Yang Hansen of the Portland Trail Blazers will not participate in the upcoming Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) confirmed on Monday.
Yang Hansen (front R) of Portland Trail Blazers competes during the match between Portland Trail Blazers and Golden State Warriors at the 2025 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, the United States, July 12, 2025. (Photo by Sun Yuxuan/Xinhua)
Veteran Hu Jinqiu will lead the Chinese men’s team, while the women’s squad includes rising star center Zhang Ziyu, according to the provisional rosters announced by the CBA.
The CBA also released the rosters for China’s men’s and women’s 3×3 basketball teams for the Asian Games.
“The CBA has consistently supported players in developing their skills through high-level overseas leagues. Therefore, players competing in the NBA and WNBA have not been included in the Asian Games rosters,” said an unnamed CBA official.
“We will try to balance striving for good results at the Asian Games and preparing for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics,” he added.
China will face Qatar in Doha on Aug. 27 before hosting Lebanon in Zhuji, east China’s Zhejiang Province, on Aug. 31 in the fourth window of the 2027 FIBA World Cup Asian qualifiers.
Han Xu and Li Yueru, who are competing in the WNBA, are expected to join the national team for the FIBA Women’s World Cup scheduled for Sept. 4 to 13 in Berlin.
The men’s basketball competition at the Asian Games will begin on Sept. 10, while the women’s competition starts on Sept. 17, both before the official opening of the Games on Sept. 19.
“With a long-term focus on building a sustainable talent pipeline, the Chinese men’s and women’s basketball teams are working to maintain their current strength while actively giving young players experience in international competitions, testing different lineups and developing talent reserves for future FIBA competitions and the Olympic Games,” the official said.