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53-401: Nenking is the owner of a CBA team called the " Guangzhou Loong Lions ", and it is also the title sponsor of Hong Kong " Eastern Sports Club ", including " Eastern Football Team " and " Eastern Basketball Team ". In 2018, Nenking started stepping in esports , organizing an OWL team for Guangzhou named the " Guangzhou Charge ". In April 2020, Nenking Group officially became the owner of

106-732: A garbage collector , as his best friend. As a youth, Francis received food stamps and lived in an apartment with 18 people. Francis began working for drug dealers at ten years old and began selling crack cocaine on the street as a teenager during the American crack epidemic . He attended six high schools and played in a total of two high school basketball games. He dropped out of school at 18 years old after his mother died. Francis completed his GED after receiving an offer to play college basketball for San Jacinto College , whose coaches had noticed him at an Amateur Athletic Union tournament. Francis attended San Jacinto College in 1996–97, and

159-544: A career-high 44 points in a nationally televised home win against the Los Angeles Lakers on January 17, 2003. The team went 43–39, again missing the playoffs. Rockets head coach Rudy Tomjanovich stepped down in 2003, and the team selected ex- New York Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy as his successor. Van Gundy's coaching style did not fit Francis's style of play. Even though Francis made the All-Star game for

212-539: A chaotic management situation that almost led to the demise of a club that was almost a hundred years old. Chinese Basketball Association The Chinese Basketball Association ( simplified Chinese : 中国男子篮球职业联赛 ; traditional Chinese : 中國男子籃球職業聯賽 ; pinyin : Zhōngguó Nánzǐ Lánqiú Zhíyè Liánsài ), often abbreviated as the CBA , is the first-tier professional men's basketball league in China. The league

265-528: A construction company, boxing promotions, a barbershop and clothing line (We R One), as well as a hip-hop record label, Mazerati Music. After Francis left professional basketball and his stepfather committed suicide, he began drinking heavily. In November 2016, Francis was arrested in Houston for driving under the influence and a felony charge of threatening a public servant. In December 2016, he turned himself into Manatee County, Florida police who issued

318-521: A contract but never steps on the court does not count. As of early 2024, over 100 basketball professionals from the United States, Europe, and Australia work in the CBA. Every team can register up to four foreign players per season. During the regular season, the policy of four (maximum) foreign players on the field for four quarters and four times per game (full of one per quarter) is adopted, while

371-673: A finalist for the Wooden and Naismith Player of the Year Awards. Although he stated he was "99% sure" he would return to Maryland for his senior season, he opted to enter the NBA draft. While a member of the Terrapins, Francis met Idan Ravin , who at the time was coaching youth basketball. Francis soon began attending Ravin's workouts and recommended Ravin as trainer to fellow college players, including Elton Brand . Ravin subsequently became

424-510: A list of single game, single season, and career record holders in various statistical categories. Furthermore, a CBA All-Star Game MVP award is given to the player deemed to have the most impactful performance in the league's annual mid-season exhibition contest. The CBA Best Defender award is presented to the league's most hard-skilled and efficient defender in a given season of the CBA. The CBA's highest single season scoring average, depending on how many games are required to be recognized as

477-508: A number 2 seed in the NCAA tournament but were defeated by St. John's in the Sweet 16 . Under Francis's leadership, Maryland finished with a school record 28 wins and only 6 losses and were ranked #5 in the final Associated Press poll. Francis finished the season averaging 17 points per game, 4.5 assists per game, and 2.8 steals per game. He was a consensus second-team All-American and was named

530-571: A potential Bankruptcy. As a result, the FC Sochaux-Montbelliard would lose its professional football club status and would be relegated to the 6th Division. While Romain Peugeot, the great-grandson of the club's founder, had concluded an agreement for a takeover offer allowing the group to remain a 33% shareholder of FC Sochaux-Montbelliard, Nenking did not respect his commitment to pay the 4 million euros planned. The objective of

583-541: A recurring injury, tendinitis in his right knee, and as a result began the 2006–07 season averaging only 11.3 ppg, as opposed to his career 18.4 ppg. On March 10, 2007, Francis scored 26 points, including a game-winning three point shot as time expired, and grabbed seven rebounds during a 90–89 win over the Washington Wizards . On 2007 draft night, June 28, the Knicks traded Francis and Channing Frye to

