The Looming Question Of CBA Finals MVP

Ask, and no one would question that Stephon Marbury has been the best player in the Chinese Basketball Association this season. And nobody would question that he’s been the best player in the first four games of the Finals.

But, thanks to two CBA rules, Marbury won’t be officially recognized by the league as such. Forget for a minute that at 3-1, the Finals aren’t over and with Games 6 and 7 both to be played (if necessary) in DongGuan, they are far from over if Beijing doesn’t finish the job tomorrow night at home. No matter who wins this, no foreigners will be officially etched into the CBA history books. Both the regular season and Finals MVP awards are only handed out to Chinese players.

If that seems unfair given Marbury’s mastery over the last four games, sit down, take a deep breath and repeat the three words that often can provide oneself with some closure in these situations: mei ban fa. There’s nothing that can be done to change it for now, and probably forever. For the last 17 years, that’s way the rule has always been.

Which means the chants of “M-V-P!” from the 18,000 strong at MasterCard Center are falling on deaf ears. No matter how much the people want it and no matter how much Marbury deserves it, the player standing on the podium at the end of this series will be Chinese.

“The rules on selecting our Finals MVP award  are all written in this season’s official league handbook,” said a CBA spokesperson earlier today. “They’re not the result of somebody just coming out and specially changing them. If someone has a suggestion, we’ll consider it after the season.”

In the handbook, the rules stipulate that the award can only be handed out to one of the top three Chinese scorers on the winning team. Heading into Game 5, those are Zhai Xiaochuan (11.5 points per game), Lee Hsueh-lin (9.9) and Zhu Yanxi (8.5).

So who wil it be? First, let’s go with who it probably won’t be. Lee Hsueh-lin, who in our eyes has been the most deserving due to his averages of (almost) 10 points, four assists and two iron lungs, likely won’t receive the award for political reasons. Remember: Lee is from Taiwan, a country China doesn’t recognize. And since the CBA is run by the government, I highly doubt Lee will get the trophy over his Chinese teammates.

And if that is indeed the case, that leaves us with either Zhai Xiaochuan or Zhu Yanxi. Zhu missed most of Game 4 with an injury, but has otherwise been pretty solid. Zhai has better numbers, but hasn’t been as consistent — in Games 2 and 3 on the road in DongGuan, he only managed a combined 10 points and three rebounds, and looked out of his element for large parts of both contests.

Obviously, there’s still some games to play so there’s still time for people to separate themselves from each other. With no clear-cut Chinese candidate, its obvious what should happen: They should give it to the guy who deserves it, Marbury. But since the CBA is bent on encouraging/promoting/hyping/propping their own players, we just have to move on and say: Mei ban fa and move onto other things, like why Su Wei is on the bench yawning during Game 4 of the CBA Finals.

Via (NiuBBall)

Tags: cba Lee Hsueh-Lin stephon marbury Zhai Xiaochuan Zhu Yanxi