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 Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

team based in

Wenjiang District Wenjiang District () is one of 11 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province, Southwest China, covering part of the western suburbs. It is bordered by Qingyang District to the east, Shuangliu County t ...

Chengdu Chengdu (, ; Simplified Chinese characters, simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively Romanization of Chi ...

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, which plays in the North 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 ...

. The Jinqiang Group is the club's corporate sponsor while its mascot is a

blue whale The blue whale (''Balaenoptera musculus'') is a marine mammal and a baleen whale. Reaching a maximum confirmed length of and weighing up to , it is the largest animal known to have ever existed. The blue whale's long and slender body can ...

. In 2016, the team won the CBA Finals in their first appearance in the championship series, defeating the

Liaoning Flying Leopards The Liaoning Flying Leopards (), also known as the Liaoning Shenyang Sansheng Flying Leopard Club or Liaoning Bengang ( simplified Chinese: 辽宁本钢), are a Chinese professional basketball team based in Hunnan District, Shenyang, Liaoning ...

4–1 in the best of seven series. They became the fifth different club to claim the title in the league's 21 seasons of existence, and the fastest expansion squad to ever do so, winning the title in just their third campaign in the CBA.

History

The team spent the first four years of its existence a member of the higher-tier Chinese National Basketball League, until getting "promoted" ahead of the 2013–14 CBA season, after winning the NBL championship in 2013. Affectionately referred to by many local fans as the ''Sichuan Army (川军)'', the club received international media attention during the 2014–15 CBA season, after signing former

NBA All-Star The National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star Game is an annual exhibition basketball game. It is the main event of the NBA All-Star Weekend. Originally, the All-Star Game featured a conference-based format, featuring a team composed of al ...

Metta World Peace Metta Sandiford-Artest (born Ronald William Artest Jr.; November 13, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player. He was known as Ron Artest before legally changing his name to Metta World Peace in 2011 and later to Metta Sandifor ...

. Embracing his move to China, the man born as Ron Artest soon gave himself a new name, ''The Panda's Friend''. The team missed the CBA Playoffs for a second straight year, however, finishing 18th of 20 clubs with a record of 8–30, and despite telling reporters he "had indeed found a bit of inner peace in Sichuan", World Peace headed to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

after the campaign ended. His departure left the Blue Whales to adopt a different offensive approach for the 2015–16 CBA season. During the ensuing campaign, Sichuan would reach surprising success by finishing in third place in the regular season standings with a record of 30–8, and earning the third seed in the playoffs. The Blue Whales tied the

Xinjiang Flying Tigers The Xinjiang Guanghui Flying Tigers () is a professional basketball team based in Ürümqi, Xinjiang, China. The team play its home games at the Hongshan Arena, which has a capacity for 3,800 spectators. The club joined the Chinese Basketball ...

for the second-best record in the regular season, and matched up with them in the semi-final round of the playoffs. The team advanced to the 2016 CBA Finals against the

after sweeping the Guangsha Lions and the Xinjiang Flying Tigers in the first two rounds of the postseason. During the Finals, the Blue Whales lost their first game against the top-seeded Flying Leopards, before winning four straight contests to claim their first-ever CBA championship. The series was notable for a very controversial situation, however, as a brawl between a group of Sichuan fans and several Liaoning players erupted at a hotel lobby in Chengdu after Game Three. Footage of the incident went viral on numerous Chinese and international websites, and the league received scathing criticism from the country's media. The Blue Whales were fined by the CBA for not providing adequate security, while the Flying Leopards that were involved in the fight were to be disciplined at the start of the following season.

Hamed Haddadi Hamed Ehdadi Haddadi ( fa, حامد حدادی, , born May 19, 1985) is an Iranian professional basketball player for Sichuan Blue Whales of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He plays at the center position and is 7'2" (2.18 meters) tall a ...

would also be the first Asian to not be born in a Chinese providence to be named the

CBA Finals MVP The Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) Finals MVP is the annual award that is handed out at the end of each Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) playoff finals series to the most valuable player of that season's CBA Finals. The award was first d ...

in 2016.

Roster

Notable players

Current Chinese players * Liu Wei (2016–present) Current International players *

(2013–2014, 2015–present) *

Mike Harris Michael Deane Harris (born January 23, 1945) is a Canadian retired politician who served as the 22nd premier of Ontario from 1995 to 2002 and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PC Party) from 1990 to 2002. During his time ...

(2015–present) Former International players *

Alan Ogg Raymond Alan Ogg (July 5, 1967 – November 1, 2009) was an American professional basketball player who spent three seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is the University of Alabama at Birmingham Blazers' career shot-blockin ...

(1996–1997 under the Sichuan Pandas name) *

Hassan Whiteside Hassan Niam Whiteside (born June 13, 1989) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Marshall Thundering Herd before being s ...

(2013) *

Chang Tsung-hsien Jet Chang (; born December 27, 1988) is a Taiwanese professional basketball player. A former player for the BYU–Hawaii Seasiders in Hawaii, United States, he led the Seasiders to a runner-up finish in the 2011 NCAA Division II tournament, in ...

(2013–2015) *

Hervé Lamizana Hervé Mamadou Lamizana (born January 22, 1981) is a former Ivorian professional basketball player who also has French citizenship. College career Lamizana played for the St. Patrick's basketball team in high school in Elizabeth, New Jersey, ...

(2013) *

Darius Johnson-Odom Darius "Darjo" Earvin Johnson-Odom (born September 28, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for Rapid București of the Liga Națională. In 2009, he transferred to Marquette University from Hutchinson Community College. As a sen ...

(2013) *

Michael Efevberha Michael James Efevberha (born August 22, 1984) is a Nigerian-American professional basketball player for Taoyuan Leopards of the T1 League. He played college basketball for the University of California, Irvine and California State University, Nor ...

(2013–15) * D.J. White (2013–2014) *

Daniel Orton Daniel Joseph Orton (born August 6, 1990) is an American professional basketball player. He is a 6-foot 10-inch, 265-pound Center (basketball), center who played college basketball for the Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball, University of Kentuck ...

(2014–2015) *

''(known in China as The Panda's Friend)'' (2014–2015) *

Josh Smith Joshua Smith (born December 5, 1985) is an American former professional basketball player who played 13 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Entering the NBA straight out of high school, Smith played nine seasons with the Atlant ...

(2016–2017) *

Tyler Hansbrough Andrew Tyler Hansbrough (born November 3, 1985) is an American professional basketball player for Cangrejeros de Santurce of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional. He has played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for seven seasons, as well ...

(2019–2020)

References

External links

Club profile
at EuroBasket.com {{CBA teams Chinese Basketball Association teams Sport in Chengdu Basketball teams established in 2009 2009 establishments in China