Welcome to the 2004-05 NBA pre-season. The biggest NBA news is undoubtedly LA Lakers-related. But along with Kobe Bryant's criminal charges being dropped, ex-teammate Shaquille O'Neal's noisy departure to the Miami Heat and their first showdown on Christmas Day, there are plenty of other stories worth telling. This is especially true when it comes to taking an in-depth look this season at where China fits into the global basketball picture, as well as the NBA. There are four interesting Chinese players on - or attempting to make - NBA teams this season. Three-year veteran and new author Yao Ming, 24, helps kick off the pre-season in style as he faces Shaq. As thanks for their generous patronage in buying NBA merchandise, hoops fans in China are being treated to two exhibition games between Yao's Houston Rockets and the Sacramento Kings. The Kings have kindly invited Shanghai Sharks shooting guard Liu Wei to impress coach Rick Adelman with his blossoming skills in front of the home crowds in Shanghai and Beijing on Thursday and Sunday respectively. Despite the 6-foot-3 Liu's solid performances under national team coach Del Harris in Athens during the Olympics, the 24-year-old will probably get nothing more from the Kings than plenty of questions about what he has learned in the 10 years he has been Yao's teammate. Meanwhile, Shaq's new backup centre and practice fodder is none other than Wang Zhizhi, the first Chinese player in the NBA when he joined the Dallas Mavericks in 2001. He was a model athlete-soldier who has been turned into a bit of a renegade for not returning to China. That decision meant Wang, 27, did not play in Athens and is no longer in the national team programme. With his PLA background and rather high foreign income, it is feasible he will be punished quite harshly when and if he returns to the mainland. It's also going to be interesting to see what happens to him in Miami with Shaq bearing down in practice on his much frailer 7-foot-2 frame. The New York Knicks have picked up Mongolian native Menk Bateer, 30, who has an NBA championship ring from his time in San Antonio despite only playing in workouts during in the 2002-03 playoffs. He has appeared in 46 NBA games over three seasons, including spells with Denver, Toronto and Orlando. The Knicks are paying a reported US$700,000 for his sturdy frame this season. As for other games worth catching on TV this month, I like the idea of Tracy McGrady playing with Yao for Houston this season. But I love the fact T-Mac will be right back in Orlando to face his old team in a pre-season tilt on Sunday, October 24. The NBA has a lot of karma like that, especially when a star player asks to be traded. Watch what happens with T-Mac's disgruntled cousin Vince Carter in Toronto. There's plenty to talk about this season, which gets under way on the morning of November 3 in Hong Kong just as the US presidential election results are being announced.
