NBA champion Sun Yue retires on eve of Chinese basketball season
- Beijing Royal Fighters announce 35-year-old’s retirement after leaving him off CBA roster
- China national team player won the NBA with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2009
NBA champion Sun Yue has retired ahead of the new Chinese Basketball Association season which starts this weekend.
Sun was left off the registration list for the Beijing Royal Fighters for the 2021-22 CBA season and his retirement after 21 years was confirmed by the team in a statement.
The 35-year-old is the only player to have won the NBA and the CBA having won the former with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2009.
Sun was drafted at No 40 overall by the Lakers in the 2007 draft, becoming the fifth Chinese player to play in the NBA.
He later won the CBA twice with the Beijing Ducks in 2013 and 2014, joining the team after the Beijing Olympians disbanded in 2013.
Sun started his career at the Olympians as 15-year-old ahead of stints in the American Basketball Association and NBA before returning to the team. He ended his playing days at the Royal Fighters, where he played under his former Ducks teammate Stephon Marbury.