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636-528: A red velvet sports jacket with "Barack Obama" spelled on the back in sequins. Francis said he had followed the presidential race closely. "It's important that there is an African-American candidate running", Francis said. "I never thought I'd see the day that would happen. Right now, we're at a pivotal point. It's a great feeling for me." Francis has suffered from Ménière's disease , which causes episodes of vertigo, tinnitus, and aural fullness. Francis has ventured into several entrepreneurial projects, including

689-412: A statistical qualifier, is either 43.1 points per game by Jordan Crawford , who played in 26 of Tianjin's 38 games (68.4%) in 2015–16 , or 42.0 points per game by Jonathan Gibson , who played in 36 of Qingdao's 38 games (94.7%) in 2015–16 . This is a list of individual records separated into two categories — career records and single game records. Records last updated and confirmed on March 13, 2019,

742-504: A third straight year his stats declined in 2003–04 , dropping from 21.0 PPG, 6.2 RPG, and 6.2 APG to 16.6 PPG, 5.5 RPG, and 6.2 APG. The Rockets, however, made the playoffs for the first time since 1999, which would be Francis's only postseason experience. Despite his averaging 19.2 ppg, 8.4 rpg, and 7.6 apg, the Rockets lost to the heavily favored Los Angeles Lakers in five games. As Francis's relationship with Van Gundy deteriorated it

795-521: A tornado struck the University of Maryland, College Park campus, killing two students and displacing 700 more from their dormitory. Francis, who was on campus at the time, arranged to sponsor a dinner for the displaced students before he flew back to Houston for his third season with the Rockets . He said, "I remember all of the people here supporting me while I was a Maryland student, and this

848-754: A well-known trainer for a number of NBA players. Francis was selected second in the 1999 NBA draft by the Vancouver Grizzlies . In the lead up to the draft, Francis had visited Chicago and Charlotte – holders of the first and third picks – while refusing to visit Vancouver. He publicly announced that he did not want to play for the Grizzlies, citing the distance from his Maryland home, taxes, endorsements, and God's will. Heavily criticized for his antics, especially in Vancouver , he relented and briefly considered joining

901-597: Is a list of the teams which have advanced to the CBA Finals and the overall win–loss records they have registered in the Championship Series. The CBA Most Valuable Player award is presented to the league's best player in a given CBA season. Since the 2012–13 campaign, two awards have been handed out each year, Domestic MVP and International MVP. The rules for the selection of the MVP in the regular season are:

954-646: Is an American former professional basketball player. He was selected with the second overall pick of the 1999 NBA draft and was named co- NBA Rookie of the Year (along with Elton Brand ) in his first season. He was a three-time NBA All-Star while playing for the Houston Rockets . Francis also played for the Orlando Magic and New York Knicks , finishing his career with the Beijing Ducks of

1007-612: Is commonly known by fans as the CBA, and this acronym is even used in Chinese on a regular basis. The CBA should not be confused with the National Basketball League (NBL), which is a professional minor league . There is also a Women's Chinese Basketball Association (WCBA). A few Chinese players who competed in the CBA in the early stages of their careers—including Wang Zhizhi , Mengke Bateer , Yao Ming , Yi Jianlian , Sun Yue , and Zhou Qi —have also played in

1060-467: Is just a small way that I can give back to those who have helped me." On February 17, 2002, Francis's #23 jersey was honored by Maryland in a ceremony preceding the game against the #1 ranked Duke Blue Devils. Francis sat on the team's bench during the game and cheered as the Terrapins upset the Blue Devils 87–73. On election day 2008, Francis supported presidential candidate Barack Obama by wearing

1113-635: The 1995–96 season . The league should not be confused with the Chinese Basketball Association (organisation) , which was founded in June 1956 and represents the country in matters involving the sport's governing body, FIBA . Basketball in China is currently regulated by the Chinese Basketball Management Center . Other Chinese basketball leagues include the National Basketball League (NBL),

