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recently, in the physical fitness test held by cba, some players failed to pass the physical fitness test, which attracted outside attention. among them was yang zheng, the "second round no. 1 pick" who was just selected by sichuan men's basketball team this year.

yang zheng is a popular basketball player with 3 million fans on short video platforms. he is well-known online in streetball circles, amateur basketball circles, and among fans. the entire process from his announcement of participating in the cba draft to his final selection has received huge attention on various platforms.

when yang zheng was selected, many fans questioned whether he really had the ability to play in the cba professional league.

when yang zheng failed the physical fitness test, the fans' impression was further "confirmed": "it is true that not everyone can play professionally if they want to."

does this mean that yang zheng is facing "unemployment" before he even starts playing?

yang zheng was selected with the first pick in the second round of the 2024 draft. photo/yang zheng sg weibo

multiple scores 0 points

public information shows that yang zheng, who was born in 1993, is 31 years old this year and 1.96 meters tall. during his middle school years, yang zheng received professional training at a sports school, but initially did not choose to pursue a career in basketball.

in recent years, yang zheng has gained the attention of fans through his outstanding performances in streetball and amateur competitions. the "addition" of short video dissemination has made him famous on the internet, and yang zheng has also been invited to participate in some basketball variety shows. many basketball fans and professional players believe that yang zheng is already a "top star" among amateur basketball players.

at the 2024 cba draft held on july 27 this year, the sichuan men's basketball team selected yang zheng with the first pick in the second round (21st overall). since then, yang zheng has transformed from an amateur player to a "quasi-professional player" (who has not yet played in the official league). due to his draft pick, yang zheng is also called the "second round no. 1 pick" by fans.

about a month after yang zheng became the "second round no. 1 pick", the cba announced the physical test requirements for players in the new season. it was this physical test that exposed yang zheng's gap between himself as an amateur player and a professional player.

the specific items of the physical test are: 2-minute intensity shooting, weighted bench press, weighted squat and special speed endurance. among them, the special speed endurance is also called 17 shuttle runs (hereinafter referred to as "17 shuttle runs"), which requires 4 sets of running, with a 2-minute rest between each set, and the results are calculated based on the average time of the 4 sets. according to yang zheng's height of 1.96 meters, his corresponding qualified score is 64 seconds.

in the four sets of shuttle runs on the day of the physical test, yang zheng's score for the first set was 59.81 seconds, and his score for the second set was 70.72 seconds. after 17% off in the two sets, yang zheng was no longer able to support the remaining two sets of tests and chose to give up, ultimately getting no results.

in another physical fitness test, the 2-minute intensive shooting test, yang zheng shot 8 of 21 in the first round and 7 of 22 in the second round. he also received no score because he did not reach the required 24 shots.

yang zheng's shuttle run physical test results publicized/video screenshot

in other tests, yang zheng scored full marks in the squat event. regarding yang zheng's performance in the physical test, basketball commentator yang yi told china news weekly that although the scientific nature of the cba physical test is still under discussion, the fact that most players passed the physical test under the unified standard also proves that for professional players who have received systematic training, the physical test is not difficult in nature.

combining yang zheng's performance in the physical test, yang yi believes that yang zheng seems to lack experience in details such as physical energy distribution, step measurement, and turning techniques when running back and forth, which may be related to yang zheng's delay in training with the team after being selected by the sichuan men's basketball team. "yi jinhong, who is also a 'net celebrity player', has not played in the cba for almost the entire season, but has always held himself to the standards of a professional player, so he passed the physical test in one go, very easily."

regarding his failure to pass the physical test, yang zheng recently responded publicly that when he participated in the cba draft in july, the relevant policy was "players over 30 years old are exempt from the test", but after being selected, the chinese basketball association suddenly announced the physical test policy, and he was somewhat "caught off guard."

"preparing for the physical test (item) training requires a long period of time, and i have tried my best. apart from work, i train every day as long as i am not busy." yang zheng said that he even "paid out of his own pocket" to hire a trainer for individual training.

china newsweek learned from the basketball industry that the so-called "work" yang zheng mentioned was a number of commercial activities that had been signed and scheduled a long time ago. if he focused on training and turned down related work, he would have to bear the breach of contract compensation. therefore, yang zheng failed the physical test, not only because his own strength did not meet the requirements of a professional player, but also because there were too many off-court affairs that affected his systematic training.

most professional athletes are stress-free

compared with yang zheng’s “dilemma” in the physical test, most cba professional players completed it easily.

the chinese basketball association announced the physical fitness test guidelines for the 2024-2025 season on august 13. the physical fitness test changed the previous rule of "random testing" of some players of each team, requiring all cba players, except for the national three-on-three basketball players participating in the paris olympics, to pass the physical fitness test before they can "take office." as yang zheng said, the previous clause of "exemption from testing for veterans over 30 years old" has also been abolished.

