with osteosarcoma.^[8] In December 2010, Yao was diagnosed with a stress fracture on his left ankle – the injury was related to the ankle sprain that he suffered earlier that year. Speculations arose whether China's basketball icon would ever be able to play again.^[9]

When Yao's retirement was finally announced in July 2011^[10] it was considered a big blow to the national team, whose success had largely depended on him for many years. Yet, critics were optimistic that China would continue to improve on its international performances.^[11] In 2016, a new era of Chinese stars would begin to form, as NBA draftees in Zhou Qi and Wang Zhelin would gain considerable amounts of attention for their successes in China.^[12][13]

At the 2012 Olympics, it was Yi Jianlian who stepped up by averaging 14.8 points and 10.2 rebounds per game, highlighted by a 30-point, 12-rebound game against Spain to start the tournament.^[3]

In 2018, the team was invited to play at the 2018 NBA Summer League.^[14] They played a total of 5 games and won 1.

China hosted the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup which automatically qualified the team.^[15][16]

• China national under-19 basketball team
• China national under-17 basketball team
• China national 3x3 team
• China women's national basketball team
• Chinese Basketball Association
• Chinese Basketball Association (organisation)
• Chinese Taipei men's national basketball team
• National Basketball League
• Women's Chinese Basketball Association
• Sport in China