Ten players going abroad! Chinese men's basketball has finally stepped out!

Since I started watching basketball, the media and fans have frequently talked about two phrases: "playing overseas" and "closed-door creation."

Most of the time, these are just empty slogans.

After all, who doesn't prefer a job with higher pay, less hassle, and close to home?

Going abroad is a two-way process; you need both the willingness to go and the demand from the other side.

Often, the players themselves don't have the final say.

......

In summary, for many reasons, overseas stints couldn't develop into a sizable trend.

At this Asia Cup, 20-year-old Wang Junjie is the only player in over two decades who bypassed traditional youth training and the CBA, moving directly from campus basketball to the men's national team roster.

His impressive performance deeply moved everyone and once again showed us the significance of going abroad.

No need to elaborate further on that.

Today, let's discuss a bigger phenomenon:

In 2025, China's basketball sees an unprecedented "overseas contingent."

Previously, Chinese basketball players going abroad mostly had one path: the NBA.

But now, there are more options.

1. NBA/Development League

Yang Hansen: Selected 16th overall in the first round of the 2025 NBA draft by the Trail Blazers with a four-year rookie contract.

Zeng Fanbo: Signed with the Brooklyn Nets on an Exhibit 10 contract.

Lin Wei: After going undrafted in the NBA, joined the Texas Legends in the Development League. (There are also reports he may play in the NCAA; in any case, he likely won't return to Nanjing Tongxi next season.)

2. European Professional Leagues

Yu Jiahao: Gave up a million-yuan salary in the CBA to join Bilbao in Spain's top division with a monthly salary of 2000 euros, likely to play in the second division next season.

3. NCAA

Wang Junjie (University of San Francisco), Zhao Weilen(University of San Francisco),Dan Houran(Seattle University)

Youth national team interior player Xun Sinan received an offer from Purdue University, a top NCAA Division 1 basketball school.

Mixed-race player Zhu Zheng received an offer from Colorado StateUniversity

......

Counting Cui Yongxi, who hasn't finalized a team yet, and Zhang Boyuan, who is likely to play in the US, there are at least 10 Chinese male basketball players playing in Europe and America, breaking the previous pattern of sporadic overseas presence.

This phenomenon not only reflects individual players' courage to break out of their comfort zones but also signifies a shift in basketball talent development models.

From a social perspective, people are increasingly realizing:Not every era has a Yao Ming or Yi Jianlian, and success doesn't only mean making it to the NBA.

Young players must bravely follow their own paths.

In 2025, China's overseas basketball contingent showscharacteristics of being collective, multi-tiered, cross-gender (women's players Li Yue Ru in the WNBA, Deng Yuting in the NCAA), and spanning different age groups.

This is a very promising start.

Only by forming a tiered overseas ecosystem can progress be made.

A prime example is the rise of Japanese football.

Don't just focus on stars like the three football kings or Wataru Endo; their overseas distribution continues a "multi-league penetration" strategy,and even England's third-tier league champion teams have Japanese players.

Behind their top league stars lies an army of 450 players overseas.

Back to basketball.

It's already 2025, and one thing we must admit is,the domestic league's ability to develop talent is currently limited.

Imagine one day the Chinese men's national basketball team training camp includes 3 NBA players, 5 NCAA players, and 2 European league players, all gathering at the airport and taking the same bus to the Sports Administration—wouldn't that be a beautiful scene?

Look at the World Cup teams; don't they all have NBA or high-level European league players?

Other countries' guards come from Oregon, California, Utah, Texas... even traditional strong teams like Spain and Greece naturalize American guards.

What about us? Zhengzhou, Lanzhou, Hangzhou, Fuzhou, Guangzhou... our capabilities just don't match up.

Honestly admitting this is no shame.

It's like table tennis or diving—foreigners come to China to train if they want to improve.

If your land is barren and you can't change that salty soil, what you need to think about is: can I use someone else's land first to feed myself?

What does going abroad change?

Regarding the trend of Chinese basketball players going abroad, the hope is:Through individual breakthroughs like Yang Hansen, Wang Junjie, and Zeng Fanbo, by becoming stronger, they can drive systemic cognitive evolution.

Yao Ming foresaw this:

"Seeing the rapid development of world basketball, we feel a sense of urgency, almost like a shift from 'cold weapons' to 'hot weapons.' Without awareness and understanding of this, we will fall further behind."

The simplest truth is, only by being in that environment can you understand how the most advanced basketball is played and have a chance to improve.

For Chinese men's basketball, Cui Yongxi is one of the pioneers and trailblazers on this path.

Why was Wang Junjie so composed at this Asia Cup?

Because the games he played in the US were valuable.

Writing this, I recall a piece of Chinese history.

A little history quiz for students watching the screen: In the semi-colonial, semi-feudal society, what was the most profound significance and impact of the New Culture Movement?

The answer is four characters:Emancipation of thought.

At first, wasn't it some enlightened people who initiated the ideologicaland culturalrevolution?

Basketball and football are highly socialized sports, so one thing I have always believed is:

Many problems exposed by major ball sports and many detours taken can find answers in history.

I hope they can become the "enlightened ones" of Chinese basketball.

I also hope the Chinese Basketball Association further improves the domestic and international coordination mechanisms from an organizational perspective.

How to upgrade going abroad from an individual act to a systematic talent strategy? How to manage and serve this group well? This will be a major challenge in the future.

Going out is an exploration; there is no failure.