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1166-663: The Allegany College of Maryland in 1997–98. Francis became the first player to take two unbeaten teams into the National Junior College Tournament . In a game for Allegany, Francis recorded a quadruple double against Shawn Marion and Vincennes University . Francis transferred to Maryland in 1998 for his junior season. The addition of Francis helped propel the Terrapins to a #5 preseason ranking. Francis made an instant impact as Maryland's starting shooting guard , scoring 17 points in

1219-573: The Chinese Basketball Association . He was known for his crossover dribble , driving ability, and flashy dunks. He was given the nickname Stevie Franchise . Francis was born and raised in Takoma Park, Maryland . He was nicknamed "Wink" as a child. After his mother (Brenda) died of cancer in 1995, his grandmother became a parent figure to him. He stopped playing basketball after his mother died. His father served 20 years in federal prison for bank robbery. Francis later described his stepfather,

1272-762: The Chinese University Basketball Association (CUBA), and the Chinese High School Basketball League (CHBL). At one time there was a league called the Chinese New Basketball Alliance (CNBA), one of whose most prominent teams was the Beijing Sea Lions, but this venture lasted for just one winter (1996–97). The first non-Chinese player to compete in the CBA was Mihail Savinkov of Uzbekistan , who joined

1325-508: The Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey issued a tweet in support of the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests . Morey's tweet resulted in the Chinese Basketball Association's suspension of its relationship with the Houston Rockets and China Central Television 's removal of all NBA games from its broadcast schedule until further notice. Steve Francis Steven D'Shawn Francis (born February 21, 1977)

1378-710: The National Basketball Association (NBA). Others such as Xue Yuyang and Wang Zhelin were chosen in the draft , but have not played in the NBA. Only a limited number of foreign players are allowed on each CBA team. Notable imports include former NBA All-Stars Stephon Marbury , Tracy McGrady , Gilbert Arenas , Steve Francis , Metta World Peace and Kenyon Martin —as well as several NBA veterans who would become CBA All-Stars— Michael Beasley , Aaron Brooks , Jimmer Fredette , Al Harrington , Lester Hudson , Randolph Morris , Shavlik Randolph , Jeremy Lin and J.R. Smith . The CBA began play in

1431-490: The Portland Trail Blazers for Zach Randolph , Dan Dickau , and Fred Jones ; Portland then bought out the remaining two years of Francis's contract for a reported $ 30 million, making him an unrestricted free agent. The Miami Heat , Dallas Mavericks , Houston Rockets , and the L. A. Clippers pursued Francis. On July 20, he chose the Rockets, signing a two-year $ 6 million contract with them, although

1484-572: The Shandong team switched from Flaming Bulls (1995) to Lions (2003) to Gold Lions (2004) to Golden Stars (2014). Other examples include the Liaoning team dumping Hunters (1995) for Dinosaurs (2008) and then Flying Leopards (2011) -- as well as the Foshan team's evolving attempts to "Anglicize" its nickname—by going from Kylins (2001) to Dralions to Long-Lions . In previous years,

1537-687: The Zhejiang Squirrels in the league's inaugural 1995–96 campaign. During the 1996–97 season, James Hodges became one of the first Americans to play in the CBA, and his signing by the Liaoning Hunters helped pave the way for many more imports from the United States to follow in the ensuing years. Some other notable foreign pioneers included John Spencer , who joined the Jiangsu Dragons later in

1590-678: The 1996–97 campaign, and David Vanterpool , who inked a deal with the Jilin Northeast Tigers the following winter, and helped the team move up to the CBA in time for the 1998–99 season . The CBA's first international coach was American Robert Hoggard, who led the Sichuan Pandas for the last eight games of the 1997–98 campaign. For a full list of teams, see Current clubs section below. Also see Category:Chinese Basketball Association teams . The full name of each team usually consists of three parts, in

1643-440: The CBA does not use these designations for regular season purposes anymore, as each squad now plays each other once at home and once on the road (plus eight additional games within each of the four rotating "strength of schedule" sub-groupings). Divisions are used for the league's annual All-Star Game, however, and are shown here for the sake of convenience. This is a chronological listing of current and former CBA teams according to

