Wang Libin (; born March 21, 1963) is a former male

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

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 (appr ...

player and an active basketball

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

. He was born in

Shaanxi Province Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see § Name) is a landlocked province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichuan (SW), Gansu (W), Ningx ...

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. Wang started his playing career at the age of 14 and was one of the most talented front court players in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

. 6'8", Wang was not only a powerful inside player with solid footwork and impressive mobility but also a stable long range shooter. Some dubbed him as "Asia's number one

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

" during his prime in the 1980s. As a member of the China men's national basketball team he competed at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games and was the flag bearer of the Chinese Olympic Team at the opening ceremony. Due to power struggles within China's basketball authorities, however, he was banned from playing for the national team at the age of 25—shortly after he competed at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

. After this forced "retirement", Wang accepted the invitation by a semi-professional club, Isuzu Motors Lynx, based in

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

to play there. In 1993, he moved to play for the Tera Electronics club in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

and retired there after a decade-long "post-retirement" career as overseas professional player. Owning a

restaurant A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...

named after his triple-double ("大三元") record in

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...

, Wang later served in ESPN Star Sports as a basketball analyst/commentator in

Mandarin Chinese Mandarin (; ) is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language of ...

. He also participated in the training of the

Chinese Taipei men's national basketball team The Chinese Taipei men's national basketball team is the men's basketball team representing the Republic of China on Taiwan in international competitions, organised and run by the Chinese Taipei Basketball Association (CTBA; ). The team was known ...

. In 2004, Wang returned to his hometown,

Xi'an Xi'an ( , ; ; Chinese: ), frequently spelled as Xian and also known by #Name, other names, is the list of capitals in China, capital of Shaanxi, Shaanxi Province. A Sub-provincial division#Sub-provincial municipalities, sub-provincial city o ...

, to coach the

Shaanxi Kylins The Guangzhou Loong Lions () are a Chinese professional basketball team based in Guangzhou, Guangdong. They play in the Southern Division of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). History The team was founded in November 2000 as Shaanxi Gait ...

, a professional team in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). After two unsuccessful seasons coaching in the CBA, Wang resigned as the Kylins head coach and accepted another commission to coach the Northwestern Polytechnical University varsity team.

References

sports-reference
1963 births Living people Akita Isuzu/Isuzu Motors Lynx/Giga Cats players Basketball players at the 1984 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 1988 Summer Olympics Basketball players from Shaanxi Chinese men's basketball players 1982 FIBA World Championship players Olympic basketball players of China Sportspeople from Xi'an Asian Games medalists in basketball Basketball players at the 1982 Asian Games Basketball players at the 1986 Asian Games Centers (basketball) Asian Games gold medalists for South Korea Asian Games silver medalists for South Korea Chinese expatriate basketball people in Japan Medalists at the 1982 Asian Games Medalists at the 1986 Asian Games Expatriate basketball people in Taiwan Chinese expatriates in Taiwan Chinese Taipei men's national basketball team coaches Mars basketball players BCC Mars players Chinese Basketball Alliance players {{PRChina-basketball-bio-stub