Wang Zhizhi

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Wang.

Wang Zhizhi
王治郅

No. 14 – Bayi Rockets
Position	Center
League	Chinese Basketball Association
Personal information
Born	(1977-07-08) 8 July 1977 Beijing, China
Nationality	Chinese
Listed height
Listed weight	243 lb (110 kg)
Career information
NBA draft	1999 / Round: 2 / Pick: 36th overall
Selected by the Dallas Mavericks
Playing career	1995–present
Career history
1995–2001	Bayi Rockets
2001–2002	Dallas Mavericks
2002–2003	Los Angeles Clippers
2003–2005	Miami Heat
2006–present	Bayi Rockets
Medals Men's Basketball Representing China FIBA Asia Championship 1997 Riyadh Men's basketball 1999 Fukuoka Men's basketball 2009 Tianjin Men's basketball 2011 Wuhan Men's basketball Asian Games 1998 Bangkok Men's basketball 2006 Doha Men's basketball 2010 Guangzhou Men's basketball

Wang Zhizhi
Chinese	王治郅
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Wáng Zhìzhì Wade–Giles Wang Chih chih

Wang Zhizhi (Chinese: 王治郅; pinyin: Wáng Zhìzhì) is a Chinese professional basketball player who currently plays for Bayi Rockets in the Chinese Basketball Association. He also played in the National Basketball Association for Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Clippers, and Miami Heat.

CBA career

Wang Zhizhi signed his first professional contract with Chinese Basketball Association side Bayi Rockets in 1994. When the Chinese Basketball Association first started in 1995, Wang was one of the youngest players to play in the league. Nevertheless, he soon became a starter in the star-studded team. From 1995 to his departure for the National Basketball Association in 2001, Wang and the import-less Bayi Rockets won all of the CBA championships, however, Bayi's dynasty was upended by Yao Ming and the Shanghai Sharks as soon as Wang left for the National Basketball Association. After the 2004–05 season, Wang returned to China and rejoined the Bayi Rockets in the Chinese Basketball Association. In March 2007, he guided Bayi to win the CBA championship for the seventh time in the team's history over the Guangdong Southern Tigers and was named the most valuable player of the series. Wang announced his retirement at the end of the 2013–14 season; however, he came out of retirement the following season to help Bayi after the team went 0-7 in the their first seven matches.

NBA career

To the surprise of almost all Chinese basketball officials and reporters, the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association selected Wang with the 36th pick in the second round of the 1999 NBA Draft. Dallas were the only team that got hold of Wang's official documents with an authentic date of birth, thanks to his agent Xia Song who was in Dallas on draft night. Unprepared and confused, the Bayi Rockets refused to allow their only center to leave for the National Basketball Association, at least immediately.

After long periods of negotiations, Wang was finally let go by his team and the Chinese basketball officials to pursue his NBA dream, two years after he was drafted. He became the first ever Chinese player to play in the National Basketball Association. Wang arrived in Dallas after winning his last CBA championship title when there were less than ten games left in the 2000–01 season. Despite some adjustment difficulties, Wang managed well by averaging 4.8 points per game and 1.4 rebounds per game, making the team's playoff roster. Two days after Dallas were eliminated from the playoffs, Wang hurried back to China to play in the 2001 East Asian Games according to an agreement formed between the Chinese authorities and the Dallas Mavericks. However, Wang still had one obligation to fulfill before being allowed to return to the National Basketball Association. His former club Bayi requested that he stay in China to play in the 2001 National Games in November 2001. Wang returned to Dallas after barely defeating Yao Ming's Shanghai team by one point in the final, but he found that he had a lot of catching up to do as other players already had two months of preparation and training.

Wang's contract with Dallas expired after the 2001–02 season. With his future up in the air, he decided that he would spend the summer in the United States, rather than returning to China for training, as the Dallas Mavericks had promised the Chinese basketball officials. Wang fired his agent Xia Song when the latter suggested otherwise, and following the advice of his American-born Chinese friend Simon Chan, moved to Los Angeles without telling either Dallas or his Chinese side about his intentions. During his stay, Chinese basketball officials faxed two letters to him urging him to return to China as soon as possible to train with the Chinese national basketball team. A major blow to all parties involved was an article by Jodie Valade that appeared in The Dallas Morning News which hinted that Wang, who had not yet stated his intentions, might consider defecting to the United States. China sent two military officials who had known Wang very well to go to the United States for a final negotiation. During a press conference, Wang stressed that the relationship between him and the Chinese was like one between "a son and a mother", and the conflict was all but misunderstanding. He was ultimately dismissed from the Chinese national team for failing to return to China for practice in 2002.

