Ji Zhe (; 14 October 1986 – 5 December 2019) was a Chinese 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 for the

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

of the

Chinese Basketball Association The Chinese Basketball Association (), often abbreviated as the CBA, is the first-tier men's professional 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 ...

(CBA). Playing the position of

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers and are typi ...

for the Ducks, he won three CBA championships and served as the team's captain. He died from

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

at the age of 33.

Career

Ji Zhe was born 14 October 1986 in

Shenyang Shenyang,; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly known as Fengtian formerly known by its Manchu language, Manchu name Mukden, is a sub-provincial city in China and the list of capitals in China#Province capitals, provincial capital of Liaonin ...

Liaoning ) , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = Clockwise: Mukden Palace in Shenyang, Xinghai Square in Dalian, Dalian coast, Yalu River at Dandong , image_map = Liaoning in China (+all claims hatched).svg , ...

, China. In 2005, he led the

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU or NEU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded by the Boston Young Men's Christian Association in 1898 as an all-male instit ...

men's basketball team to win the 2nd

Chinese University Basketball Super League Chinese University Basketball Association (CUBA, ) is a college basketball competition in China. It was founded in 1996 and launched in 1998. This event is held annually and divided into the preliminary stage and the final stage, in which the nati ...

championship. He was also a member of the Liaoning provincial team which finished 4th at the

2005 National Games of China The 10th National Games of the People's Republic of China was a multi-sport event that was held in Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province, from 12–23 October 2005. As a premier national sporting event, the 10th National Games of the People's Republic ...

. In 2007, Liaoning loaned Ji to the

of the

(CBA). He permanently joined the Ducks in 2012. As a member of the Ducks, he won three CBA championships in 2012, 2014, and 2015. He played the position of

and served as the captain of the Ducks. He was listed at tall and weighed . Ji played his final game on 22 March 2018, the Ducks' last game of the 2017–2018 CBA season. During his CBA career he played 434 games, averaging 23.9 minutes, 7.3 points, and 4.7 rebounds per game. He was considered a good rim protector.

Death

In August 2018, Ji was diagnosed with

, but did not publicly disclose the news and quietly sought treatment in the United States. Despite more than a year of treatment, his health deteriorated and he died on 5 December 2019 at the China-Japan Friendship Hospital in Beijing, aged 33. He had a son. On 8 December 2019, the Ducks' played their first home game after Ji's death as a tribute to him, and all Ducks players wore his No. 51 jersey before the game. The team placed a T-shirt with the number 51 on each of the 18,000 seats inside the

Wukesong Arena The Wukesong Arena (), also known as the Cadillac Arena () for sponsorship purposes, is a multipurpose indoor arena in Beijing. It was originally built for the 2008 Summer Olympics basketball preliminaries and finals. Ground was broken on 29 M ...

and retired the number. Many players and fans were in tears. The Ducks defeated the visiting

Shenzhen Aviators The Shenzhen New Century Liebao Club, also known as Shenzhen Marco Polo or Shenzhen Leopards (previously Shenzhen Aviators), are a China, Chinese professional basketball team which plays in the Southern Division of the Chinese Basketball Associa ...

by the score of 102 to 100, with

Jeremy Lin Jeremy Shu-How Lin (born August 23, 1988) is a Taiwanese-American professional basketball player for the New Taipei Kings of the Taiwan Professional Basketball League (TPBL). He unexpectedly led a winning turnaround with the New York Knick ...

scoring three free throws in the final seconds of the game. Lin called the comeback victory a "miracle".

In popular culture

In the 2016 film '' My Other Home'', a biopic of Ji's former Ducks teammate

Stephon Marbury Stephon Xavier Marbury (born February 20, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player who was also the head coach for the Beijing Royal Fighters of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) from 2019–2023. After his freshman year ...

, the Taiwanese-Canadian actor

Godfrey Gao Godfrey Gao ( zh, c=高以翔, poj=Ko Í-siông, p=Gāo Yǐxiáng; 22 September 1984 – 27 November 2019) was a Taiwanese-Canadian model and actor. Described as Asia's first male supermodel, Gao was the first male Asian model to appear in a ca ...

portrayed the player based on Ji. By coincidence, Gao died suddenly at the age of 35, eight days before Ji's death.

References

External links

Ji Zhe's CBA career stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ji, Zhe 1986 births 2019 deaths Beijing Ducks players Basketball players from Shenyang Northeastern University (China) alumni Deaths from lung cancer in China