Despite limited success, most Taiwanese basketball players who have opted to play in China say they don’t regret the decision.
An all-time high of five players left their teams in the local professional Super Basketball League (SBL) last year to play in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). The departing players said the CBA, a growing league of 17 teams, offers higher salaries and better competition.
Taiwanese players wouldn’t leave if the basketball environment was better in Taiwan, said Lin Chih-chieh, formerly one of the most popular players in Taiwan and a national team regular who spent last season with China’s Zhejiang Lions.
Despite being the second most popular sport after baseball, professional basketball in Taiwan still lacks the planning, organization and vision necessary for the game to develop.
In its seventh season, the average attendance at SBL games is fewer than 1,000. Lacking sponsors and advertisers, the majority of the teams revenue comes from TV broadcast fees. The league didn’t allow foreign players in until its fifth year and at one point considered a monthly salary limit of NT$120,000 (US$3,826) per player so that teams could keep their budgets down.
Discontented with the current status and the uncertain future of the SBL, players started to look for an alternative.
DEVELOPMENT
Playing in China was an easy and natural solution because of the common language, as well as the fact the CBA has developed significantly in recent years as the country’s economic power has risen, Lin said. The CBA is now capable of hiring active National Basketball Association (NBA) players, such as former New York Knicks guard Stephon Marbury.
Apart from Lin, there are other Taiwanese players making a living in China. Last season, Chen Hsin-an played for the Dongguan Leopards in Guangdong Province and Yen Hsin-shu played for the Shanghai Sharks. Hsu Hao-cheng and Lin Kwan-lun both played for Shanxi Zhongyu.
The loss of domestic basketball talent to China is not a recent phenomenon.
Cheng Chih-lung was the first Taiwanese player to join the CBA when he signed for the Shanghai Sharks in 1999 alongside Houston Rockets center Yao Ming.
Taiwanese basketball teams have also joined the CBA. The Sina Lions joined in the 2002-2003 season.
While thousands of US players earn a living playing overseas, it’s unusual for foreign teams to show an interest in Taiwanese players. Playing overseas is seen as proof of a local player’s skills and talent.
Lin was reportedly paid US$15,000 a month plus incentives to play in China — about four times what he could make in Taiwan. Chen Hsin-an signed a two-year contract for an annual salary of US$340,000 and even second-string player Lin Kuan-lun was signed for US$8,000 a month.
LITTLE TIME
For many Taiwanese players, however, the “China Dream” was not what they had imagined. Although Lin played an important role in Zhejiang, cracking the starting lineup and averaging 11.7 points and four rebounds per game, as well as leading the team to the semi-finals, none of the other four Taiwanese players got more than 10 minutes playing game time per game.
It’s disappointing to get big paychecks and then do nothing but sit on the bench, media quoted Chen as saying.
As for Lin, he said the training and playing style in Taiwan and China are very different and that he learned a lot. Most of all, he said, the treatment of players and the facilities are much better in China. Every team has a weightlifting coach, he said.
“You have to do everything yourself in Taiwan,” he said, adding that he would play in China again next season and would encourage other aspiring Taiwanese players to do the same.
Lin said that young players have to learn to take care of themselves because their careers are short and the local league is not going anywhere.
One staff member from a local team agreed that when it came to money, Taiwan just couldn’t compete.
“Of course we would like to keep our players, but the salaries offered by the Chinese league are just crazy and we can’t possibly match them,” a team representative who declined to be identified said. “I don’t think these players help their careers or skills with such little playing time in the games, but they sure make a lot more money.”
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