Gong Xiaobin

Gong Xiaobin (simplified Chinese: 巩晓彬; traditional Chinese: 鞏曉彬; pinyin: Gǒng Xiǎo Bin; born November 23, 1969 in Jinan, Shandong), is a retired Chinese professional basketball player who enjoyed an outstanding career in the Chinese Basketball Association. In 1990 he was chosen as one of China's 50 all-time great basketball players.

Life and career

In 1982 he began play for the Shandong Province youth soccer team and in 1986, at the age of 17, was selected to the Chinese national U-19 team. In 1988 Gong competed in a national urban basketball tournament and was chosen as an outstanding player; he was also listed as one of China's top ten basketball players of that year; in 1989 at the age of 20 Gong joined the China national basketball team.

As a member of the national basketball team, Gong competed for China in the 1989 Asian Games, the 1994 FIBA World Championships and in the 1996 Olympics. In 2002 at the age of 33 he was still playing internationally, representing China in the Asian games and the FIBA world tournament.