CBA team experiences the NBA

WASHINGTON — The Washington Wizards kicked off their 2017 preseason with a 126-96 victory over the Guangzhou Long-Lions of the Chinese Basketball Association Monday night, in a reunion of sorts after nearly 40 years.

Back in 1979, the then-Washington Bullets became the first NBA team to visit and play in China.

"It was a great thrill for us to be there. We had a fantastic trip — we started in Beijing and went to Shanghai. We learned a lot about the Chinese people, culture and your fantastic country," said Jerry Sachs, general manager of the Washington Bullets at the time.

Zhong Naixiong, owner of the Guangzhou Long-Lions, a 15-year-old student at the time, recalled how excited he was when the NBA team visited China.

"We, the Chinese basketball fans, didn't know that there was an NBA with some of the best teams in the world until their sensational and eye-opening visit," Zhong added.

"We come here (Washington) to learn. It was almost unthinkable in the past that we can actually compete in NBA preseason games. But now with us playing here, you can see that China has become a favored market of the NBA," Zhong said.

Basketball is among the most popular team sports in China. More than 750 million people in China watched NBA programming on TV last season, according to a Xinhua News Agency report in June.

"We are honored to have these guests, too," said Tommy Sheppard, senior vice-president of basketball operations for the Washington Wizards. "The growth there (in China) is tremendous."

"It's great opportunity for the two teams to come, and for cultural exchange certainly, but it's all about basketball, and basketball is a universal language. We know exactly how they feel, they know how we feel, how it feels to get ready for a game, how it feels when you lose a game, how it feels when you win a game, so we have that same commonality," Sheppard said.

For Fan Ziming, center for the Long-Lions, to play against the Wizards was a golden opportunity to sample the NBA's intensity, gain some experience and learn a thing or two.

"The things I learn from this game will help with my basketball career as well," Fan said.

Later this week, the NBA's Golden State Warriors and Minnesota Timberwolves will face off respectively in Shenzhen and Shanghai on Thursday and Sunday.

Yuan Yuan in Washington contributed to this story.