According to Fox 26's Mark Berman (NOT MarC Berman from the NY Post), the Rockets do not have the CBA release they said they need, however, Erick Zhang said that they are still confident they can get the release including a signed agreement with the Sharks by the time of the draft. He said there is a hangup within the CBA that he was "not at liberty to discuss." Will draft Yao if they get clearance from FIBA but FIBA cannot give clearance until the CBA gives their release of Yao. Not too much new, but something.
The report didn't seem overly negative. I think I am going back and reading Doc's post again to feel better. Anyone else notice that the Astros equipment manager got away with saying "bullsh*t" in his interview? Nice.
Ok, I think I found the reason Ming has not been released as of yet. If this has already posted somewhere, I apologize> CBA Suggests Written Agreement on National Duty for NBA Team to Get Yao Ming -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Xinhuanet 2002-06-24 22:23:14 ¡¡¡¡BEIJING, June 24 (Xinhuanet) -- The Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) suggested on Monday that any National Basketball Association(NBA) team to draft Chinese star center Yao Ming play with them should make a written agreement on his national duties with the CBA. ¡¡¡¡"The Houston Rockets had friendly and effective communications with us but no written agreement has been made on Yao's national duties," CBA secretary general Xin Lancheng told Xinhua on Monday. ¡¡¡¡A delegation from the Rockets, who were expected to pick the 7-foot-5 (2.26-meter) Yao from the Shanghai Sharks with their first pick right in the NBA Draft scheduled for June 26 at Madison Garden Square, New York, visited China early this month to hold meetings with the CBA and the Sharks. ¡¡¡¡"We want to make sure that Yao will be available to play with the national team when he is needed in the future," Xin said. ¡¡¡¡The Discussions between the CBA and the Rockets on Yao's national duties have been interrupted due to the NBA team's preparation for the draft, according to Xin. ¡¡¡¡"They rarely contacted us most recently because of their preparation for the draft," he said. "It's hard to predict how long it will take to get things done." ¡¡¡¡The CBA has always stressed that they held an positive and cautious attitude towards Chinese players' export to the NBA and vowed to protect the interests of the players and the country. ¡¡¡¡"They have to guarantee that Chinese players will be physicallyand mentally healthy," Xin Lancheng told Xinhua in an interview early this month. "At the same time, our players should be able toplay for their own country when they are needed." ¡¡¡¡China's Wang Zhizhi and Mengke Bateer played for the Dallas Mavericks and the Denver Nuggets, respectively, in the last season. ¡¡¡¡Yao's representative Eric Zhang said on Saturday that he had reached "Agreements in Principle" on how they would compensate theShanghai Sharks if any NBA team pick him in the draft later this week. However, Yao still needs to get "Yes" from the CBA to play in the NBA. ¡¡¡¡"We have reached agreements in principle with the club," said Eric Zhang on Saturday. "Our next step will be to reach certain agreements with the CBA." ¡¡¡¡Eric Zhang needs a written approval by the CBA to apply the final pass from the FIBA, basketball's world governing body, for Yao Ming to play in the NBA. Enditem --By Sportswriter Wang Jingyu http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2002-06/24/content_455528.htm
For those who get too depressed with the negative news during the last few hours, go there to get a dose of Doc's ecstasy http://bbs.clutchcity.net/showthread.php?threadid=36351
Man...talk about a slow news day on the draft front. Even 26 has nothing but stale stuff. I'm going to sleep now hoping to wake to good news from our pal Windandsea. os
Thanks for the article, Finn. Anyone else struck by how similar the CBA's concerns are to ours? Written guarantees that Yao will be available for the national team? Guarantees about his physical and mental health for national team competitions? It makes me realize how difficult it is to give (and get) such guarantees. Ironically, these CBA concerns make me feel better because they seem to emphasize that the CBA's just like us. They have personal interests with Yao that they need to safeguard. That's understandable and entirely respectable. I think these concerns, contrary to how others might interpret them, suggest that the CBA has its own interests, but will not spontaneously request that Yao Ming return to China on some crazed whim during the middle of playoffs. Yao has national team commitments. He will be expected to honor those commitments. But those commitments will be clear and scheduled way in advance. We can be optimistic that such commitments will be scheduled so as not to conflict with (significant) NBA games.
I could not agree more!! The Chinese are honorable people. They are shrewd in business but hold to their commitments, regardless of the political issues. Oh I know that your going to say that the politcal issues are what drive the decision making. But it would be counter-productive to what they ultimately want if they tried to jack with the NBA and the Rockets. They want to expand Chinese basketball and be bigger players in the world of pro basketball. Ming is just the vangard for them to get a foot hold in the NBA. It is our bonus to get a chance at Ming ...just when we needed some help in the middle.
I think that the Chinese will always put national interests before everything. I think if they don't receive written assurances from the team that drafts Ming for their commitments whatever they may be,they will not let him enter the draft. For example if they were to receive those written assurances from the Bulls instead of the Rockets,they will send him to the Bulls, and this is pure speculation on my part,to them the 1st pick is of no value to them if they don't get what they want. Remember they have always said that they will determine which is the right team for Ming. I don't want to be pessimistic and I might be entirely wrong,but I think that's what it really boils down to. If I were the Rockets I would also get written assurances from them that Yao would be available for the entire 82 game season and the entire length of the playoffs including the the NBA finals.
"They did not ask for it, but we want to give it to them," Zhang said. The key words here are: "DID NOT ASK FOR IT" The CBA has not demanded any new guarantees. So why is everyone flippin out? The CBA wants to see Ming play in the NBA, and further more they want to see him picked 1st.
If only Erik can shut up and know when to talk. His brightness coMing Huston would be a done deal already.
I got one leg on the Ming bandwagon and one leg dangling off...just waiting for a soft place (ie good trade offer) to land