Wang signed for the Los Angeles Clippers in 2002 and after a season with them, he was placed on waivers. The Miami Heat decided to sign Wang to a multi-year contract after picking him up. He became a free agent at the end of the 2005 season after playing for two seasons with Miami.

International career

Wang became the first ever Chinese player to be invited to play for the international squad against the best American high school players in the prestigious Nike Hoop Summit. He started the match and scored six points and six rebounds. He was then offered a basketball scholarship from John Thompson to play for Georgetown University. Wang was included in the Chinese national basketball team for the 1996 Summer Olympics, where he averaged 11.1 points per game and 5.6 rebounds per game, helping the team to finish as 8th place overall. After leading the Chinese national team to the 1999 FIBA Asia Championship title, Wang again starred for China in the 2000 Summer Olympics, averaging 13.5 points per game and 5.0 rebounds per game.

On 10 April 2006, following weeks of rumors from the Chinese media, Wang returned to China from the National Basketball Association after being expelled from the national team for four years due to conflicts with Chinese officials. He publicly apologized for his past mistakes and stated that he wanted to represent his national team in the 2006 FIBA World Championship as well as the 2008 Summer Olympics. Over a period of four weeks in the lead-up to the 2006 FIBA World Championship, He was a significant contributor to the Chinese national team in the absence of injured Houston Rockets player Yao Ming, scoring 4.3 points per game and 2.6 rebounds per game in eight matches before suffering a torn ligament during a friendly against France in July 2006. Wang recovered in time to play in the tournament and averaged 8.2 points per game and 3.5 rebounds per game.

Career statistics

CBA statistics

Year	Team	GP	RPG	APG	FG%	FT%	PPG
1995–96	Bayi	26	6.8	0.3	.647	.813	14.9
1996–97	Bayi	26	7.3	1.0	.554	.825	16.5
1997–98	Bayi	29	8.8	0.9	.590	.678	21.8
1998–99	Bayi	30	7.8	0.8	.581	.773	25.0
1999–00	Bayi	30	10.0	0.8	.557	.832	27.0
2000–01	Bayi	31	11.7	1.7	.594	.761	26.3
2006–07	Bayi	39	10.2	2.3	.590	.823	26.8
2007–08	Bayi	32	9.0	2.2	.525	.875	26.2
2008–09	Bayi	34	7.6	2.0	.553	.839	22.0
2009–10	Bayi	34	10.2	1.6	.470	.769	22.2
2010–11	Bayi	34	8.7	2.4	.547	.855	18.6
2011–12	Bayi	31	6.3	1.8	.513	.832	18.1
2012–13	Bayi	32	7.2	1.7	.515	.895	20.8
2013–14	Bayi	34	6.0	1.4	.501	.887	16.9
2014–15	Bayi	2	4.0	3.0	.529	.833	12.0
Career		444	8.1	1.6	.551	.819	21.0

NBA statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2000–01	Dallas	5	0	7.6	.421	.000	.800	1.4	0.0	0.0	0.0	4.8
2001–02	Dallas	55	0	10.9	.440	.414	.737	2.0	0.4	0.2	0.2	5.6
2002–03	Los Angeles	41	1	10.0	.383	.348	.724	1.9	0.2	0.2	0.2	4.4
2003–04	Miami	16	0	7.1	.370	.286	.900	1.1	0.1	0.2	0.3	3.0
2004–05	Miami	19	0	4.8	.472	.667	.583	1.0	0.3	0.2	0.1	2.3
Career		136	1	9.2	.417	.387	.735	1.7	0.3	0.2	0.2	4.0

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2001	Dallas	5	0	4.6	.375	.500	1.000	0.4	0.2	0.2	0.2	2.0
2002	Dallas	8	0	5.5	.438	.500	.500	1.0	0.4	0.0	0.1	2.5
2004	Miami	3	0	2.3	.000	.000	.000	0.0	0.3	0.0	0.0	0.0
Career		16	0	4.6	.417	.500	.667	0.7	0.3	0.2	0.1	1.9

External links

• Expelled star Wang makes humble return to China (Washington Post)
• Stats at Basketball-reference.com
• Wang wants spot on Chinese National Team (ESPN.com)
• Player profile at www.Asia-Basket.com