on september 17, the day of the mid-autumn festival, the first round of physical tests for the new season of the cba was completed. china news weekly reviewed the entire process and found that except for a small number of players from cba teams who were unable to appear at the test site due to injuries, training camps, etc., the pass rate of the remaining players who participated in the test was extremely high, and there was no large-scale failure to pass.

all players of the qingdao men's basketball team passed the physical test. wang ruize, the team's pitcher, made 22 of 25 shots in two minutes, becoming the first player to get a perfect score in the physical test. the defending champion liaoning men's basketball team, except for four national team training players who failed to participate in the physical test, all other players also passed.

it is worth mentioning that many cba veterans who have been plagued by injuries are also trying hard to persevere and "grit their teeth to get through it."

beijing shougang men's basketball team captain zhai xiaochuan only trained systematically for three weeks after his return from injury, and finally "passed with difficulty" under targeted special training.

shandong men's basketball center tao hanlin revealed that he "barely passed" by losing nearly 50 kilograms. according to tao hanlin, the new coach qiu biao set a "rule" after he came to the shandong team. if the weight before training is higher than the day before, he will run on the track and field before training. in two months, tao hanlin was quite strict in both training and diet. in the end, he passed the physical test and got the "job certificate", which is indeed a proof of systematic training.

shandong men's basketball center tao hanlin revealed that he lost 45 kilograms and barely passed the physical test. picture/video screenshot

in addition to yang zheng, the failure of two national players, wang yibo and he xining, to pass the physical test also attracted attention. in response, the management of zhejiang chouzhou club and shenzhen new century leopard club, where the two played respectively, said that wang yibo failed to pass the physical test because he participated in a lot of warm-up matches and was physically tired, and he had a strain during the physical test; and he xining was disqualified because he failed to step on the sideline as required during one of the shuttle runs.

in fact, the cba's large-scale physical test was not a sudden idea. as early as 2011, gong luming, then director of the training and research department of the basketball management center, was the initiator of the physical test for all players. after several years of persistence, in 2016, the "tragedy" of li xiaoxu's achilles tendon rupture occurred during the cba physical test, and the chinese basketball association was forced to change the physical test for all players to "random testing." gong luming, as the current vice chairman of the chinese basketball association, has taken charge of the preparations for the competition again, and the resumption of the physical test for all players is considered "imperative" in the basketball industry.

regarding the physical test, gong luming recently publicly stated that the failure of some athletes to pass the test reflects that their usual training foundation is not enough. "old athletes like zhou peng can pass it in one try. we can't 'throw the baby out with the bathwater' just because some athletes fail, and think that there is something wrong with the test. it's not the test that has a problem, but the athletes."

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after yang zheng failed the physical test, some fans who supported yang zheng thought that it would be unfair for an amateur player to close the door to his "dream".

however, most fans believe that, against the backdrop of the chinese men's basketball team's deteriorating performance, it is only natural for the chinese basketball association to set physical fitness standards and eliminate those players who "can't run", "can't shoot accurately" and are just filling in the gaps.

in this regard, fu zhenghao, a basketball industry practitioner, told china news weekly: "although players and fans have different views on the cba's full resumption of physical examinations, when the chinese basketball association proposed this plan, none of the 20 cba clubs objected, and many of the club general managers also clearly expressed their active support."

fu zhenghao revealed that during the off-season in the past few years, some club management had reported that some players lacked self-discipline, some players refused to participate in the team's unified summer training with various excuses, and the quality of their own training was uneven.

"although the cba draft selects some players with internet fame to increase the team's topicality and attention, these players obviously do not have the cba competitiveness and often do not get a chance to play throughout the season. therefore, many cba managements believe that physical tests are indeed the threshold that can weed out the dross and retain the essence," said fu zhenghao.

yang zheng plays in an amateur basketball match. photo/yang zheng sg weibo

correspondingly, yang zheng’s other expression when responding to the physical test controversy is quite intriguing.

"if i had known there would be a physical test, i would not have run for election."

"i went (to run for election) just to see what the cba is all about."

such a "frivolous" expression has further led to doubts from the outside world about yang zheng's motivation to become a professional player. is trying to become a professional player a "fail-or-fail" thing or a "risk-taking" thing?

in yang yi's opinion, whether yang zheng really wants to become a professional player is still a question mark. "maybe yang zheng really wants to play in the cba, but when he has to bear huge economic losses as the price, whether he still really wants to play is another matter."

before yang zheng's physical test, zhang ning, who plays for the cba shanxi men's basketball team and is a member of the chinese three-person men's basketball national team, once asked a "soul-searching question": "whether you are pursuing your dreams or don't care about making money, if you want to play in a professional arena and be respected, the first step is to pass the physical test."

according to the announcement previously released by the cba, the cba will have one more make-up test before the start of the season and one more after the fifth round of the season. including the completed physical test, if the three tests fail, the cba will not arrange another test.

yang zheng still has two more chances to become a professional player and step onto the cba court. the subsequent physical test results may show whether yang zheng really respects the word "professional".