Shifting power in league

With young guns muscling their way into the spotlight, the start of the 2022-23 CBA season has witnessed a power shift as the domestic game's future once again looks bright.

During the regular season's first phase which was played in bio-secure bubbles in Hangzhou in October, four teams that fell out of the top-12 playoff cut last year had all cracked the top eight — bolstered by surging young talent — and overthrown some of the league's perennial powerhouses.

Among the surprises, last year's bottom team the Nanjing Monkey Kings and crosstown underachiever the Jiangsu Dragons, who finished third to last, have both impressed with their newfound swagger giving them the momentum to rank fifth and sixth, respectively, after the first phase.

Nanjing's rookie guard Wang Lanqin, a talent developed in China's collegiate system and who was selected as the top pick by the club in last year's CBA Draft, has emerged as one of the league's standout performers during the opening stretch of the season.

A once towering presence for Tsinghua University, Wang's composure and efficiency for the Monkey Kings have silenced doubts over whether his college-honed game would be able to cope with the physicality and intensity of the professional stage.

So far, the 24-year-old has averaged 12.2 points, 4.3 assists and 1.8 steals in 16 games, with fans beginning to believe that the early-season momentum won't be a flash in the pan.

"I think one of the biggest takeaways for this season's CBA league so far is the development of young talent," said Yao, who has been cooperating with the country's educational authority to encourage more college players to ply their trade in the pro system.

"The smooth transition of some of the college players into the professional league will help expand the league's talent search in the future."

In a move to promote basketball culture, the CBA established its own Basketball Hall of Fame system last year. After nomination, election and final review, nine inductees across three categories entered the China Basketball Hall of Fame, with 15 tenured inductees and a collective comprising the "outstanding new China basketball 50".

"We need to know where we came from, who we are and where we are going in the future," said Yao, who was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016.

sunxiaochen@chinadaily.com.cn