Chinese Basketball Association Won’t Let Locked Out NBA Players in


As expected, the CBA has elected not to allow NBA ballers to temporarily play in China during the lockout. From Niubball (via Sina Sports): “For the last two months, a long list of out-of-work NBA players have been looking across the Pacific Ocean towards China as a possible lockout destination. And after two months of silence, the Chinese Basketball Association finally sent back a message to all of those players. Look somewhere else. According to Sina Sports, the CBA has passed two rules that will kill any chance of an NBA superstar from playing in China this season. First, any player with an active NBA contract will not be allowed to sign with a CBA team. Second, players who do sign with a CBA team will not be able to include an opt-out clause that would allow them to go back to the NBA whenever the lockout ends. Though the league’s decision on opt-out clauses was expected, the rule barring players currently under contract comes as more of a surprise. Sources speaking to NiuBBall said that the rule had gained momentum in the last couple of weeks due to an increasing belief from the CBA that teams were not going to be fazed by the league’s ruling on out-clauses, and that they were going to to find other ways bring superstars to China.”