体坛英语资讯：Yearender: The year of Yao in Chinese basketball_娱乐

体坛英语资讯：Yearender: The year of Yao in Chinese basketball

In part of a bigger reform triggered in China's sports system, professionals, like Yao Ming and Jenny Lang Ping, began to play important roles in sports associations. Take basketball as an example, where the reform saw the tasks of an administrative center of basketball, a sub-division of the State General Administration of Sports, transferred to the CBA, which means the association will take on full responsibility for governing the sport in China. When the transition is completed, the association will be responsible for the management of national teams, leagues, youth development as well as the development of basketball in society.

"This is a great step on the road to reforming Chinese basketball. Meanwhile, we must realize that we still have a long way to go," said Yao.

As for the national teams, the long road started with a small but significant change, as every potential national team member now receives an invitation letter rather than a compulsory notification. They can choose to join the team immediately or stick to a personal schedule first such as playing in the NBA summer league or getting married. This change reflects an environment where respected, allowing players like Ding Yanyuhang and Zhou Qi have a better chance to dream big. Neither Yao nor Wang Zhizhi enjoyed this kind of privilege in their career.

Just as he played in the paint for Houston, Yao was literally everywhere in the CBA. He could show up at the CBA press conference held in Beijing in the morning, talking in a meeting with China's basketball journalists in the afternoon before going to a night state banquet focused on building international cooperation. After the next day he is already sitting at a summit in Shanghai answering questions. His personal life is not the only thing Yao has given up, he also sold his share of CBA's Shanghai side, the team he played for before he went to NBA in 2002. He waived the controlling shareholder role of a single team to see the big picture of the whole CBA league.