Liu Minxia

A FORMER professional basketball player, American Eddie Pittman said he couldn’t live without playing the sport.

After coming to Shenzhen in July 2004, following his retirement from a professional Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) basketball team in Nanjing due to a serious knee injury, Pittman started looking for people to play basketball with.

“I have played basketball for 25 years. For me, playing basketball is more than a hobby. It’s a lifestyle,” Pittman said. Before moving to China, Pittman played for an exhibition team named Quest based in Houston the United States.

Pittman decided to set up an expat basketball team in November and named it Gui Lao, or foreigners. Now the team has 13 core members from different countries. The team practices in Shekou every Thursday night.

“It’s real fun to play with the team and I enjoy it after working so hard during the day,” said Terry Omata, one of the players.

“I played with Chinese teams, but I didn’t like it because the Chinese rules are a bit different from ours. They grab a lot,” said Matthew Kowalak, a 27-year-old American who plays center for Gui Lao.

With players from the United States, Canada, France, Australia, New Zealand and a few other countries, the team attracts many Chinese spectators. Some even want to join the practice sessions.

“One of the players is my daughter’s English teacher. I heard about their team and want to join them,” a middle-aged Chinese man surnamed Wang said, after practicing with the team on a Thursday night.

The fun comes at a price. The rent for the indoor facility in Shekou, which Pittman says is the best in Shenzhen, is 560 yuan (US$79.67) for two and a half hours, very expensive compared with outdoor court space. “Most Chinese do not see the need of playing indoors. But to foreigners, especially Americans, we usually play indoors, rarely outdoors. Outdoor basketball is very harmful to the bones and joints. So my Gui Lao team will almost always play indoors,” Pittman said. “We split the cost, and each one pays about 35 yuan depending on how many players come.”

Besides the weekly practice, Pittman also arranges for the team to play against local Chinese teams and even participate in some international tournaments. “We have just finished playing a 14-week basketball league in Hong Kong. We lost in the championship to another foreign team,” Pittman said. “As of now I am organizing games with the Li Ning professional developmental team in Bao’an, Chinese club teams from Guangzhou, China Merchants Bank team and Shenzhen University team. We welcome any club team that is interested.”

Pittman said he believed that the Chinese were excellent basketball players. “This is why I decided to train with the Li Ning team to help these young Chinese basketball players develop their ability faster,” he said. “I also hope to assist in Chinese basketball teams going abroad and playing games in other countries, starting with the United States.”

He has started realizing his dream by organizing basketball camps. Having organized five camps in Shenzhen, Pittman hopes to hold camps in other parts of China and teach more young Chinese basketball skills.