bladefd
03-12-2020, 08:34 PM
As sporting leagues around the world grapple with how to respond to the coronavirus outbreak, the Chinese Basketball Association has told American players to plan to return as early as this weekend and prepare for the league to resume in early April. But it's not clear if the players will comply.
Approximately 40 Americans -- including former NBA players Jeremy Lin, Lance Stephenson, Tyler Hansbrough and Ty Lawson -- are under contract with the 20 teams that make up the Chinese Basketball Association. Most foreign players were sent home over the Lunar New Year holiday in late January, with instructions to prepare to return in mid- to late February.
As positive signs have emerged in China in recent weeks regarding containment of the virus, CBA team officials are discussing several formats for how to resume play, sources told ESPN, including hosting all 20 teams in one or two cities and playing a truncated regular season and playoff schedule, without fans.
Conversations with players and representatives for around half of the Americans in the league revealed a significant amount of trepidation for how to proceed, with many players flatly stating at the moment that they do not plan on getting on a plane to China anytime in the near future due to safety concerns, at least not without significantly more information in hand.
Some agents said, however, that CBA teams that their clients play for have said that if the players don't return they could be banned from the league for life and agents could lose their licences there for two to three seasons.https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/28884113/chinese-league-calls-americans-back-play
Banned for life from CBA for not returning to China.. I guess you reap what you sow when you sign a contract with a communist country & their state-run league..
Approximately 40 Americans -- including former NBA players Jeremy Lin, Lance Stephenson, Tyler Hansbrough and Ty Lawson -- are under contract with the 20 teams that make up the Chinese Basketball Association. Most foreign players were sent home over the Lunar New Year holiday in late January, with instructions to prepare to return in mid- to late February.
As positive signs have emerged in China in recent weeks regarding containment of the virus, CBA team officials are discussing several formats for how to resume play, sources told ESPN, including hosting all 20 teams in one or two cities and playing a truncated regular season and playoff schedule, without fans.
Conversations with players and representatives for around half of the Americans in the league revealed a significant amount of trepidation for how to proceed, with many players flatly stating at the moment that they do not plan on getting on a plane to China anytime in the near future due to safety concerns, at least not without significantly more information in hand.
Some agents said, however, that CBA teams that their clients play for have said that if the players don't return they could be banned from the league for life and agents could lose their licences there for two to three seasons.https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/28884113/chinese-league-calls-americans-back-play
Banned for life from CBA for not returning to China.. I guess you reap what you sow when you sign a contract with a communist country & their state-run league..