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Chinese Star Could Join Mavericks for Late-season NBA Run
Chinese center Wang Zhi Zhi could become the first Asian player in the National Basketball Association's Dallas Mavericks next week, possibly in time for a showdown against Shaquille O'Neal in Los Angeles.
Chinese officials have told the Mavericks that 7-foot-1 Wang would be made available to play for Dallas following the six-year-old Chinese league's playoffs. The Mavericks selected Wang in the 1999 NBA Draft.
Wang, 24, had 28 points and 12 rebounds for the Bayi Rockets in a 131-122 victory over the Shanghai Sharks to give the five-time defending champions a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series that could end Sunday.
Wang would have to obtain a US visa, applied for through the Chinese Defense Ministry since he is a soldier technically as a member of the Army-run Rockets, who have won every Chinese league crown.
"He's very talented, and we're very high on him," said Nelson, the Mavericks director of player personnel and the son of Dallas coach Don Nelson.
Should the paperwork and logistics be solved in time, Wang might be available when the Mavericks visit the Lakers on March 30, the middle match in a five-game road swing.
One reported stipulation for Wang to play is that Dallas must qualify for the NBA playoffs. The Mavericks currently have a five-game cushion and could have all-but sealed a spot by the end of the month barring a collapse.
Another figures to be the language barrier. Wang's English might not be ready to be tested in the heat of NBA competition.
Wang would join a Mavericks team that at 43-23 has won six games in a row and is on the verge of rivaling long-dominant clubs such as Utah, San Antonio and the reigning chmpion Los Angeles Lakers for a first-round home-court edge.
The Mavericks are already among the most international teams in the NBA with Germany's Dirk Nowitzki and Canadian guard Steve Nash. Assistant coach Donnie Nelson was an assistant on Lithuania's impressive Olympic bronze medal squad.
Juwan Howard has contributed 16.5 points and 7.6 rebounds since arriving from Washington in a trade. Nowitzki averages 22 points, Michael Finley averages 21 and Nash adds 16.6 for a team on its best run since 1995.
The team is owned by outspoken and controversial Mark Cuban, an Internet billionaire who has set records for being fined by the NBA after speaking out against officials and once going onto the court to protest a call.
With the Mavericks battling for playoff position, every game will be crucial. But Nelson does not expect Wang to be part of the Mavericks' playoff plans.
"He really doesn't enter into playoff thinking," Nelson said. "That's way too much to ask of any player, not to mention a rookie from China that needs to learn the NBA ropes.
"But, that being said, if he shows up on our doorstep and (coach Nelson) thinks he can help us immediately -- believe me when I say if a guy is able to help us in the playoffs then we're wide open."
The late-season move of bringing Wang onto the squad would be a first step toward bringing China's talented players onto the global NBA stage. The next to come could be Shanghai star center Yao Ming.
Both Yao and Wang were on the Chinese Olympic team's "Great Wall" and earned praise from the US squad of NBA players.
Source: chinadaily.com.cn
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