Stephon Marbury may not think Carmelo Anthony can handle playing in China, but ‘Melo said he was thinking about it. A lot of NBA players have thrown out China as a possible destination if they decide to play overseas during the lockout.
Except, China may not want them.
According to the fantastic Chinese league blog niubball.com, the Chinese League may be putting in rules that would limit the influx of foreign players. Specifically NBA players.Sina Sports, quoting an anonymous figure connected to the CBA, reported that the Chinese Basketball Association is planning to institute two special new rules for next season in response to the ever-growing list of NBA players who have declared interest towards playing in China: First, teams will not be allowed to include an out-clause into any contract with an active NBA player and second, that each team will be allowed to sign only one active NBA player.
Said the anonymous source, ”The CBA isn’t the NBA’s backyard. If we didn’t make a rule about players playing here temporarily, then they’d all just leave in the middle of the season. That would affect our season greatly.”
This could rule out NBA players under contract from playing in China all together. Basketball international governing body FIBA said it would approve NBA players going overseas during the lockout — giving them a letter of clearance — only if the contract had an “out clause” that allowed them to return to the NBA whenever the lockout ends. If China is not allowing players to opt out, guys like Anthony are off the table completely.
NBA players have liked China as an option during the lockout for a few reasons. One is global branding in the world’s largest market, another is that there is enough wealth there to pay players fairly well (not NBA money but good money). Also, the Chinese season starts later, allowing them to see what happens with the NBA lockout and the start of the season before having to commit.
Why would China then block the best players in the world? Remember we are talking about a pretty insular and protective country, and one trying to build up its own basketball program. We’ll let niubball.com take it from there.The CBA’s reasoning behind such a rule serves as a stark reminder as to how the Chinese government views basketball within the national political framework. Whereas the NBA operates in the U.S. as an independent business, the CBA is run by the government and thus has an agenda based on other things than profitability. At the top of that agenda for the Chinese is the long-term development of basketball in China and the success of the Chinese national team. Having a national team that can compete against the best the world has to offer serves as a way for China to gain international glory while also boosting nationalism within its own borders….
So although welcoming an NBA superstar to China sounds good on the surface, both for NBA-crazed fans and teams’ bottom line, the impact on the long-term development of Chinese would be minimal at best. Investing lots of money in players just to see them pack up and leave would not help the CBA’s goals in any way.