Kyranbek Makhan (born September 27, 1992) is a Chinese former basketball player of Kyrgyz origin who played in the

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three, is one of the five Basketball position, positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than Power forward (basketball), power forwards and Cent ...

position for

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 ...

. He is an elite three point shooter and perimeter defender. Kyranbek played with the

Xinjiang Flying Tigers The Xinjiang Flying Tigers () is a professional basketball team based in Ürümqi, Xinjiang, China. The team plays its home games at the Urumqi Olympic Sports Center, which has a capacity for 12,000 spectators. The club joined the Chinese Bas ...

for 11 years and was an important part of their three consecutive Grand Finals from

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

and their first championship in the 2016–17 season. He is widely regarded as one of the most iconic players of the

, along with

Shirelijan Muxtar Shirelijan Muxtar (Uyghur language, Uyghur: شىرئەلىجان مۇختەر‎; ) is a Chinese people, Chinese basketball coach and former professional player of Uyghurs, Uyghur origin, who played the combo guard position for the China men' ...

and Xu Guochong. He was part of the Chinese squad for the

2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup The 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup was the 18th tournament of the FIBA Basketball World Cup for men's national basketball teams, held from 31 August to 15 September 2019. The tournament was hosted in China and was rescheduled from 2018 to 2019, b ...

Career

Kyranbek was promoted to the first team of

and debuted in

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 ...

in the 2008–09 season. He was an important part of the team's three consecutive trips to the Grand Finals in the 2008-09, 2009–10, and

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

seasons, serving as an elite perimeter defender for the team. Through the seasons, he also became an elite three point shooter. In the 2016–17 season, Kyranbek started 40 of the 50 regular season games he played, averaging 24.1 minutes, 8.1 points, and 2.6 rebounds per game. He played an important role in the first CBA championship for the

franchise. Notably, his stats were on par with the regular season MVP

Ding Yanyuhang Ding Yanyuhang ( ; born August 20, 1993) is a Chinese professional basketball player for the Guangzhou Loong Lions of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He is considered to be one of the greatest Chinese basketball players and scorers of ...

during their direct face-off in the

position in the Quarter-Finals. After the 2019–20 season, Kyranbek was traded by

for 8 million CNY to

Shanghai Sharks The Shanghai Sharks ( zh, s=上海久事大鲨鱼, t=上海久事大鯊魚, p=Shànghǎi Jǐushì Dàshāyú) are a Chinese Basketball Association team based in Shanghai. The Sharks, who share their colors with the New York Knicks, are best know ...

and signed a 3+1 regular (type-C) contract with the latter team, with the last year being a team option. His salary averages 7.5 million CNY (1.1 million USD) a year, the max value for non-max contracts. In 2023, Kyranbek retired from professional basketball.

Name

Kyranbek Makan is a Kyrgyz person born in

Xinjiang Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...

, China. There are several alternative spellings to his name. Kyranbek is the direct transliteration of his first name from his native

Kyrgyz language Kyrgyz is a Turkic language of the Kipchak branch spoken in Central Asia. Kyrgyz is the official language of Kyrgyzstan and a significant minority language in the Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture in Xinjiang, China and in the Gorno-Badak ...

. Alternatively, some sources indirectly transliterated his name via

Mandarin Chinese Mandarin ( ; zh, s=, t=, p=Guānhuà, l=Mandarin (bureaucrat), officials' speech) is the largest branch of the Sinitic languages. Mandarin varieties are spoken by 70 percent of all Chinese speakers over a large geographical area that stretch ...

(可兰白克) as Kelanbaike. His

patronym A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (more specifically an avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. It is the male equivalent of a matronymic. Patronymics are used, ...

's direct translation from Kyrgyz is Makhan. The indirect transliteration via

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

(马坎) is Makan. Therefore, alternative spellings of his full name include: * Kyranbek Makhan, and * Kelanbaike Makan. Some sources might incorrectly mingle these two as Kyranbek Makan or Kelanbaike Makhan. Notebly, some sources rendered his first name as Korambek. This form is not an alternative spelling, but simply wrong since it has no traceable route of indirect transliteration. As a Kyrgyz name, Kyranbek Makhan uses the

patronymic A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (more specifically an avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. It is the male equivalent of a matronymic. Patronymics are used, b ...

system and consists of the given (first) name Kyranbek and the patronym (father's name) Makhan. Therefore, Makhan is the name of Kyranbek's late father. In general, it is not acceptable to refer to him using only Makhan, even in a context which usually requires a

surname In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

(last name). One should always refer to him using the full name Kyranbek Makhan or simply his first name Kyranbek.

References

External links

Profile
at Eurobasket.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Makhan, Kyranbek 1992 births Living people Chinese men's basketball players Small forwards Ethnic Kyrgyz people (individuals) 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup players Sportspeople from Xinjiang Chinese people of Kyrgyzstani descent Shanghai Sharks players Xinjiang Flying Tigers players