Chinese_Basketball_Association

Chinese Basketball Association

Chinese Basketball Association

Top professional men's basketball league in China

For the national basketball association of China, see Chinese Basketball Association (organisation).

The Chinese Basketball Association (simplified Chinese: 中国男子篮球职业联赛; traditional Chinese: 中國男子籃球職業聯賽; pinyin: Zhōngguó Nánzǐ Lánqiú Zhíyè Liánsài), often abbreviated as the CBA, is the first-tier professional men's basketball league in China.

Quick Facts Organising body, Founded ...
Quick Facts Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese ...

The league is commonly known by fans as the CBA, and this acronym is even used in Chinese on a regular basis. The CBA should not be confused with the National Basketball League (NBL), which is a professional minor league. There is also a Women's Chinese Basketball Association (WCBA).

A few Chinese players who competed in the CBA in the early stages of their careers—including Wang Zhizhi, Mengke Bateer, Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian, Sun Yue, and Zhou Qi—have also played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Others such as Xue Yuyang and Wang Zhelin were chosen in the draft, but have not played in the NBA.

Only a limited number of foreign players are allowed on each CBA team. Notable imports include former NBA All-Stars Stephon Marbury, Tracy McGrady, Gilbert Arenas, Steve Francis, Metta World Peace and Kenyon Martin—as well as several NBA veterans who would become CBA All-Stars—Michael Beasley, Aaron Brooks, Jimmer Fredette, Al Harrington, Lester Hudson, Randolph Morris, Shavlik Randolph, Jeremy Lin and J.R. Smith.

Background

The CBA began play in the 1995–96 season. The league should not be confused with the Chinese Basketball Association (organisation), which was founded in June 1956[1] and represents the country in matters involving the sport's governing body, FIBA. Basketball in China is currently regulated by the Chinese Basketball Management Center.

Other Chinese basketball leagues include the National Basketball League (NBL), the Chinese University Basketball Association (CUBA), and the Chinese High School Basketball League (CHBL).[2] At one time there was a league called the Chinese New Basketball Alliance (CNBA),[3] one of whose most prominent teams was the Beijing Sea Lions, but this venture lasted for just one winter (1996–97).[4]

The first non-Chinese player to compete in the CBA was Mihail Savinkov of Uzbekistan, who joined the Zhejiang Squirrels in the league's inaugural 1995–96 campaign.[5] During the 1996–97 season, James Hodges became one of the first Americans to play in the CBA, and his signing by the Liaoning Hunters helped pave the way for many more imports from the United States to follow in the ensuing years.

Some other notable foreign pioneers included John Spencer, who joined the Jiangsu Dragons later in the 1996–97 campaign, and David Vanterpool, who inked a deal with the Jilin Northeast Tigers the following winter, and helped the team move up to the CBA in time for the 1998–99 season. The CBA's first international coach was American Robert Hoggard, who led the Sichuan Pandas for the last eight games of the 1997–98 campaign.[6]

Team names

For a full list of teams, see Current clubs section below. Also see Category:Chinese Basketball Association teams.

The full name of each team usually consists of three parts, in the following order:

  1. A geographic designation (except in the case of Bayi, which technically translates into English as "August First," the day China's People's Liberation Army was founded). All others are province-level designations (either a province or a Chinese municipality).
  2. A corporate sponsor name. This sponsor may change from year to year, and sometimes even in mid-season.
  3. A nickname, such as the name of an animal.

The presence of corporate sponsor names can occasionally lead to confusion about what name to use in English because many variants may be seen. Team names are usually abbreviated (in Chinese or English), so that either the corporate sponsor name or the nickname is used interchangeably (rarely both). In addition, team nicknames can sometimes be translated into English in more than one way, and corporate sponsors tend to change frequently over time.

Nickname changes are rare, but occasionally happen, such as when the Shandong team switched from Flaming Bulls (1995) to Lions (2003) to Gold Lions (2004) to Golden Stars (2014). Other examples include the Liaoning team dumping Hunters (1995) for Dinosaurs (2008) and then Flying Leopards (2011) -- as well as the Foshan team's evolving attempts to "Anglicize" its nickname—by going from Kylins (2001) to Dralions to Long-Lions.

