Club representatives from 18 teams and committee members of the CBA met on June 23rd to complete a 2 day board meeting discussing the future of the China Basketball Association. With losses of around 115 million RMB (17 million $) in the 2008-2009 season, stakeholders clearly had alot to talk about.

Last season, in an effort to strengthen the league and garner more attention around Asia and the rest of the world, the CBA made some major changes. Games were increased from a total of 200 to 450, the limit of foreign players allowed was increased from one to two, and a more competitive style of basketball was encouraged to ‘toughen up’ the Chinese players.

The results have not been effective and costs of running a team have spiraled out of control to the point where some owners can no longer afford their teams. Several days ago the Honghe Running Bulls announced that they were up for sale. Furthermore, under these new rules major brawls have broken out, injuries have increased significantly, and foreign players such as the mighty Bonzi Wells have been so dominant that only one Chinese player took place among the top 20 scorers in the league (former Dallas Maverick Zhang Yiyi at 18th place).

The board meeting to resolve these issues consisted of an agenda around 3 main topics. The first issue was a slight change in management whereby CBA Director Xin Lancheng replaced Li Yuanwei to become league tournament board member. The second issue revolved around new rule changes including discussions of cutting back on the amount of foreigners and shortening the length of the season. The final issue was around the admittance plan which would shut doors to new teams joining  by the year 2012, which particularly affects hopeful teams from China’s second rate league, the NBL.

The CBA’s expansion and growth plans unfortunately came at a bad time. Tough economic times has even hit the most successful basketball league in the world, the National Basketball Association in the United States. The NBA, which the CBA has long tried to emulate, has also received its fair share of warning signals in recent months. The 2008-2009 season witnessed many unexpected money saving trades and some team owners have even gone to unexpected lengths to secure their multi-million dollar investments.  The Charlotte Bobcats have been put up for sale and the Cavaliers have accepted foreign investment from China as part of a minor ownership. Their is serious talks that the 2010-2011 season could see a lockout and would be the only thing stopping the hemorrhaging of money that team owners are desperate to stop.

This all doesn’t bode well for NBA China, the NBA’s expansion project in China. The goal was to move out to a largely untapped market such as China to counter the impact of a saturated and no longer prosperous market back in the US. But it seems it will be a tougher than expected challenge to revitalize the Chinese Basketball Association. Looking at it from another angle, this could very well be the window of opportunity for NBA China to really step up their plans. With the CBA in such trouble and the genuine possibility of a lockout back at home – this gives the NBA a real opportunity to put in the ground work for a future league in China. The CBA obviously needs the NBA’s help to get anywhere, and the NBA now has more incentive than ever to capitalize on their plan. Cooperation from Chinese authorities and Chinese basketball stakeholders would be at an all time high to partner up more closely with the NBA.

Currently however, China’s basketball talent is nowhere close to ready for a full fledged NBA level league – and this is the main reason why the CBA suffers as it does today. More professional arenas, better cheerleaders, and a couple of foreign NBA players here and there – while being a big step in the right direction – won’t be enough to single-handedly turn the CBA on its head.  Competitive, skilled, and exciting Chinese players will truly be the main driving force behind any basketball league in China.

While the success of any basketball league in China is uncertain on a short-term outlook – it is still a no-brainer when we look at the long term. Barring a long lockout, the NBA’s next 5 years are already in the bank with assets such as Yao Ming, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, as well as several promising Chinese players such as Sun Yue and Yi Jianlian in the mix. Interest and growth of popularity in the sport will only increase.

Now, hopefully a proffesional Chinese basketball league manages to stay alive until the day of competitive Chinese basketball truely arrives.