Sichuan Blue Whales

Sichuan Blue Whales
Leagues	CBA
Founded	2009 (2009)
History	Sichuan Blue Whales (2009–present)
Arena	Jinqiang International Event Center
Capacity	15,000
Location	Chengdu, Sichuan, China
Team colors	Blue, White, Orange
Main sponsor	Li Holdings
President	Li Fuliang
Vice-president(s)	Li Fufu
Team manager	Zhu Xuegui
Head coach	Mo Ke
Ownership	Jinqiang Group
Championships	1 (2016)
Home Away

The Sichuan Jinqiang Blue Whales (sometimes spelled Whale) (四川金强蓝鲸), also known as Sichuan Jinqiang or Sichuan Jinrong Industry, are a professional basketball team based in Wenjiang District, Chengdu, Sichuan, China, which plays in the North Division of the Chinese Basketball Association. The Jinqiang Group is the club's corporate sponsor while its mascot is a blue whale.

In 2016, the team won the CBA Finals in their first appearance in the championship series, defeating the Liaoning Flying Leopards 4–1 in the best of seven series. They became the fifth different club to claim the title in the league's 21 seasons of existence, and the fastest expansion squad to ever do so, winning the title in just their third campaign in the CBA.

History

The team spent the first four years of its existence a member of the higher-tier Chinese National Basketball League, until getting "promoted" ahead of the 2013–14 CBA season, after winning the NBL championship in 2013.

Affectionately referred to by many local fans as the Sichuan Army (川军), the club received international media attention during the 2014–15 CBA season, after signing former NBA All-Star Metta World Peace. Embracing his move to China, the man born as Ron Artest soon gave himself a new name, The Panda's Friend.

The team missed the CBA Playoffs for a second straight year, however, finishing 18th of 20 clubs with a record of 8–30, and despite telling reporters he "had indeed found a bit of inner peace in Sichuan", World Peace headed to Italy after the campaign ended. His departure left the Blue Whales to adopt a different offensive approach for the 2015–16 CBA season.

During the ensuing campaign, Sichuan would reach surprising success by finishing in third place in the regular season standings with a record of 30–8, and earning the third seed in the playoffs. The Blue Whales tied the Xinjiang Flying Tigers for the second-best record in the regular season, and matched up with them in the semi-final round of the playoffs. The team advanced to the 2016 CBA Finals against the Liaoning Flying Leopards after sweeping the Guangsha Lions and the Xinjiang Flying Tigers in the first two rounds of the postseason.

During the Finals, the Blue Whales lost their first game against the top-seeded Flying Leopards, before winning four straight contests to claim their first-ever CBA championship. The series was notable for a very controversial situation, however, as a brawl between a group of Sichuan fans and several Liaoning players erupted at a hotel lobby in Chengdu after Game Three. Footage of the incident went viral on numerous Chinese and international websites, and the league received scathing criticism from the country's media. The Blue Whales were fined by the CBA for not providing adequate security, while the Flying Leopards that were involved in the fight were to be disciplined at the start of the following season. Hamed Haddadi would also be the first Asian to not be born in a Chinese providence to be named the CBA Finals MVP in 2016.

Roster

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.

Sichuan Blue Whales roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Wt. PG 0 Trae Golden 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 93 kg (205 lb) G/F 1 Jing Hanyi 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) 102 kg (225 lb) PG 2 Hu Junlin 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) 76 kg (168 lb) SF 6 Hong Xin 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 88 kg (194 lb) G/F 7 Li Honghan 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 87 kg (192 lb) PG 8 Zhao Rui 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) 89 kg (196 lb) G 9 Yang Linyi 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) 76 kg (168 lb) SF 10 Liu Guanshan 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 93 kg (205 lb) F 11 Lu Yiwen 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) 105 kg (231 lb) F 13 Zuo Zhennian 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 90 kg (198 lb) C 14 Yuan Shibo 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) 104 kg (229 lb) C 15 Zhu Rongzhen 2.18 m (7 ft 2 in) 115 kg (254 lb) F/C 16 Fu Yongchang 1.99 m (6 ft 6 in) 97 kg (214 lb) PG 17 Fang Jiachen 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) 80 kg (176 lb) PG 18 Yu Xiaoyong 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) 86 kg (190 lb) C 21 Meng Tianyi (VC) 2.07 m (6 ft 9 in) 120 kg (265 lb) F 27 Guo Jinlin 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) 101 kg (223 lb) F/C 28 Zhang Dayu 2.18 m (7 ft 2 in) 115 kg (254 lb) G 33 Han Shuo 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) 91 kg (201 lb) C 55 Su Ruoyu 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 117 kg (258 lb) C 77 Chris Obekpa 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 104 kg (229 lb)	Head coach Mo Ke Assistant coach(es) Chen Xiaodong Legend (C) Team captain Injured Roster Updated: October 25, 2023

Notable players

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.

Criteria
To appear in this section a player must have either: Set a club record or won an individual award while at the club Played at least one official international match for their national team at any time Played at least one official NBA match at any time.

Current Chinese players

• Liu Wei (2016–present)

Current International players

• Hamed Haddadi (2013–2014, 2015–present)
• Mike Harris (2015–present)

Former International players

• Alan Ogg (1996–1997 under the Sichuan Pandas name)
• Hassan Whiteside (2013)
• Chang Tsung-hsien (2013–2015)
• Hervé Lamizana (2013)
• Darius Johnson-Odom (2013)
• Michael Efevberha (2013–15)
• D.J. White (2013–2014)
• Daniel Orton (2014–2015)
• Metta World Peace (known in China as The Panda's Friend) (2014–2015)
• Josh Smith (2016–2017)
• Tyler Hansbrough (2019–2020)

External links

• Club profile at EuroBasket.com
• Sichuan Blue Whales on Weibo.com (in Chinese)