The Bayi Rockets () was a professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

team based in

Nanchang Nanchang (, ; ) is the capital of Jiangxi Province, People's Republic of China. Located in the north-central part of the province and in the hinterland of Poyang Lake Plain, it is bounded on the west by the Jiuling Mountains, and on the east ...

Jiangxi Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the People's Republic of China. Its major cities include Nanchang and Jiujiang. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze river in the north int ...

, China, which played in the South Division of the

Chinese Basketball Association The Chinese Basketball Association (), often abbreviated as the CBA, is the first-tier professional men's basketball league in China. The league is commonly known by fans as the CBA, and this acronym is even used in Chinese on a regular basis ...

. On 20 October 2020,

announced that Bayi Rockets had withdrawn from Chinese Basketball Association (CBA).CBA联盟关于八一男篮不再参加CBA联赛的公告
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History

The Bayi Rockets were founded in 1955 in

Ningbo Ningbo (; Ningbonese: ''gnin² poq⁷'' , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly romanized as Ningpo, is a major sub-provincial city in northeast Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It comprises 6 urban districts, 2 sate ...

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , Chinese postal romanization, also romanized as Chekiang) is an East China, eastern, coastal Provinces of China, province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable citie ...

. The team's founding members served in the People's Liberation Army, and the "Bayi" in its name represents the anniversary of the founding of the PLA, August 1. There are also several other army clubs using the Bayi name in other sports leagues, including Bayi Kylin in the WCBA, the men's soccer team Bayi Zhengbang, and the women's soccer club Bayi Xiangtan. The Bayi Rockets have a long history that predates the current CBA. When they entered the league in its inaugural season of 1995–96, they had already won 34 national titles. They had also held a friendly international competition against the

Washington Bullets The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays ...

(now

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays ...

) during the 1970s. Bayi dominated the CBA in its early years, winning seven championships in the first eight seasons of CBA competition, including the first six titles in the league's existence. During the first five years of this legendary title run, the Rockets were undefeated in playoff games. The Rockets also had a home-game unbeaten streak of 65 games that ended in 2002. But in recent years, other CBA teams have become more competitive, and Bayi would only win one more championship after its initial spree of success, with that title coming in the 2006–07 CBA season. During the 2004–05 CBA season, the Bayi Rockets finished in third place in the South Division and defeated the

Beijing Ducks The Beijing Shougang Ducks (''simplified Chinese'': 北京首钢鸭俱乐部篮球队), also known as Beijing Shougang or Beijing Ducks, are a professional basketball team based in Beijing, China, which plays in the North Division of the Chin ...

in the Quarter-Finals of the CBA Playoffs, but lost in the Semi-Finals to the reigning titleholders, the

Guangdong Southern Tigers Guangdong Hongyuan Southern Tigers () or Guangdong Southern Tigers, also known as Guangdong Dongguan Bank () for sponsorship reasons, are a Chinese professional basketball team owned by the Guangdong Winnerway (Hongyuan) Group. The team is one o ...

. This defeat marked the first time since the league's founding that the team did not advance to the CBA Finals, and the only time in the organization's first 12 years that the club failed to reach the championship series. The 2008–09 CBA season marked the first year that the Bayi Rockets failed to make the playoffs. After two first-round playoff exits in 2009–10 and

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

, the club has not made it back to the playoffs, and have become one of the worst teams in the league. In 2018, the Bayi Rockets moved from Ningbo to their current location in Nanchang, Jiangxi. In the 2019–20 season, Bayi ranked last in the CBA with a 6–40 record.

Honours

:CBA Playoff Champions (8): 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2006–07 :CBA Playoff Runners-Up (3): 2001–02, 2003–04, 2005–06 :CBA Regular Season Winners (6): 1995–96, 1996–97, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2006–07 :CBA Regular Season Second Place (5): 1997–98, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2005–06 (South Division), 2006–07 :CBA Regular Season Third Place (2): 2003–04, 2004–05 (South Division)

References

{{Reflist

External links

* http://sports.sina.com.cn/cba/team/bayi/index.shtml (in Chinese) * https://web.archive.org/web/20110716024001/http://www.bsgb.com/cbaclub/cbaby.php (in Chinese)
Zhongyin (Ningbo) Battery Co., Ltd. website
Chinese Basketball Association former teams Sport in Ningbo People's Liberation Army Basketball teams established in 1955 1955 establishments in China