The year of Yao

Icon added to his already glowing reputation with bold new leadership of CBA

On Sunday night in Seoul, the fruits of Yao Ming's labor were there for all to see.

Team China beat South Korea 92-81 in the preliminaries of the 2019 FIBA World Cup - a remarkable result considering nearly half of the visitor's regular starters were absent, including Houston Rockets center Zhou Qi.

Youngster Sun Minghui had 21 points, three rebounds and four assists, while Abdusalam contributed 15 points, seven rebounds, three blocks and three assists in a stunning victory for China.

A year ago, Abdusalam and Sun's chances of wearing the national team jersey were slim to none.

"I thought it was fake news when they told me I was in," said Abdusalam, whose selection was a direct result of CBA president Yao's shake-up of the national side.

These days China has two teams - coached by Du Feng and Li Nan - which will eventually merge into one in time for the 2019 FIBA World Cup and 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

New dawn

Yao was inducted into the NBA's Hall of Fame in 2016, however 2017 has arguably been an even more impressive year for the former Houston Rockets superstar.

He was unanimously elected CBA president in February, the first person to lead the organization outside of government ranks. In July, he won another vote to become chairman of the CBA company that owns the league as wide-ranging structural reforms to Chinese sport kicked in.

As part of that overhaul, the CBA is in the process of taking total control of Chinese basketball, assuming responsibility for tasks previously undertaken by a branch of the State General Administration of Sport.

When the transition is complete, the CBA will manage not only the national teams leagues and youth development but also the sport's grassroots development.

"This is a great step on the road to reforming Chinese basketball. Meanwhile, we must realize that we still have a long way to go," said Yao at the time of his election.

As for the national teams, the long road began with a small but significant change.

Players now receive an invitation call-up letter, rather than a compulsory notification, allowing them to decline in favor of playing in the NBA Summer League or for personal reasons, for example.

For the likes of Rockets rookie Qi and Ding Yanyuhang, who is with the Dallas Mavericks, this could have hugely beneficial consequences.

Neither Yao nor China's other NBA great Wang Zhizhi enjoyed this kind of privilege in their careers.