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1696-558: The Football Club Sochaux-Montbéliard, one of the founding members of the French League. "This sale to the group whose founding president is Mr. Zhong Naixiong comes in accordance with the agreements previously made with Ledus" and Frankie Yau become president. At the time, the club's newly-appointed Executive Director General Samuel Laurent said Nenking Group chairman Zhong Naixiong wanted to restore

1749-441: The Grizzlies before contentious negotiations and a rude question posed by a ticket counter agent at Vancouver International Airport convinced Francis that he needed to go elsewhere. Francis got his wish, being traded before the 1999–2000 season began to the Houston Rockets in a three-team, 11-player deal that brought Michael Dickerson , Othella Harrington , Antoine Carr and Brent Price , plus first- and second-round picks to

1802-437: The Grizzlies. It was the largest trade in NBA history at that time (in terms of the number of players and picks involved). Though Francis shared Rookie of the Year honors with Elton Brand and finished as runner-up to Vince Carter in the 2000 Slam Dunk Contest , the Rockets finished the season with a 34–48 record. The next season, the Rockets improved to 45–37 but still missed the playoffs. In his third season, Francis

1855-517: The Heat offered the most money. But he failed to make Rick Adelman 's rotation coming out of the preseason. He averaged 5.5 points and 3 assists in ten games before undergoing season-ending surgery stemming from an earlier left quadriceps tendon injury. Francis used his contract option to come back to the Houston Rockets for the 2008–09 NBA season . He lost 15 pounds for training camp, but

1908-537: The NBA's trade deadline, Francis was traded to the New York Knicks for small forward Trevor Ariza and the expiring contract of shooting guard Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway . Prior to the trade, the Nuggets reportedly offered both Watson and Kenyon Martin for Francis, but the deal never took place. He wore jersey #1 with the Knicks as his usual #3 was already assigned to Stephon Marbury . Francis endured

1961-404: The United States and played several NBA Summer League teams during the 2018 NBA Summer League season while the combined Chinese National Team did likewise during the 2019 NBA Summer League season. Listed below are some of the most accomplished foreign imports who have competed in the CBA. Players must appear in at least one game for the team to receive credit for a season. Someone who signs

2014-704: The club's status as a top-tier team in "three or four years". During the 2022/2023 season, the club faced financial difficulties and needed a capital injection from Nenking in order to remain in the French Ligue 2. In July 2023, Nenking announced that they wouldn't inject capital and the DNCG (the organization responsible for monitoring and overseeing the accounts of professional association football clubs in France ) relegated Sochaux to National (French Football 3rd Division) due to their financial problems. The club now faces

2067-478: The final day of the 2018–19 CBA regular season. Listed below are some of the most accomplished Chinese players who have competed in the CBA. Time spent with teams in lower leagues before they joined the CBA, or after they left the CBA, cannot be counted as CBA seasons. Notes will be made of such service below a player's CBA information. Note: The Red Squad of the Chinese National Team toured

2120-654: The following order: The presence of corporate sponsor names can occasionally lead to confusion about what name to use in English because many variants may be seen. Team names are usually abbreviated (in Chinese or English ), so that either the corporate sponsor name or the nickname is used interchangeably (rarely both). In addition, team nicknames can sometimes be translated into English in more than one way, and corporate sponsors tend to change frequently over time. Nickname changes are rare, but occasionally happen, such as when

2173-477: The number of games must reach 28 or more; The comprehensive score of individual technical indicators ranks among the best; The team won the top three in the regular season. At the conclusion of each season, the CBA Finals MVP award is bestowed upon the most outstanding player in that year's championship series. Each campaign's scoring leader is also recognized on an annual basis and the league maintains

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2226-573: The operation was to avoid the bankruptcy of the club and to allow it to return to the French Ligue 2 championship. The club was founded nearly a century ago by French automobile company Peugeot and they won the top division league title in the 1934–35 and 1937–38 seasons, the French League Cup in 2004 and the Coupe de France, the country's premier knockout cup competition, in 2007. The Nenking company sold FC Sochaux on 25 August after causing

2279-763: The season opener against Western Carolina . Francis and the Terps gained national attention with impressive showings in the Puerto Rico Shootout and a 62–60 win over #5 Stanford in the BB&;T Classic. The Terps climbed to a #2 national ranking by early December. The Terrapins finished second in the ACC and Francis was named to the All-ACC first team and the All ACC Tournament team. The Terrapins were

