2023-05-26 15:42:00
On April 14, Game 3 of the CBA (Chinese Basketball Association) Playoffs between the Jiangsu Dragons and the Shanghai Sharks of Eric Bledsoe and Michael Beasley turned out to have been rigged following an internal investigation. This resounding corruption has caused several instabilities within the Chinese league, to the point of replacing its current president who was none other than… Yao Ming.
The finding of corruption of this famous Game 3 was not long in being declared. Two minutes from the end of the match, the Dragons led 100-96 but chained 5 more than doubtful ball losses to allow the Sharks to reach the quarter-finals. But that’s not all since Eric Bledsoe was suspended for 4 games during these Playoffs and the Sharks would have voluntarily lost Game 2 – at the same time making his absence last – so that he might return more quickly to the quarter-finals. . It must be said that we have already seen more discreet in terms of fraud…
All this succession of events therefore pushed the CBA (and not the CBA) to distribute sanctions to water down this corruption: the Shanghai Sharks and the Jiangsu Dragons were disqualified from the Playoffs while paying a fine of 5 million Yuan ( around 727,000 dollars), the coach and GM of the Sharks – Li Chunjiang and Jiang Yusheng – are suspended for 5 years, the same for Li Nan and Shi Linjie – coach and GM of the Dragons – who are suspended for 3 years and finally the president of the league – Yao Ming – was relieved of his duties to be replaced by Xu Jicheng (Chinese sports journalist).
No particular reason has been communicated by the CBA for the dismissal of the Chinese giant but everything suggests that this reference has a direct link with the recent scandals of Playoffs. All the more so when we know that, according to one article of NBC Sportssome leaders are suspected of having been bribed in these scandals:
“Some officials [de la CBA ndlr.] were investigated for taking bribes and other forms of corruption. “
So impossible to be 100% sure that Yao was not in cahoots with these corruption cases, but in any case, this end of his stint as president of the CBA taints the legacy he left to Chinese basketball. It must be said that economic investments and foreign players coming to play in the CBA are proof of the effervescence of this sport in China, and Yao Ming has a lot to do with it when we retrace his career in the NBA. As a Hall of Famer, with 8 All-Star selections and 5 All-NBA Team selections, Yao Ming played a big role in the internationalization of basketball when in 2003 Davis Stern decided to offer All-Star Game voting in Mandarin. Race results? The one we nicknamed “The Dynasty” – with the help of the Chinese population – ended up as ASG holder in front of the Shaq.
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