T-Mac blasts 'unfair' Chinese league
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E-mail Xinhua, February 20, 2013
Ex-NBA super star Tracy McGrady expressed his discontentment over the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) league and said he would skip the league's All-Star game for family issue.
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Qingdao players and coaches leave the court and go back to the locker room in protest of the referees' controversial decisions during their CBA League game against Bayi Fubang in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, Jan 9, 2012. |
"I think all teams should be treated fairly and this is how they should run their league," said the 33-year-old guard, who formerly played for NBA's Houston Rockets alongside the highly famed Chinese center Yao Ming.
"Fans paid to see the players, so it should let players indeed take the outcome and let the better team win," he added.
McGrady, as known as T-Mac, just finished his first CBA season with Qingdao Eagles who lost their last regular season match away to league leaders Guangzhou on Sunday and failed to grab a playoff berth.
The American announced through his twitter-like Chinese micro-blog on Monday afternoon that he won't show up at this weekend's CBA All-Star game though being voted to lead the North District squad.
"My grandmother has been sick for a couple of weeks, and I have to go home to see her. Therefore, I can't show up in the all star game," he said at his weibo.com account.
Reviewing his four-month CBA journey, McGrady said the only thing that made him uncomfortable was the secrets which go on with CBA.
"Fairness is the major issue on which CBA should improve, and it's beneficial for players," he said.
He even warned those "gold-diggers" from NBA to CBA that rules could be different across the ocean.
"If any NBA player wants to come to CBA, he should be a team player, a leader and a teacher," he said.
"Meanwhile, he should keep his motion in check. I mean there is fairness for any game in NBA, and if you come here, things might not go in your way," he said.
The major unfairness McGrady referred to was that the CBA referees didn't give a shot-clock violation penalty to the home team in key time of the match between Qingdao and Bayi on Jan. 9.
He called the referees "blind mice" and was banned for one match for the outburst.
McGrady averaged 25 points and 7.2 rebounds per game in his first CBA season, though his Qingdao Eagles finished the regular season as the bottom team.
"At the beginning of the season, it looked like I was such a big icon over there, all my teammates wanted me to come to save the day and they just sat back and watched T-Mac to do the magnificence. It's not the case," the seven-time NBA All-Star said.
The Eagles suffered 12 straight losses at the very beginning and McGrady said it was really a tough time for him.
"But these guys made great progression over the season and got back to their normal way of playing. The transformation is good and it's good to see their growth," McGrady said.
Referring what he did in the team's progression, McGrady said it's all about motivating.
"I told them if you don't play well, use that as a motivation and come back. Don't walk around with head down and feel sorry for yourself, because you are going to play and not going to be sorry for in next game," he said.
Another tough thing for McGrady was being away from his family.
"It is tough for me leaving four young kids at home and letting my wife take care all of them. My wife was able to come here during Christmas, but the time was not just right for my kids. I haven't seen my kids for four and half months," he said.
Asked whether he will stay in CBA next season, McGrady said he had three choices: "I can go back to NBA or stay in CBA, and I also can just sit home and watch basketball, staying with my family and coming to China to do some business."
McGrady said it was the passionate Chinese fans who made his CBA journey worthwhile.
"I am really grateful for them, and I am very humble for the love and appreciation Chinese fans show to me. I couldn't believe it, it's just overwhelming," he said.
No matter Qingdao was at home or away, as long as McGrady was there, there were always cheers for him.
"To all T-Mac fans in China, I just want to say thank you and I love you. You guys are with me for so long, and the support you give me is unbelievable and you guys are the best fans in the world," he said.
