Zhou Qi ( zh, t=周琦, s=周琦, p=Zhōu Qí ; born 16 January 1996) is 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 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). He has been a regular member of the

China men's national basketball team The China men's national basketball team (nickname ''Team Dragon'') represents the China, People's Republic of China in international basketball tournaments. The national team is governed by the Chinese Basketball Association (organisation), C ...

since 2014, winning a gold team medal in the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship and the

2018 Asian Games The 2018 Asian Games ( or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18th Asian Games (), and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, were a Asia, continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 August to 2 September 201 ...

. A center, Zhou started his professional career playing for the Xinjiang Flying Tigers of the

(CBA). In 2016, he entered the

NBA draft The NBA draft is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) annual event, dating back to 1947 BAA draft, 1947, in which the teams in the league can Draft (sports), draft players who declare for the draft and that are Eligibility for the NBA dr ...

and was selected 43rd overall by the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA) ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA). He played a total of 19 games across two seasons with the Rockets before being waived in 2018. Zhou returned to the Flying Tigers of the CBA soon after. In 2021, he joined the South East Melbourne Phoenix in the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n National Basketball League (NBL).

Early career

Zhou Qi attended Fuxin Basketball School in 2005 in Fuxin, Liaoning, China. Zhou first began appearing on scouting reports when he guided China to an unlikely youth team title in Turkey at the TBF International Under-16 Tournament in 2011. At age fifteen, Zhou put up 41 points, 28 rebounds, and 15 blocks in China's semifinal win over Germany, and then went for 30 points, 17 rebounds, and 8 blocks in the final against the host nation. A year later at the 2012 Albert Schweitzer Tournament, a traditional testing ground for the best teenage players in international basketball, Zhou reinforced his reputation as one to watch by averaging 16.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 4.2 blocks in 28.2 minutes per game. In January 2014, Zhou left his boyhood team, the Liaoning Jaguars, to join the Xinjiang Flying Tigers. However, he was unable to play for Xinjiang until the 2014–15 season due to being underaged.

Professional career

Xinjiang Flying Tigers (2014–2017)

Although there were rumors that several U.S. college teams were courting him, the teenager decided to stay in China, and his move to the cash-flush Xinjiang team caused a firestorm of speculation within the local media. Initially, it was claimed Zhou had accepted a three-year, $744,000 deal that would have made him better paid than most of the Tigers' roster at the time, and the club was forced to publicly deny those stories. In 2015–16, Xinjiang lost in the semifinals of the CBA playoffs. Zhou led the CBA in blocked shots in each of his first two seasons at 3.3 and 3.2 per game, respectively, while shooting 65 percent from two-point range in 73 total games. In June 2016, Zhou reached an agreement with Xinjiang that would allow him to buy out his contract and join the NBA in 2017. After much back and forth, Zhou's representation in China and the U.S. secured a buyout that would allow him out of his contract after the 2016–17 season for the maximum league-mandated amount permitted, which is $675,000. In 2016–17, Zhou averaged 16.0 points and 10.0 rebounds while shooting 58.6% from the floor. He also ranked second in the CBA in blocks (2.3 bpg) and was named Defensive Player of the Year. Zhou hit 20 3-pointers in 2016–17 after having 10 in his first two seasons combined. He also helped Xinjiang win its first championship in 2016–17.

Houston Rockets (2017–2018)

After his second season with Xinjiang, Zhou declared for the

2016 NBA draft The 2016 NBA draft was held on June 23, 2016, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. It was televised nationally in the U.S. by ESPN, and was live streamed for the first time in NBA draft history by The Vertical. National Basketball Association (NBA) ...

. He had the longest wingspan during the 2016 NBA Draft Combine at . On 23 June 2016, he was selected with the 43rd overall pick by the

. On 6 July 2017, Zhou signed with the Houston Rockets. He made his NBA debut on 21 October 2017, playing eight minutes in the fourth quarter of the Rockets' 107–91 win over the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Divisi ...

, posting three rebounds and one block. On 1 November 2017, Zhou scored his first NBA points, finishing with three points against the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

. During his rookie season, Zhou had multiple assignments to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the Minor league#Basketball, developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of ...

. On 17 December 2018, the Rockets waived Zhou.

Return to the Flying Tigers (2019–2021)

In August 2019, Zhou returned to the Xinjiang Flying Tigers.

South East Melbourne Phoenix (2021–2022)

On 8 September 2021, Zhou signed a two-year deal with the South East Melbourne Phoenix of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL) as a Special Restricted Player, with the second year being a player option. On 27 September 2022, Zhou recommitted to the Phoenix for the 2022–23 NBL season. On 19 December 2022, he left the team and returned to China for family reasons.

