Eric Bledsoe’s Chinese pro team disqualified for fixing playoff games
Eric Bledsoe‘s season came to an abrupt and wild end today in China. Bledsoe plays for the Shanghai Sharks in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) alongside fellow former NBA players Michael Beasley, Johnny O’Bryant, and Jamaal Franklin. Earlier today, the CBA announced that the Sharks and the Jiangsu Dragons have been disqualified from the playoffs for allegedly fixing games so that Bledsoe, who was in the midst of a four-game suspension, would be able to play earlier in the next round if the Sharks advanced.
The CBA Disciplinary and Ethics Commission accused the Sharks of “giving up” in the second half of Game Two of the play-in tournament so that Bledsoe would only miss one game if Sharks won Game Three. In Game Three, the Dragons demonstrated a “lack of competitive effort” in the final minutes, committing five straight turnovers and allowing the Sharks to go on a 10-0 run to win 108-104 and advance to the semifinals. Fans on Chinese social media were outraged afterward, with “match-fixing” trending on Weibo, a Twitter-like platform.
Both teams were fined five million Chinese yuan (approximately $727,000) and their coaches and general managers received multi-year bans. Bledsoe did not receive any punishment and took to Twitter this morning to clear his name of any wrongdoing.
NBA Hall of Famer Yao Ming now serves as president of the CBA and expressed his disappointment in the situation in a press conference.
“A quite saddening weekend,” Yao said, per China Daily. “Both teams have a long history. Jiangsu has competed in the CBA since its inaugural year (1995). Many milestone figures have been produced in the two teams’ history, especially some Basketball Hall of Famers. The more we talk about this, the more grief we will feel.”
Bledsoe averaged 17.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 5.6 assists per game for the Sharks this season. If you’re curious why he was suspended to begin with, well, so is Blesdoe. He and Ma Yong of the Beijing Royal Fighters got into a fight during a game earlier this month, but according to Bledsoe, it was Yong who struck first.
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