China wants more guarantees on Yao Ming after Wang Zhizhi crisis
Robert J. Saiget, Agence France-Presse, Beijing
Chinese center Wang Zhizhi's refusal to obey his country's basketball authorities will likely further complicate efforts by the Houston Rockets to sign NBA top draft pick Yao Ming, a Chinese basketball insider said Wednesday.
Wang's refusal to train with the national team and commit to play in this week's World Basketball Championships and September's Asian Games has pushed the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) to up the ante on Yao's release to the NBA, the source told AFP.
"The CBA surely is going to want Yao Ming to sign a direct agreement with them that he will unconditionally return to national team duty when called upon," the well-placed source said, on condition of anonymity.
CBA spokesman Xu Minfeng refused to comment Wednesday on Yao's release to the NBA.
The Rockets have been eager to sign the 2.26 meter (7ft 5in) center -- the first non-American chosen as number one NBA draft pick -- immediately after the world championships to a four-year, 15 million dollar contract, but need CBA approval.
The CBA had an agreement with the Dallas Mavericks for the return of Wang at the end of last season, but the player, now a restricted NBA free agent, chose to hone his skills in an NBA summer league in hopes of landing a better contract.
Neither the CBA nor the Mavericks had a specific written agreement with Wang on his return to China.
Reports had speculated that Wang was planning to defect from China, a notion that he adamantly rejected.
Despite his desire to participate in the World Championships that begin Thursday in Indianapolis, Wang refused last week to sign an agreement with the CBA guaranteeing that he would also play at the Asian Games in South Korea, the CBA said.
His refusal led to his ban from the national team, announced Tuesday.
Wang, 25, reportedly wants to attend an NBA training camp and the NBA pre-season, an undertaking that would conflict with the Asian Games, where China remains the dominant basketball power.
The decision marked an abrupt turnaround by China's basketball authorities, who just last week appeared desperate to welcome the 2.15 meter (7ft 1in) star back to join his fellow "Walking Great Wall" centers Denver Nugget Mengke Bateer and Yao.
The Sina.com website said on its sports pages Wednesday that it was unlikely the Denver Nuggets would place Batere back on their roster this year because he would be unavailable for training camp and the NBA pre-season due to the Asian Games.
Meanwhile, Wang was being termed a "traitor" by much of China's state press for his refusal to place the needs of the national team above his personal interests.
Only the influential Titan Sports appeared to support Wang, calling the decsion a "lose, lose, lose" situation.
"The CBA loses because it doesn't really appear happy with the decision, the fans lose because they won't get to watch China's best players and Wang Zhizhi loses because NBA teams were hoping to watch him perform in Indianapolis," the paper said.
Beijing's Star Daily also lamented the loss of Wang and hinted that the CBA's decision to keep him off the national team could eventually lead Wang to defect from China.
"As Wang Zhizhi is absolutely embroiled in his bitter hopes to stay in the NBA, the stories of betrayal and evasion have appeared over and over," the paper said.
"Now it seems that his choice to chase his dreams through betrayal and evasion have come back to haunt those same dreams.
"All that we can hope for is that this story of betrayal and evasion will come to an early end."