Embracing Talent: CunBA Provides Platform for Aspiring Basketball Players

China’s Taipan It’s game day in this remote village in southwestern China, and the atmosphere is electric.

Teams from all over China are competing to win the title of champions of the “CunBA,” a grassroots version of the National Basketball Association whose name is a play on the Chinese word “cun,” which means “village,” in front of thousands of fans on an outdoor court tucked in the rugged hills of Guizhou province, and with millions more watching online.

China is a country that loves basketball so much that the NBA still broadcasts games there in spite of previous political unrest. The Chinese Basketball Association is the country’s professional men’s league, though many fans have been turned off by recent accusations of corruption and match-fixing.

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The CunBA, which has gained national attention and Taipan has declared itself the capital, is seen by some as a purer form of the sport. Douyin, China’s equivalent of TikTok, is where livestreamed games are seen by millions of fans who may not be familiar with this small community in one of the poorest provinces in the nation.

NBA players like Jimmy Butler of the Miami Heat, who visited Taipan in July of last year, have even been drawn to them.

The spectators are crammed into the stands, munching on meat skewers, noodles, and sunflower seeds. The players are amateurs.

The fans, who are largely from the surrounding provinces or locals of various ages, include farmers and women dressed in the traditional garb of the Miao ethnic minority, some of whom are carrying infants on their backs. Announcers cheer every dribble, drive, and dunk as they wave clappers and bang pots and pans, supporting their teams in a variety of dialects of Chinese while holding umbrellas in the rain.

Here, there are no significant sponsorships or contracts. None of the players are really compensated. Instead, the winning teams are rewarded with roasted meat, local delicacies and even cows and other live animals.

Despite having played basketball for ten years, 27-year-old Sam Chen is new to the CunBA. He is a member of a 12-person squad that represents Guangdong’s southern province and his hometown of Dalang.

“It’s very special for us to represent our village to show our talent in basketball,” said Chen, a cook whose favorite NBA team is the Lakers.

The activities, according to 43-year-old Long Chen, a teacher from the adjacent city of Kaili, were “a way for everyone to get together.”

When asked whose team he was rooting for, he replied, “I guess all of them.”

For many years, Taipan has been the site of yearly basketball competitions; but, in the last few years, the events have begun to attract viewers from outside the area.

When major games like the October finals roll around, teams and supporters travel hundreds of kilometers, causing Taipan’s population to soar from 1,200 to almost 20,000. Large screens outside broadcast the games for anyone unable to enter the stands.

As a result, a new tourism industry has emerged around the games. Up to the court entrance is a busy street lined with food vendors, where a new CunBA hotel is currently being built. A souvenir store offers hats, keychains, jerseys, and other items, and a market is being built up to highlight regional cuisines and Miao relics.

Sam Chen stated that while he was originally dreaming of playing in the NBA, he is currently honored to play in China’s village league as a representative of his hometown.

“I’ve thought of this in my very young age,” he said, “but now I just participate in the CunBA with my brothers and show my talent.”