“Yao Ming, who played for the Houston Rockets during his career, has announced his intention to step down as president of the Chinese Basketball Association,” ESPN reported on May 25 (KST).
Yao Ming, who is considered a legend in Chinese basketball, played for the CBA’s Shanghai Sharks before trying his hand at the NBA and being selected by Houston with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2002 draft. The 6-foot-9 guard was a five-time All-NBA team selection with a decent pick-and-pop game, but he retired at age 31 due to frequent injuries. After retiring, Yao Ming became an administrator, first as head coach of Shanghai and then as president of the Chinese Basketball Association in 2017.
On its official website, the 스포츠토토 CBA explained why Yao Ming stepped down, saying that “the board of directors felt that new leadership was needed,” but did not go into specifics. There’s a reasonable suspicion that it’s the aftermath of match-fixing.
The CBA has been plagued by match-fixing recently. Last month, the Shanghai and Jiangsu Gragons met in the Round of 12 playoffs. Jiangsu was up 100-96 with 1:36 left in regulation when a series of miscues led to 10 consecutive turnovers and a 104-108 loss. The series of blunders led to an investigation by the Chinese Basketball Association, which found evidence of match-fixing.
In the aftermath, Shanghai and Jiangsu had their scores for the 2022-2023 season erased and were excluded from the playoffs. They were also fined 5 million yuan (about $900 million), and their coaching staffs were each handed five-year bans. ESPN interpreted Yao Ming’s resignation as president of the Chinese Basketball Association as a reference to the match-fixing scandal.
Meanwhile, the new president of the Chinese Basketball Association is reportedly basketball commentator Xu Zicheng. Xu also served on the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics and Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics committees.