In previous years, the title of the league itself was available for corporate naming sponsorship. In 1999–2000 and 2000–2001 it was known as the Hilton League, in 2001–2002 and 2002–2003 it was the Motorola League, and in 2003–2004 it was sponsored by China Unicom. These corporate league titles were not always used in the news media, however, and this sponsorship practice was discontinued at the start of the 2004–2005 season.[7]

Current clubs

While teams are listed by division here, the CBA does not use these designations for regular season purposes anymore, as each squad now plays each other once at home and once on the road (plus eight additional games within each of the four rotating "strength of schedule" sub-groupings). Divisions are used for the league's annual All-Star Game, however, and are shown here for the sake of convenience.

Location of the CBA teams
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Timeline

This is a chronological listing of current and former CBA teams according to the season that they entered the league.

Ningbo RocketsNanjing Monkey KingsBeijing Royal FightersSichuan Blue WhalesTianjin PioneersQingdao EaglesZhejiang LionsShenzhen LeopardsYunnan Running BullsShanxi LoongsFujian SturgeonsXinjiang Flying TigersHong Kong Flying DragonsTaoyuan Pauian ArchilandShenzhen YikangGuangzhou Loong LionsJilin Northeast TigersBeijing OlympiansShanghai SharksZhejiang Golden BullsShandong Hi-Speed KirinLiaoning Flying LeopardsJiangsu DragonsGuangdong Southern TigersBeijing DucksBayi Rockets

Current teams Defunct Teams

Finals

See also: CBA Finals Most Valuable Player

In 2005, the league unveiled the Mou Zuoyun Cup (Chinese: 牟作云杯), which was awarded for the first time to the winning team in the CBA Finals. Mou Zuoyun (1913–2007) was a member of the Chinese men's national basketball team which competed at the 1936 Summer Olympics, and he later served as a coach and a pioneer in building Chinese basketball.[8]

More information Season, Champions ...

Finals appearances

This is a list of the teams which have advanced to the CBA Finals and the overall win–loss records they have registered in the Championship Series.

More information Total, Team ...

Awards

The CBA Most Valuable Player award is presented to the league's best player in a given CBA season. Since the 2012–13 campaign, two awards have been handed out each year, Domestic MVP and International MVP. The rules for the selection of the MVP in the regular season are: the number of games must reach 28 or more; The comprehensive score of individual technical indicators ranks among the best; The team won the top three in the regular season.[10] At the conclusion of each season, the CBA Finals MVP award is bestowed upon the most outstanding player in that year's championship series.

Each campaign's scoring leader is also recognized on an annual basis and the league maintains a list of single game, single season, and career record holders in various statistical categories. Furthermore, a CBA All-Star Game MVP award is given to the player deemed to have the most impactful performance in the league's annual mid-season exhibition contest.

The CBA Best Defender award is presented to the league's most hard-skilled and efficient defender in a given season of the CBA.

Scoring leaders

Main article: Chinese Basketball Association scoring leaders

The CBA's highest single season scoring average, depending on how many games are required to be recognized as a statistical qualifier, is either 43.1 points per game by Jordan Crawford, who played in 26 of Tianjin's 38 games (68.4%) in 2015–16, or 42.0 points per game by Jonathan Gibson, who played in 36 of Qingdao's 38 games (94.7%) in 2015–16.

Rebounding leaders

Main article: Chinese Basketball Association rebounding leaders

Records

Main article: Chinese Basketball Association records

This is a list of individual records separated into two categories — career records and single game records.

Records last updated and confirmed on March 13, 2019, the final day of the 2018–19 CBA regular season.

Single game records

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Career records

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Notable players

Listed below are some of the most accomplished Chinese players who have competed in the CBA. Time spent with teams in lower leagues before they joined the CBA, or after they left the CBA, cannot be counted as CBA seasons. Notes will be made of such service below a player's CBA information.

Domestic players from the CBA who are known for crossing over to the NBA

More information Name, CBA Team(s) (Years) ...

Domestic players from the CBA who were drafted but have not played in the NBA

More information Name, CBA Team(s) (Years) ...

Domestic players from the CBA who have only played in NBA pre-season games

More information Name, CBA Team(s) (Years) ...

Domestic players from the CBA who have participated in the NBA Summer League

More information Name, CBA Team (Years) ...

