Chinese basketball player Yang on aims in rookie NBA season

China

Chinese basketball player Yang on aims in rookie NBA season

2025-10-01 17:19 Last Updated At：19:07

Portland Trail Blazers center Yang Hansen, the third Chinese basketball player to be selected in the first round of the United States' National Basketball Association (NBA) Draft, said he will work hard to play well in his rookie season.

Trail Blazers hosted its annual media day event at the Moda Center on Monday.

In an exclusive interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) on the sidelines of Trail Blazers' annual media day event at the Moda Center on Monday, Yang said he prides himself on his achievement and influence on other Chinese players and everything is going well with his life in Portland.

The event unofficially started a new season.

"Currently, everything is going well. My apartment and all other things are perfect," Yang said.

Yang told CGTN that he is working on getting his driver's license and improving his English skills by taking a class and talking more with his teammates on the court.

Standing at 2.18 meters, the 20-year-old was picked 16th in the first round of the draft in June, becoming the highest-ranked Chinese draft pick since Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian, who were selected No. 1 by the Houston Rockets in 2002 and No. 6 by the Milwaukee Bucks in 2007, respectively.

Yang enters the NBA after a pair of standout seasons with the Qingdao Eagles in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). During the 2024-2025 regular season, he averaged 16.6 points, 10.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 2.6 blocks and 1.0 steal per game, showcasing the all-around skills that intrigued NBA scouts. His passing ability, particularly from the high post, drew frequent comparisons to European big men.

"I believe more Chinese people will be inspired to play basketball overseas in their own attempts to improve themselves. I think it's my honor," Yang said.

Yang has already attracted attention by his brief spell with Portland during the NBA Summer League. But with the new season now fast approaching, his focus is on making the best of every playing opportunity, which may still be a challenge in his rookie season.

"I don't want to talk big. I will just try to be good on the court in every minute and every game," Yang said.

China launches Shenzhou-23 manned spaceship

China's Shenzhou-23 crewed spaceship blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the country's northwest on Sunday, sending three astronauts to its orbiting space station.

The spaceship, atop a Long March-2F carrier rocket, lifted off from the launch site at 23:08 Beijing Time (15:08 GMT).

The crew members consist of mission commander Zhu Yangzhu, and fellow astronauts Zhang Zhiyuan and Lai Ka-ying, who is also the first astronaut from China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

In another notable first, one of the crew members is set to undertake a year-long stay aboard the space station, double the usual duration of previous Shenzhou missions.

After entering orbit, the Shenzhou-23 spaceship will perform a fast automated rendezvous and docking with the radial port of the space station core module Tianhe, forming a combination of three modules and three spacecraft.

Shenzhou-23 marks the 40th flight of China's manned spaceflight program and the seventh manned flight mission since the Tiangong space station entered its application and development phase in late 2022.