Recently, the Chinese Basketball Association announced the list of inductees of the 2023 Chinese Basketball Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony of this year's China Basketball Hall of Fame is scheduled to be held at the end of January 2024.

Industry insiders believe that the Chinese Basketball Hall of Fame is not only an evaluation mechanism, but also a respect for the history of Chinese basketball and a tribute to the legend. However, the Basketball Hall of Fame is not a simple honor incentive, not only needs to further improve the relevant selection mechanism to make the candidates deserved, but also strive to make the Hall of Fame give full play to the positive role of Chinese basketball in promoting Chinese basketball and become a "gas station" in the process of Chinese basketball moving to a high level.

Legends come from legacy

The reporter of "Workers' Daily" learned at the event site of the Chinese Basketball Association that the outstanding male athletes who entered the Chinese Basketball Hall of Fame this year are Huang Bailing, Zhang Weiping, and Kuang Lubin; Outstanding female athletes are Li Shihua, Liu Qing, and Li Xin; Liu Guiyi and Chen Daohong entered the hall as outstanding coaches; The combat basketball team of the 120th Division of the Eighth Route Army and the Chinese women's basketball team of the 1992 Olympic Games entered the hall as "special tribute collective" and "excellent collective" respectively. In addition, Gong Peishan entered the hall as a "special contributor".

It is reported that the above-mentioned list was recommended by nearly 500 members of the selection committee, and went through three stages: nomination, nomination and final review. The selection committee is composed of active athletes, retired athletes, coaches, referees and media professionals and other representatives of basketball practitioners.

In fact, this is not the first time that the Chinese Basketball Association has selected inductees. The Chinese Basketball Association began to actively promote the construction of the Chinese Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021, and selected the first batch of inductees last year. The 2022 China Basketball Hall of Fame induction ceremony was held in April this year at the earliest existing basketball hall in China (formerly the Tianjin YMCA Dongma Road Club), and has achieved strong social repercussions.

Jiang Jian, an expert in the Hall of Fame project, told reporters that the Chinese Basketball Hall of Fame is the honorary history of Chinese basketball, and it is a hall for inscribed, paid tribute and inherited to individuals and collectives who have made outstanding contributions to the development of basketball in China. Compared with the previous ones, "the characteristics of this selection are the implementation of the principle of equal and full number of men and women, and at the same time, the personal wishes of the nominees are also solicited."

Li Yuanwei, chief expert of the Hall of Fame Committee, believes that legends come from inheritance. "The construction of the Hall of Fame will play an exemplary role for the popularization and promotion of Chinese basketball, especially for the development of youth basketball, and is a kind of inheritance of the history of Chinese basketball."

Chinese Basketball "Heavy Weapon"

According to Yao Ming, chairman of the Chinese Basketball Association, the original intention of establishing the Chinese Basketball Hall of Fame is to "find roots". "Any business needs to know where you come from, who you are, and where we are going. Chinese basketball needs this annual ritual to review, integrate, reflect, and remember, and with an exact past, it can firmly face the future. The Hall of Fame will become the 'heavy weapon' of Chinese basketball. ”

Xu Jicheng, one of the leaders of the Hall of Fame Committee, believes that many basketball celebrities and wonderful histories have been lost in the long history of Chinese basketball for more than 100 years due to the lack of records and inheritance. "As more historical materials are discovered, the history of Chinese basketball will be more complete and vivid, bringing confidence and encouragement to contemporary Chinese basketball. That's where the Hall of Fame should be. ”

Ma Yuenan, the former head coach of the Chinese women's basketball team, believes that the launch of the Hall of Fame will play a significant role in promoting the development of basketball and the inheritance of sports culture. "In terms of personal experience, Mou Zuoyun, Chen Wenbin, Cheng Shichun, Yu Bangji, Bai Baishen, Qian Chenghai, Yang Boyong and other seniors are all role models for the older generation of coaches I have come into contact with. The first thing I saw from them was the spirit of struggle and dedication. In addition, I think their cultural roots and grasp of the rules of basketball are greater advantages. ”

Since the beginning of this year, the Chinese men's national basketball team has been in poor shape, and its results have continued to be sluggish. In this regard, Li Yuanwei told reporters that the more difficult Chinese basketball is, the more it must find its spirit and soul. "History is the background color of the Hall of Fame, we must respect history, carefully sort it out, draw spirit and strength from it, and inspire generations of Chinese basketball people."

The mechanism still needs to be improved

Driven by generations of Chinese basketball people, the construction of the Chinese Basketball Hall of Fame is steadily advancing. However, industry insiders believe that as an activity with a recommendation attribute, it needs to work credibility, and the relevant mechanism still needs to be further improved.

According to Guo Yupei, one of the first batch of international basketball referees in New China, the Chinese Basketball Hall of Fame is both a happy event and a difficult event, because it involves the evaluation of many figures. "It is necessary to ensure that the entire recommendation process and results are comprehensive, open, fair, transparent, standardized, and fully extensive, professional, and authoritative, so as to convince the public. This mechanism should also fully listen to the voice of the society in the selection process and further improve it. ”

To Ma Yuenan's regret, in the two Hall of Fame nominees last year and this year, some outstanding basketball players were not eligible for the hall. Ma Yuenan proposed that the Chinese Basketball Hall of Fame could be divided into generations, from the 50s to the 90s of the last century, and there were several candidates in each era, "which not only reflects the development process, but also plays a role in cultural inheritance."

Xu Jicheng believes that the Hall of Fame is a promotion for generations of basketball workers, and it is also an incentive for the younger generation. "We want more basketball people to get involved in the Hall of Fame. After this year, the series will be diversified, and in addition to athletes and coaches, we will further increase the number of special contributors and pioneers. ”

Yao Ming said that it is very rare for the Chinese Basketball Hall of Fame to start from scratch, "In the next stage, we need to gradually improve the standards for the construction of the Hall of Fame, and at the same time pay attention to gathering the strength of all walks of life to jointly promote the development of the Hall of Fame project." I look forward to seeing the Chinese Basketball Hall of Fame lead the inheritance of Chinese basketball culture."

Liu Bing

Liu Bing