2332-527: The season that they entered the league. Current teams Defunct Teams In 2005, the league unveiled the Mou Zuoyun Cup ( Chinese : 牟作云杯 ), which was awarded for the first time to the winning team in the CBA Finals. Mou Zuoyun (1913–2007) was a member of the Chinese men's national basketball team which competed at the 1936 Summer Olympics , and he later served as a coach and a pioneer in building Chinese basketball. Jonas Kazlauskas This

2385-677: The season. On December 10, 2004, Francis scored 36 points, grabbed 8 rebounds, and recorded 8 assists in a 113–109 win over the Golden State Warriors . In the middle of that season, Mobley was traded to the Sacramento Kings, which upset Francis. The Magic slumped late and missed the playoffs. The following season, in January 2006, a disgruntled Francis was suspended by the Magic for two games for conduct detrimental to

2438-416: The team ranked in the bottom four last season may adopt the policy of four (maximum) foreign players for four quarters and five times per game (full of two times per quarter in the first three quarters and one time per quarter in the last quarter). During the playoffs, all teams will adopt a four-player (maximum) four-period four-times policy for foreign players (maximum of one per period) On October 4, 2019,

2491-492: The team. On February 5, 2006, there were rumors that he could be traded to the Denver Nuggets for Earl Watson but GM Otis Smith publicly announced that he would not trade Francis. Still, rumors persisted that Francis would be traded to the New York Knicks , Los Angeles Lakers , Minnesota Timberwolves , Denver Nuggets or even back to his former team the Houston Rockets . On February 22, 2006, one day before

2544-588: The title of the league itself was available for corporate naming sponsorship. In 1999–2000 and 2000–2001 it was known as the Hilton League , in 2001–2002 and 2002–2003 it was the Motorola League , and in 2003–2004 it was sponsored by China Unicom . These corporate league titles were not always used in the news media, however, and this sponsorship practice was discontinued at the start of the 2004–2005 season. While clubs are listed by division here,

2597-537: Was apparent that the Rockets wanted to go in a different direction. While the coach sought to focus the team's offense on Yao Ming , the Rockets ended up trading Francis, along with his best friend on the team, Cuttino Mobley , as well as Kelvin Cato , for Tracy McGrady , Juwan Howard , Tyronn Lue , and Reece Gaines . During Francis's first tenure in Houston, he averaged 19.3 points, 6.4 assists, 6.1 rebounds, and 1.63 steals in 374 games (372 starts). At first, Francis

2650-464: Was chosen by fans to start the 2002 NBA All-Star Game , but ended up playing only 55 games due to a foot injury and recurring Ménière's -induced migraines . As a result, the Rockets posted a dismal 28–54 record, landing them into the lottery, where they selected 7'6" Chinese center Yao Ming with the first pick in the 2002 NBA Draft. Francis and Yao gelled their first season together, and were selected as 2003 NBA All-Star Game starters. Francis scored

2703-456: Was not able to play in the beginning of the season due to the recovery period of his injury. On December 24, 2008, the Houston Rockets traded Francis back to the team that had originally drafted him, the Grizzlies, except now the team was in Memphis . This trade was for a 2011 conditional draft pick. The move allowed the Rockets to drop under the luxury tax threshold. On January 27, 2009, it

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2756-470: Was reported that Francis was waived by the Grizzlies, without having appeared in a game for them. No other NBA teams expressed an interest in Francis. In November 2010, Francis signed with the Beijing Ducks of China. He averaged 0.5 points and 0.7 rebounds over four games, playing 14 minutes, before leaving the team in late December of the same year to return to the United States. On September 27, 2001,

2809-468: Was unhappy with the trade to Orlando , but he adapted to his new environment. Francis flourished in the run n' gun offense of interim head coach Chris Jent . After posting a career-low 16.6 points per game the previous year with the Rockets, Francis averaged 21.3 points, 5.8 rebounds and 7.0 assists per game in his first season with the Magic. The Magic started out the year fast in the 2004–05 season , with Francis hitting several game-winning shots early in

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