The Shenzhen New Century Liebao Club, also known as Shenzhen Marco Polo or Shenzhen Leopards (previously Shenzhen Aviators) are a

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

team which plays in the Southern Division of the

Chinese Basketball Association The Chinese Basketball Association (), often abbreviated as the CBA, is the first-tier professional men's basketball league in China. The league is commonly known by fans as the CBA, and this acronym is even used in Chinese on a regular basis ...

(CBA). New Century is the club's corporate sponsor. The team is based in Longgang District,

Shenzhen Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern province ...

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

, and plays its home games at the

Shenzhen Universiade Sports Centre Shenzhen Universiade Sports Centre (), also known as Shenzhen Universiade Centre, Longgang Universiade Sports Centre, or Longgang Stadium, is a multi-use sport facilities complex in Longgang, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. The sports centre was com ...

(SUSC).

History

The club was founded in 2003 as Dongguan New Century Leopards and was initially located in

Dongguan Dongguan (; ) is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong Province, China. An important industrial city in the Pearl River Delta, Dongguan borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou to the north, Huizhou to the northeast, Shenzhen to the ...

. After twelve seasons, the team relocated to nearby

in 2015. Success came early in their existence for the Leopards, as they were the runners-up in the 2004

Chinese Basketball League The National Basketball League () is a professional basketball minor league in China, called Chinese Basketball League (CBL) before 2006. It is commonly known as the NBL, and this name (spelled out in letters) is often used even in Chinese langua ...

(CBL) championship, and were promoted to the

(CBA) for the 2005–06 season. In its first season in the CBA in 2005–06, Dongguan finished in seventh and last place in the South Division, and was out of the playoffs. The team would soon battle its way to respectability, however, becoming somewhat regular participants in the CBA's postseason over the ensuing years. In July 2011, NBA point guard Jeremy Lin played for the team at the

ABA Club Championship The ABA Club Championship was an Asian basketball tournament for professional clubs, organised by the Asian Basketball Association (ABA) under Dr. Carl Men Ky Ching. The ABA is not to be confused with FIBA Asia which Dr. Ching had also once presi ...

, and was named the

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

of the tournament. On December 26, 2013,

Bobby Brown Robert Barisford Brown (born February 5, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter and dancer. Brown, alongside frequent collaborator Teddy Riley, is noted as one of the pioneers of new jack swing: a fusion of hip hop and R&B. Brown started h ...

scored a franchise-record 74 points in a game against

Sichuan Blue Whales The Sichuan Jinqiang Blue Whales (sometimes spelled Whale) (四川金强蓝鲸), also known as Sichuan Jinqiang or Sichuan Jinrong Industry, are a professional basketball team based in Wenjiang District, Chengdu, Sichuan, China, which plays in ...

.Bobby Brown scores 74 points and the game winner in China!
/ref>

Current roster

Notable players

- Set a club record or won an individual award as a professional player.
- Played at least one official international match for his senior national team at any time.
* Shen ZijieShenzhen beats Qingdao, Ningbo suffers 9th straight defeat
China Internet Information Center, 6 November 2021. Accessed 8 November 2021. *

Askia Booker Askia Toussaint Booker (born August 31, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for the Shenzhen Aviators of the Chinese Basketball Association. He played college basketball for the Colorado Buffaloes as a point guard. In his senior y ...

References

External links

Shenzhen New Century Leopard Club at CBA website
Chinese Basketball Association teams Sport in Dongguan Sports teams in Guangdong Basketball teams established in 2003 2003 establishments in China {{PRChina-basketball-team-stub