Return to CBA

Zhou Qi joined 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 of ...

for the 2023-24 CBA season.

National team career

Zhou made his debut with the senior Chinese national team during the

2014 Asian Games The 2014 Asian Games (), officially known as the 17th Asian Games () and also known as Incheon 2014 (), were a pan-Asian multi-sport event held from 19 September to 4 October 2014 in Incheon, South Korea. On 17 April 2007, Incheon was awarded ...

in Incheon, South Korea. He returned for the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship in Changsha, China, where he helped China win the championship with a win over the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

in the final. Zhou had 16 points and 14 rebounds in the championship game. He was subsequently named to the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship All-Star Five. Zhou later competed in the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

with the Chinese national team.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

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, 1 , , 0 , , 1.0 , , 1.000 , , — , , — , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , 2.0 , - class="sortbottom" , colspan=2 align="left" , Career , 19 , , 0 , , 6.6 , , 21.2 , , 10.5 , , 66.7 , , 1.2 , , .1 , , .1 , , .7 , , 1.3

Playoffs

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, 3 , , 0 , , 2.0 , , 1.000 , , — , , — , , .3 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .7 , - , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 3 , , 0 , , 2.0 , , 1.000 , , — , , — , , .3 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .7

CBA

, - , align="left" , 2014–15 , align="left" ,

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' ...

, 31 , , 20 , , 29.1 , , .696 , , .100 , , .740 , , 6.9 , , .7 , , .8 , , 3.2 , , 14.0 , - , align="left" , 2015–16 , align="left" ,

, 42 , , 40 , , 34.2 , , .603 , , .600 , , .758 , , 9.7 , , 1.5 , , 1.1 , , 3.1 , , 15.8 , - , align="left" , 2016–17 , align="left" ,

, 44 , , 41 , , 32.8 , , .558 , , .364 , , .717 , , 9.9 , , 1.1 , , 1.0 , , 2.3 , , 15.9 , - , align="left" , 2019–20 , align="left" ,

, 44 , , 44 , , 33.1 , , .534 , , .311 , , .694 , , 13.1 , , 1.9 , , 1.2 , , 2.2 , , 21.9 , - , align="left" , 2020–21 , align="left" ,

, 44 , , 38 , , 32.7 , , .517 , , .291 , , .590 , , 11.8 , , 2.7 , , 1.0 , , 2.2 , , 20.7 , - , align="left" , 2023–24 , align="left" ,

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 ...

, 35 , , 34 , , 26.3 , , .617 , , .356 , , .583 , , 11.4 , , 1.3 , , 0.5 , , 1.3 , , 16.9 , - , align="left" , 2024–25 , align="left" ,

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, 27 , , 24 , , 26.8 , , .593 , , .410 , , .614 , , 8.3 , , 1.8 , , 0.7 , , 1.9 , , 14.6 , - class="sortbottom" , colspan=2 align="left" , Career , 267 , , 241 , , 31.1 , , .570 , , .328 , , .667 , , 10.4 , , 1.6 , , 1.0 , , 2.4 , , 17.5

NBL

, - , align="left" , 2021–22 , align="left" , Phoenix , 24 , , 23 , , 21.1 , , .636 , , .000 , , .604 , , 6.6 , , 0.5 , , 0.4 , , 1.8 , , 11.6 , - , align="left" , 2022–23 , align="left" , Phoenix , 9 , , 0 , , 13.5 , , .656 , , .000 , , .538 , , 4.4 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 6.2 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 33 , , 23 , , 19.0 , , .639 , , .000 , , .589 , , 6.0 , , 0.4 , , 0.3 , , 1.4 , , 10.1

References

External links

Zhou Qi
at nbl.com.au
Zhou Qi
at cbaleague.com

at archive.fiba.com
NBA Draft profileDraftExpress profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhou, Qi 1996 births Living people 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup players 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup players Asian Games gold medalists for China Asian Games medalists in basketball Basketball players at the 2014 Asian Games Basketball players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 2018 Asian Games Basketball players from Henan Centers (basketball) Chinese expatriate basketball people in the United States Chinese expatriate sportspeople in Australia Chinese men's basketball players Houston Rockets draft picks Houston Rockets players Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games NBA players from China Olympic basketball players for China People from Xinxiang Rio Grande Valley Vipers players South East Melbourne Phoenix players Xinjiang Flying Tigers players