Note: The Red Squad of the Chinese National Team toured the United States and played several NBA Summer League teams during the 2018 NBA Summer League season while the combined Chinese National Team did likewise during the 2019 NBA Summer League season.

Domestic players from the CBA who are known for league or national team exploits

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Foreign imports

Listed below are some of the most accomplished foreign imports who have competed in the CBA. Players must appear in at least one game for the team to receive credit for a season. Someone who signs a contract but never steps on the court does not count.

As of early 2024, over 100 basketball professionals from the United States, Europe, and Australia work in the CBA.[21]

Policy

Every team can register up to four foreign players per season. During the regular season, the policy of four (maximum) foreign players on the field for four quarters and four times per game (full of one per quarter) is adopted, while the team ranked in the bottom four last season may adopt the policy of four (maximum) foreign players for four quarters and five times per game (full of two times per quarter in the first three quarters and one time per quarter in the last quarter). During the playoffs, all teams will adopt a four-player (maximum) four-period four-times policy for foreign players (maximum of one per period)[22]

Non-Chinese players who spent 5 or more seasons in the CBA

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Non-Chinese players who spent 2 to 4 seasons in the CBA

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Non-Chinese players for whom 2019–20 is their 1st season in the CBA

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Other Non-Chinese players who spent only 1 season in the CBA

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Politics

On October 4, 2019, the Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey issued a tweet in support of the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests.[23] Morey's tweet resulted in the Chinese Basketball Association's suspension of its relationship with the Houston Rockets and China Central Television's removal of all NBA games from its broadcast schedule until further notice.[24]

See also

References

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    "篮球忆往--中国的Cnba" (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2012-03-18. Retrieved 2010-03-13.
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    "短命联赛Cnba仅存活一年便夭折 Nba曾状告其侵权_李宁网易体育" (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2012-02-16. Retrieved 2010-02-20.
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    "Guangdong win 10th China basketball crown after virus-hit season". France 24. 15 August 2020. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
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    Lu, Yu-Cheng; Hsiao, Chia-Huei; Shih, Ming-Tsung; Yen-Chieh, Wen; Wang, Fong-Jia (September 2021). "Exploring the localization and home business strategies of the professional sports team -Formosa Dreamer case study". Asia Pacific Management Review. 26 (3): 120–128. doi:10.1016/j.apmrv.2020.11.002.
  11. [11]
    Goshen College Graduate Errick McCollum Scores 82 Points
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    CBA Asks Overseas Players To Wear Blindfolds Archived 2022-09-20 at the Wayback Machine (satire)
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    How Much Do You Know About Yao Ming's CBA 7 Top Highlights (in Chinese)
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    "Tianjin Replaces David Harrison With Hervé Lamizana". Archived from the original on 2020-08-18. Retrieved 2018-02-05.
  15. [15]
    Unofficial Box Score From Longest Game In CBA History
  16. [16]
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  17. [17]
    Errick McCollum Scores CBA Record 82 Points
  18. [18]
    Hudson's 2010–11 minutes estimated at 1,073 (37 per game which is slightly below his average for the next couple of seasons). As of 2019, the CBA's all-time leader in minutes is Hu Xuefeng or Liu Wei, but the league didn't record minutes before 2011.
  19. [19]
    "身体天赋？阿联Cba扣篮数1100+ 中国实战扣篮最多的人 - Cba专区 - 虎扑社区".
  20. [20]
    Basketball Association For Zhu Fangyu "Rain" Sends Blessings: Remembering The Contributions And Wishing Smooth Sailing Archived 2020-12-05 at the Wayback Machine (in Chinese)
  21. [21]
    Li, David Daokui (2024). China's World View: Demystifying China to Prevent Global Conflict. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company. pp. 246–247. ISBN 978-0393292398.
  22. [22]
    "2022-23赛季CBA分组赛程及外援规则公布，江苏上上签，宁波下下签". view.inews.qq.com. Retrieved 2022-12-04.
  23. [23]
    "Rockets GM Daryl Morey tweets support for Hong Kong protests, prompting response from owner". sports.yahoo.com. October 5, 2019.
  24. [24]
    "Rockets' general manager's Hong Kong comments anger China". AP News. AP. October 7, 2019.
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