Youth development

For Wang and many others, the presence of the Southern Tigers is the source of Dongguan's basketball talent production line.

After retiring, many players stay in the city and return to grassroots communities as coaches. The professional and amateur scenes feed off each other.

Much of this ecosystem can be traced back to Li Qun, principal of Dongguan Basketball School. Originally from Heilongjiang province, Li joined the Southern Tigers as a player in 1995 and became head coach in 2006. He eventually shifted his focus to youth development, founding the school in 2011 to train players aged 12 to 17.

"Children start receiving systematic, high-level training from a very young age," he said. "Our goal has always been to develop professional players."

The school has sent athletes to the national team, the CBA, the CUBAL, the National Collegiate Athletic Association in the US, Australia's National Basketball League and beyond — including Cui Yongxi, former CBA No 1 pick Ou Junxuan, and several current CBA players.

In September, Cui became the seventh Chinese player to appear in an NBA regular-season game when he debuted for the Brooklyn Nets. After an injury in December, he returned to China in August to join the Southern Tigers.

Registered with Guangdong's U22 team for the National Games, he stayed behind to rehab — splitting his time between team practices and strength sessions at his old school in Dongguan.

"My muscle size and strength are back to about 90 percent, but my nerve reflexes and explosiveness are around 70 to 80 percent," he said. "Of course I want to return to the court as soon as possible, but I have to wait until all the test results are clear."

Cui first arrived at the school in 2015 as a 12-year-old from the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. "It was my first time away from home. At first, I felt free — training and living with other students was tiring but fun."

Li remembers persuading Cui's parents to send him to Dongguan. He still takes Cui to the United States annually for specialized training. "Even if they're already national team players, they must continue improving to build better careers," Li said.

For Li, his own childhood dream was just competing at the National Games. And when Cui appeared in the NBA last year, Li watched almost every game.

"The most important thing is that he's given hope to Chinese kids — showing that even without the physical gifts of Yao Ming or Yi Jianlian, you can still reach the world's biggest stage. You can make up for less-ideal physical attributes through effort and truly meet the NBA standard. That message is crucial."