Shenzhen Leopards
The Shenzhen New Century Liebao Club, also known as Shenzhen Marco Polo or Shenzhen Leopards (previously Shenzhen Aviators) are a Chinese professional basketball team which plays in the Southern Division of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). New Century is the club's corporate sponsor.
| Shenzhen Leopards | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Leagues | CBA | ||
| Founded | 2003 | ||
| History | Dongguan New Century Leopards (2003–2015) Shenzhen New Century Leopards (2015–2019) Shenzhen Aviators (2019–2021) Shenzhen Leopards (2021–present) | ||
| Arena | Shenzhen Universiade Sports Centre | ||
| Capacity | 18,000[1] | ||
| Location | Longgang, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China | ||
| Team colors | White, Red, Gold | ||
| Head coach | Zheng Yonggang (郑永刚) | ||
| Championships | None | ||
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| Shenzhen Leopards | |||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 深圳領航者 | ||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 深圳领航者 | ||||||
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The team is based in Longgang District, Shenzhen, Guangdong, and plays its home games at the Shenzhen Universiade Sports Centre (SUSC).
History
The club was founded in 2003 as Dongguan New Century Leopards and was initially located in Dongguan, Guangdong. After twelve seasons, the team relocated to nearby Shenzhen in 2015. Success came early in their existence for the Leopards, as they were the runners-up in the 2004 Chinese Basketball League (CBL) championship, and were promoted to the Chinese Basketball Association (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, and was named the MVP of the tournament.[2]
On December 26, 2013, Bobby Brown scored a franchise-record 74 points in a game against Sichuan Blue Whales.[3]
Current roster
Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.
| Shenzhen Leopards roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Updated: October 9, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Zijie[4]
- Askia Booker[4]
References
- "Shenzhen Universiade Sports Center".
- Robbins, Len (February 15, 2012). "Lin found game on other side of the world". The New York Post. Retrieved August 9, 2012.
- Bobby Brown scores 74 points and the game winner in China!
- Shenzhen beats Qingdao, Ningbo suffers 9th straight defeat China Internet Information Center, 6 November 2021. Accessed 8 November 2021.