The chronic disease of the CBA
When will we see the next Yao Ming?
On March 1st of this year – NBA Hall of Fame, Dwayne Wade, took to the court of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) as a judge for the 2024 CBA All-Star Slam Dunk Contest. This was an attempt to increase the appeal of the CBA All-Star Weekend. Despite Wade's presence, the event was poorly attended. The stadium, with a capacity of 20,000, saw less than 5% attendance on the first day.
Just after the game, famed Chinese basketball commentator Yang Yi (杨毅) stated in his podcast, "I must acknowledge that the standout of this All-Star game was Wade..." He noted that the CBA has lacked a standout player ever since former NBA player Yi Jianlian (易建联) retired from the CBA in 2023 (Yi returned to the CBA in 2016 after many years of NBA play).
Faced with a shortage of excellent athletes, ex-NBA star Yao Ming, as the President of the CBA, has been committed to reforming Chinese basketball since taking over in 2017, especially the CBA league — with the hopes of matching the NBA standards.
Over the years, Yao has been constantly promoting the marketization of the CBA — separating the CBA league from the bureaucratic system, adopting a more aggressive league income and equitable player salary structure, establishing a freer transfer, draft system, and a minor league, to create fairer competition and growing opportunities for athletes.
Sadly, the reform hasn’t rolled out smoothly, but rather has brought unexpected chaos – Yao’s advocacy for the installment of a free transfer mechanism, akin to the NBA, has highlighted a rising friction between clubs and players.
For years, clubs typically recruited athletes from sport schools governed by local sports bureaus. They have significantly invested in training these athletes, making them hesitant to allow their well-trained players to leave. To lock down the player, some clubs exploit loopholes within the new rules, or even work with bureaucrats to sway the players to stay. While some players who did not want to be manipulated expressed their dissatisfaction against them through social media. Some have taken even more extreme measures, such as leaving the CBA directly.
In light of this, Yao realized that, just focusing on the CBA itself for reform is inefficient, he has expanded his reform to address issues with the sports education system as a whole.
Notably, sports and education systems in China have operated separately. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has historically used this independent pipeline —state-run athlete schools (体校) — to produce star athletes rapidly for national prestige. This has been the main route that athletes, like Yao, used to emerge before joining the adult league.
Such a system seems very beneficial for recruiting tall and strong athletes, who are easily recognized at a young age. However, in the era of the small ball style, where height is less important, the impacts of this utilitarian selection method are increasingly ineffective, as this approach neglects the long-term development of athletes' interest in basketball and disregards blossoming talent showcased in middle and high schools.
What's worse, due to the lack of basic academic training, this distorted system often cultivates athletes who lack a well-rounded personality and a broad vision beyond the sports field. This has led to serious moral defects in many players and a lack of some basic soft skills such as communication or cooperation.
In order to establish a more sustainable pipeline for cultivating future stars, Yao is calling for the integration of sports and education (体教融合) — make sports a part of the education system — in the hope that China can emulate the United States. Students can participate in training and leagues at different age groups. Players don't have to choose between studying and sports, they can receive a standard education, grow into upright, responsible, knowledgeable and intellectual athletes through the updated sport system.
At this point, Yao's reform blueprint is becoming clearer:
Leveraging the multi-level professional league system and more market-oriented rules to make the professional league more vibrant. Plus, reforming the education system to increase the quality and quantity of potential athletes. This new pipeline will ultimately break the monopoly that bureaucratic sports schools have on young talent training and selection.
Needless to say, if this brand new top-down basketball system can be established, it can, more or less, improve the overall level of basketball in China, and increase the likelihood of world-class stars appearing in the CBA.
Concurrently, as an international figure, Yao places great importance on external collaboration alongside internal reform. Despite China's recent lockdown and the NBA boycott, Yao has been actively encouraging international exchange instead of self-isolation.
This way, Chinese players will be exposed to another style of playing outside the rigidness of the CCP system, which could help identify gaps, learn useful skills, and may even encourage creativity — this being a point Wade stressed when speaking to Yao in an interview just after the CBA All-Star Game — Chinese players generally lack imagination.
"We are undergoing a major surgery," Yao said in an interview after the Asian Games last year, "from the national team, the reform of the league, youth training, and internationalization. This is a comprehensive reshape covering the entire basketball ecosystem... Our research has just begun...”
In a nutshell, Chinese basketball is facing a chronic issue — there's no miracle cure. Here, reform is a lengthy war, moving forward is painful but inevitable. As I noted in my previous NBA article, I don't foresee any emerging stars of NBA standard in China. Let’s face it, no one will become the next Yao within the upcoming five or even ten years.
From a business perspective, the current reform pains are likely to result in a decrease in the number of fans and a reduction in the commercial value of the CBA over the next few years. Today, compared to the CBA court, international brands seem to be more willing to invest in the field of youth development, accompanying the growth of young athletes and audiences. In 3V3, student leagues, or grassroots matches, you will see many international brand sponsorships.
This may be a more long-term investment, and that ultimately aligns with Yao's strategic direction — in this way, he is looking to add resources to build Chinese basketball from the ground up, instead of putting all efforts towards the struggling CBA.