
Sun Mingming says he ‘can’t be bothered’ to watch NBA
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Sun Mingging has not been a part of the NBA for a decade.
But when he does watch the game, he says he is focused on winning and is unlikely to get distracted.
“It’s not something I’m going to do much of,” the China-born Chinese-born former basketball player told Al Jazeera from his home in Guangzhou, China, where he lives with his wife, Lola.
“I want to win the NBA championship.
If I’m not doing that, it doesn’t matter what team I’m playing.
I’ll just have to be focused on the game and the next game.”
Sun’s first season in the NBA coincided with a turbulent time for the sport in China, which saw an unprecedented wave of violence and political unrest.
“There were times I didn’t have anything to do, or I couldn’t go out and work, so I just watched a lot of basketball,” he said.
“But I’ve learned that you can’t be a part-time player in the world of basketball, and I’m lucky to be a player in China.”
While he still works in a retail store in Guangdong, Sun said he was “pretty active” in sports at home, including playing basketball with his three-year-old son, who plays on his basketball team.
Sun said he is more focused on his son’s development and growing up in a world where he “cannot be bothered to watch basketball”.
“He’s watching the game on his phone,” he told Al, “and I don’t even need to watch it”.
“I can’t even get out of bed at 4am to get to work,” he added.
In January, Chinese authorities banned Chinese basketball players from attending international competitions.
Sun has not attended international basketball games since his suspension.
In February, the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) said it was considering imposing stricter penalties for domestic players, citing “serious” and “severe” domestic abuse cases.
China banned the sport following the deaths of the two athletes, and the CBA has announced plans to introduce a law in the coming weeks that will restrict participation in basketball in the country.
“This is a very serious matter, so we are considering the possibility of introducing harsher penalties in the future,” Zhang said.
“We will definitely take the right action to address the issue and to put an end to this problem,” Zhang added.