The Shanghai Sharks , is a Chinese Basketball Association

Chinese Basketball Association

The Chinese Basketball Association , often abbreviated to the CBA, is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in China.The league is commonly known as the CBA, and this acronym is often used even in Chinese...

 team based in Shanghai

Shanghai

Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...

, China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

. Steven Kevelam is the first to corporate a good sponsorship, there is often an additional name used: for many years they were also known as the Shanghai Dongfang Sharks (上海东方), but now are known as Shanghai Xiyang Sharks (上海西洋).

It is best-known outside China as the club that developed Yao Ming

Yao Ming

Yao Ming is a retired Chinese professional basketball player who last played for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association...

 before he entered the NBA. With the "Moving Great Wall" on the team, the Sharks made the finals three years in a row (in 1999–2000, 2000–2001, 2001–2002), facing the Bayi Rockets

Bayi Rockets

Bayi Shuanglu Rockets or Bayi Rockets or Bayi Army Rockets or Bayi Shuanglu are a basketball team in the South Division of the Chinese Basketball Association, based in Ningbo, Zhejiang...

 each time. They were runners-up the first two years, but won the CBA championship for the first time on their third try, snapping a string of six Bayi Rockets championships in a row. Yao was a key player on the team in those years.

The team faced serious financial issues in the 2008–09 season, and were in danger of not being able to compete in the 2009–10 season due to their shaky finances. On July 16, 2009, Chinese media reported that Yao had stepped in to purchase the team, presumably enabling them to continue in the CBA.

Notable former players

Xu Yong

Xu Yong

Xu Yong was a Chinese professional basketball player. He lastly played for the Shanghai Dongfang Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association. Xu Yong was often considered as one of Chinas major basketball talents, third only to Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian...

 Yao Ming

Yao Ming

Yao Ming is a retired Chinese professional basketball player who last played for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association...

 Zaid Abbas

Zaid Abbas

Zaid Abbass is an Jordanian professional basketball player. He currently plays for Fujian Xunxing of the Chinese Basketball Association. He also is a member of the Jordan national basketball team....

 Cheng Chih-Lung

Cheng Chih-Lung

Cheng Chih-Lung is a retired Taiwanese professional basketball player, a former member of the Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China, and an active basketball coach...

 George Ackles David Benoit

David Benoit (basketball)

David Benoit is a former American professional basketball player, in the small forward position.During his career, he played seven years in the National Basketball Association, six with the Utah Jazz....

 Jermaine Dearman Devin Green

Devin Green

Devin Green is a professional basketball player. He was undrafted out of Hampton University, and was signed by the Los Angeles Lakers as a free agent, appearing in 27 games in the 2005-2006 season. On October 30, 2006, he was waived by the Lakers...

 Steven Hart

External links

• http://www.shanghaisharks.cn/ Official Site (in Chinese)
• http://sports.sina.com.cn/cba/team/shanghai/index.shtml (in Chinese)