Yao Ming tipped to be next CBA head: report

Choosing Yao would help professionalize basketball in China

China's top sports authorities will reportedly nominate former NBA All-Star Yao Ming as chairman of the State-owned China Basketball Association (CBA), eight months after Yao's efforts to professionalize the sport's management were foiled.

Basketball Pioneer, a Guangzhou-based bi-weekly newspaper, said the General Administration of Sport (GAS) has issued a 10-point guideline on the development of Chinese basketball, including recommending the appointment of Yao as CBA chairman and head coach of the national team.

The report said GAS aims to hasten reforms and authorize the sports rights to league teams. The report added no GAS employee is allowed to hold a position in the CBA.

GAS' Basketball Management Center, which oversees the sport, will reportedly be dissolved, with some of its staff transferred to the Chinese Olympic Committee.

GAS is also urging tighter management of foreign players in CBA games, construction of better stadiums, training of more Chinese players at renowned overseas clubs and strengthening of anti-doping efforts.

The news could not be immediately confirmed on Monday. GAS could not be reached on Monday, a national holiday in China.

Analysts described many of the measures listed in the guideline as "ambitious moves" toward privatization and professionalization of the basketball game in China. They said that the closure of the Basketball Management Center under GAS, if true, would change the nature of the operation of the CBA from a public entity to a private one.

However, analysts also saw the measures as "a bit abrupt" and questioned the reliability of the report.

"Yao Ming is no doubt the most successful basketball player China has to offer, but serving as the chairman of the State-owned CBA requires a different set of skills and experience. It's a career path within the political system, for which Yao may not be the best candidate," Zhao Jisheng, a professor with the College of Physical Education and Sports at Beijing Normal University, told the Global Times on Monday.

Privatization efforts

Last year, Yao formed a corporation with the backing of 18 out of the 20 CBA clubs, aiming to reform China's basketball in the image of the NBA by giving each team more say in the business.

After months of difficult negotiations, his effort was foiled as the CBA formed its own version of a "private" corporation, with the CBA holding a 30 percent share and each of the 20 clubs a 3.5 percent share, to guarantee the CBA's control over the entity.

Although Yao's efforts had limited success, some observers said the creation of his corporation has at least forced the country's sports authorities to take a small step toward privatization.

"If the news of GAS' 10-point guideline is true, it would be a drastic turn from what happened last year. GAS is mulling reforms of the basketball game but it's still unusual to see such an abrupt change of mind," an expert, who requested anonymity, told the Global Times.

The expert also said it is "unforeseen for GAS to appoint the same person to head both the CBA and the national basketball team."

"Both jobs demand a lot of time. It would be a challenge for even a superstar like Yao to maintain a balance between the two," the expert said.

Unlike the NBA, where teams retain most of the sponsorship money, CBA clubs must turn over their revenues to the league. The business structure has prevented teams from developing better players, improving the fan experience or attracting more promising international figures.

Chinese basketball players also get lower salaries compared with their counterparts in other countries, which in turn affects their motivation.

Chinese men's basketball team lost all five games during Rio Olympics 2016.

Gong Luming, 59, head coach of China's men's basketball team, earns a monthly salary of 7,000 yuan ($1,014), news portal sports.qq.com reported. His payment looks almost humiliating in front of Marcello Lippi, China's national soccer team coach, who reportedly enjoys 18 million euros ($18.8 million) in payment per year.