2024-2025 CBA season kicked off with all 20 teams showcasing their skills and talents. With the new rule allowing seven foreign players to participate per quarter, the pace of the game has increased significantly, making it more entertaining. The foreign players, who now have more playing time and opportunities, have taken center stage, overshadowing the performances of local players. It feels like we have returned to the era of "foreign players dominance."
The contribution of foreign players in scoring has dramatically increased. In the first round of the new season, 60 registered foreign players from the 20 teams showed off their abilities and performances. Except for three teams, Shanghai, Fujian, and Jiangsu, which played with two foreign players, the other 17 teams sent out at least three foreign players, and teams like Ningbo and Jilin even fielded all four foreign players.
According to official statistics from the CBA, in the top 10 scorers of the first round, only one local player, Hu Jinqiu, with 37 points, made the list. The other nine players are all foreign players. Even among the top 20 scorers, there are only four local players. The dominance of foreign players is evident in other statistics as well, including rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks.
With the relaxation of the foreign player policy, the inclination towards foreign players' dominance in terms of statistics was somewhat expected. After all, most foreign players have an edge in terms of individual abilities. Both coaches and players prefer to let foreign players handle the ball on the offensive end. In the ranking of shot attempts in the first round, all top 10 players are foreign players from different teams, and only three local players made it to the top 20.
This bias towards foreign players is most evident in the scoring distribution. According to statistics, in the first round of the regular season, the 20 teams collectively scored 2,128 points, with local players accounting for 51.4% (1,094 points) and foreign players accounting for 48.6% (1,034 points). In the previous season, local players scored 66.3% (68,362 points) and foreign players accounted for 33.7% (34,672 points). This shows the significant impact of the changes in foreign player policy in the new CBA season.
Although the CBA has opened up more opportunities for foreign players, the final decision-making power in most games still lies in the hands of the teams' young foreign players, with the larger foreign players playing a slightly lesser role. As the Most Valuable Player in last season's finals, Liaoning Flying Leopards' foreign player, O.J. Mayo, scored a game-high 39 points in the first game of the new season, along with 5 rebounds, 8 assists, and 2 steals, helping the defending champions secure a victory. It's worth mentioning that all 31 points scored by Liaoning in the first quarter came from their foreign players, with Mayo contributing 16 points, Shavlik Randolph with 12 points, and Shirelijian Mula A with 3 points. This is quite rare in previous CBA games.
In the first round, the Shanghai Sharks, with only two young foreign players, "choked" in the final quarter despite having a double-digit lead. This was largely due to the performance of their young foreign player, Walt Waters. Despite his exceptional performance of 16 points and 13 assists in the first three quarters, Waters suffered a leg cramp in the third quarter, resulting in him not scoring a single point in the fourth quarter and overtime, clearly exposing the disadvantage of lacking a third foreign player on the team's bench. In contrast, Beijing's young foreign player, Jamaal, scored a total of 11 points in the fourth quarter and overtime, including the game-winning three-pointer, helping the team turn the tide of the game.
From a statistical perspective, the small foreign players on each team have taken on the role of scoring and assisting, while the larger foreign players mainly focus on rebounding and defense. However, in the decisive moments of games, especially in the fourth quarter, most teams still tend to rely on small foreign players, who have more stable and outstanding scoring abilities. Only a few teams, like Tianjin and Ningbo, choose to keep their larger foreign players on the court. For example, Tianjin's foreign player, David James, continued his impressive performance from last season, scoring 33 points, grabbing 27 rebounds, and providing 6 assists, helping the team narrowly win.
The changes in the foreign player policy have also narrowed the gap between teams, making the games more unpredictable. In the first round of the CBA, teams like Beijing, Shanxi, and Tongxi defeated Shanghai, Guangdong, and Shenzhen, who had higher rankings than them last season. The performance of foreign players played a significant role in determining the outcome of the games.
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