Chen Jianghua (; born March 12, 1989, in

Panyu Panyu, formerly romanized as Punyü, is one of 11 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province, China. Since January 1975, Panyu County has been under Guangzhou's administration. In 1992, Panyu C ...

, Shawan,

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

, China) is a Chinese former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player and current assistant coach of

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 of ...

(

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Basketball career

Early years

Chen first came to the U.S. in February 2002, with 3 teammates from Weilun Sports School in Guangdong, after winning the 3-on-3 Nike China

Streetball Streetball (or street basketball) is a variation of basketball, typically played on outdoor courts and featuring significantly less formal structure and enforcement of the game's rules. As such, its format is more conducive to allowing players ...

Championship in Shanghai a year before.

Wang Zhizhi Wang Zhizhi ( zh, t=王治郅, s=王治郅, p=Wáng Zhìzhì, pronounced ; born 8 July 1977) is a Chinese former professional basketball player who was the head coach of the Bayi Rockets, the team with which he spent his domestic career in the ...

, who watched the 4-membered team play in Dallas, remarked to

CCTV Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of closed-circuit television cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signa ...

reporters about a kid who could dunk with ease at, "such a young age". After that, Chen spent six months at a U.S. Basketball Academy in Eugene, Oregon, with fellow Chinese prospect Tang Zhengdong. In an article by the Oregonian, former

Oregon Ducks The Oregon Ducks are the College sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Oregon, located in Eugene, Oregon, Eugene. The Ducks compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCA ...

point guard

Luke Ridnour Lukas Robin Ridnour (born February 13, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player who played 12 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Oregon Ducks. Early life Ridnour was born ...

, was reportedly impressed by Chen's quickness. Chen first became well known in 2003, when a ''New York Times'' front page article was written about him. That article was then followed by a ''Boston Globe'' article, and an article on

ESPN Magazine ''ESPN The Magazine'' was an American monthly sports magazine published by the ESPN sports network in Bristol, Connecticut. The first issue, with the cover line "NEXT.," was published on March 11, 1998 (cover date March 23, 1998), and featured Ko ...

. Chen played in the 2005 Reebok

ABCD Camp The ABCD Basketball Camp was a youth basketball camp founded by Sonny Vaccaro that was held from 1984 to 2006. The camp gathered the highest ranked high school players of the United States, and was considered one of the top events of high school ...

, where fellow camper Will Harris said that he was "the best unknown prospect in the world".

Chinese national team

Chen was picked to play on the senior men's Chinese national basketball team at the

2006 FIBA World Championship The 2006 FIBA World Championship was the 15th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. The tournament was hosted by Japan and held from 19 August to 3 September 2006. It was co-organised b ...

, despite being only 17 years old. He averaged 3.5 points and 1 assist a game, in 10.3 minutes a game. However, both

Dwyane Wade Dwyane Tyrone Wade Jr. ( or , born January 17, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player who is currently the co-owner of the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association. He is also currently the host of the American a ...

and

Mike Krzyzewski Michael William Krzyzewski ( , ; born February 13, 1947), nicknamed "Coach K", is an American former college basketball coach. He served as the head coach at Duke University from 1980–81 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team, 1980 to 2021� ...

commented positively on his play. Chen was also selected to be on the Chinese national team for the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

, at the age of just 19. He played for China again at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

References

External links

FIBA.com ProfileAsia-Basket.com ProfileChen Jianghua Draftexpress.com Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chen, Jianghua 1989 births Living people Basketball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Basketball players from Guangdong Sportspeople from Guangzhou Guangdong Southern Tigers players Olympic basketball players for China People from Panyu District Point guards Street basketball players 2006 FIBA World Championship players Chinese men's basketball players