Basketball Is Serious Business In China
By wchung | 22 Feb, 2025

A "Too Tall" Chinese Player Causes Riots

It seems that when you’re living under the jurisdiction of a tightly-controlling government, any little thing might set you over the edge and incite within you riotous passions. At least that’s how it seemed to be in Guangdong, China this week when the destruction of cars and creation of an angry mob all was caused by a “too tall” player in a short man’s basketball league.

I saw a news article reporting on the riotous nature of the fans of the Dream Basketball League in China, a league that spurns the notion that you have to be taller to be good at basketball. They cap the maximum height of the league at 1.88 meters, or just about 6’2”. Or maybe they’re just a bunch of short Chinese men who got tired of being punked on by their more vertically inclined brethren and decided to create a league that leveled the playing field, if you will. Whatever the case, all I know is I wouldn’t mind joining up. I’m a relatively normal height myself (just about 5’10.5” on a good day) and basketball would be a whole lot easier if I were on the taller side in reference to the rest of the competition.

What happened was that in order to gain a competitive edge, a team from Huizhou signed a player from the Chinese Basketbal Association. Relatively harmless move, right? You want the best players to make your team better. That’s common sense. Well, it just so happens that this player is none other than three-time national slam dunk champion Hu Guang, officially listed at a height of 1.95 meters or just about 6’4”. In a league of sub-6’2” players, the 6’4” slam dunk champion shines all the more brightly and the more vigorously competing teams cry foul. Teams forfeited their games in protest and fans, feeling gypped, took to the streets.

I just found the whole situation so amusing. Of all the things that could cause the Chinese to become so impassioned and lay waste to automobiles, it’s that a basketball player in a short league is 2” too tall. The tallest man in the NBA is Chinese and revered throughout the nation. Isn’t it ironic that the tallest man in the DBL is looked down upon? All I know is, the Chinese are a little too serious about their sports.