Below are the findings extracted from the research conducted on the migration factors that influence professional American basketball players to migrate to China to play in the CBA. The resulting information indicates that there are some common factors that influenced and motivated the American players involved in this research to migrate to China, while there were some that only affected a few players, along with some common themes that prove important to this study.
The motivations of migrant players cannot be reduced to any one causal factor, but rather, to a group of contributing factors with a series of interdependent processes (Elliott, 2012), multiple push-pull factors that directly affect their decisions to migrate. Based on the research questions, the data was organized based on the three levels of factors, personal factors, professional factors and country factors. The data was then split within each level into push factors and pull factors, each with numerous subcategories based on reoccurring themes. Refer to Appendix F to see the full list of the categories and their subcategories. Each category is detailed below.
Personal Push-Pull Factors
The first category of push-pull factors are identified based on the personal level, the personal reasons that motivated the American players to move to China and play in the CBA. These personal push-pull factors are the factors that personally motivated the American players to move from the U.S. to China. Through this study, there were only one personal factor that arose in the players’ replies, which was the ability to escape some of the pressures in the home country. Player 9 stated,
“I don’t have to deal with people that I don’t really feel like dealing with. In the States, they (friends and family) can just pull up, see what’s up…[but] you can do what you want out here [and] just chill.”
Personal push-pull factors did have a substantial impact on players’ decisions to migrate. However, professional push-pull factors emerged as the main driving motives that led American players to migrate to China.
Based on the players’ responses, financial benefits were the most discussed factor amongst American players. There are various types of financial benefits that
influenced their decisions to migrate, especially substantial salaries. All ten players expressed how salary was an attractive factor that positively affected their migration choices. Player 8 said his reason for migration was that “in China, you can make the same amount in Europe in half the time.” Player 7 concurred by saying, “It’s a lot of money over here and a good living.”
In addition to salary, other benefits were noted by many of the players as having an influence on their migration. As Player 7 said, “The opportunity over here presented itself, double the money and tax-free,” players can save money on paying American taxes. American players tend to get paid well playing professional basketball, averaging above $100,000 US per a seasonal contract (once a year). It is common for the CBA teams to provide foreign players with living accommodations, housing stipend and/or living assistance to players, such as a translator or driver.
Moreover, the team organizations also cover additional cost for their players such as hotel rooms, team travel and meals during road games, and more to help them while they are playing basketball in China.
In addition to their guaranteed salary, many teams reward players for great performances on the court. Many of the American players spoke about various bonus systems in place, varying based on the team and the organization’s finances. Player 2 simply said, “You play well here; they [will] reward you.” Player 8 detailed one form of rewards as “[for] every win, there a certain bonus that you get; in my contract, there’s a RMB$3,000 bonus, for every away win RMB$5,000.” Player 2 also stated that “the bonus is always good when you win… it makes the players play harder;
make the game more competitive.” Other performance-based rewards included, but not limited to, bonuses for consecutive team wins, team qualification to the league’s playoffs, progression through the playoffs, and based on individual statistics, such as points per a game (PPG), rebound per game (RPG), steals per game (SPG), and blocks per game (BPG).
Table 4.1.
Personal Push-Pull Factors
Professional Push-Pull Factors
All ten players mentioned numerous professional push-pull factors as motivators towards their decisions to move to China and play in the CBA. Because of the number of factors involved at the professional level, factors selected were based on the weight of the topic and the frequency or the amount of times each factor was mention by a player or the number of players that discussed these factors. Therefore, the professional push-pull factors have been categorized into the following subcategories:
“financial benefits,” “career benefits,” “CBA league structure,” and “career challenges,” which are displayed in Table 4.1 below. The first three subcategories are factors that positively influenced players’ choices to migrate, features of their profession that attracted players to their host country, but more specifically to their
“host league,” the CBA, which are pull factors. Then the last subcategory, “career challenges,” include the factors that pushed them away from the U.S. and professional leagues there that provided the American players with motivation to leave and look for other professional opportunities abroad, or push factors.
PERSONAL PUSH-PULL FACTORS Pressures from home
Salary
Performance Bonuses Living accommodations
Lower Taxes
Table 4.2.
Professional Push-Pull Factors
This research produced considerably more pull factors, the factors that attract a person to the host country, which seemed to motivate the American basketball players’ choices to migrate to China. In this research all ten players interviewed stated financial benefits, namely salary, being a major factor as to why they migrated to China. The pull factors uncovered through this research were categorized into three groups, based on similarities within the groups and difference between groups. These three categories of pull factors are detailed below.
Career Benefits
All the participants of this study discussed how having an opportunity to continue playing professional basketball as a major career benefit, contributing to their decisions to migrate to China. A lot of players stated that they wanted to be able to play for as long as possible, such as Player 2 who said, “I just wanted to play…this
PULL FACTORS PUSH FACTORS
Career Benefits CBA Structure Career Challenges Ability to keep playing
Star of team- responsibility Less wear and tear
on the body Injuries Love to play the game Professional goals-
to play in the NBA
is probably the best-fit, best option for me at the time.” Many of the players that were over 30 years old said they want to be able to play a few more years, since they are older and their bodies are getting worn down. Player 6 said of this, “If you don’t make the NBA and you want to continue your professional career playing basketball, you have to find a job or your agent finds you a job that’s lucrative or that meets your standards, and you go.” So the CBA is a good option to play because the league’s competition and training are not as strenuous on the body, like Player 10 said, “It’s not a lot of wear and tear on the body.” And with shorter seasons than other leagues, they’re able to extend their professional careers; more of which will be discussed in the CBA structure section.
Another professional pull factor that deals with career benefits is that American basketball players are able to be the stars on their team, being the highlighted player and looked to as the leaders of their teams. Player 9 was said happily about his opportunity to play, “I just want to play basketball…that’s the beautiful part of coming here, they play me and I play all these minutes, and enjoy the play.” Player 8 discussed having a bigger role on his CBA team as follows:
“Yea, you’re expected to do more. For me it’s an opportunity to play a lot.
Whereas the NBA, I was always coming off the bench, except for a few years, I started. It’s a chance to play basketball. I enjoy playing, so I get to play a lot of minutes and be a bigger part of the picture.”
Many American players were recruited because of their previous NBA experience and high status among the top players in the world, with some of the participants having played in the NBA as recent as the 2016-2017 season, and some still on an NBA roster at the time of this research. Player 8, who is a former NBA player, discussed how the CBA teams have higher expectations on foreign players as follows:
“I think imports are expected to do more. The imports are a big part of the Chinese game. The reason is, you are brought in to do more; your expectations are higher than the Chinese…I think the imports make a huge difference to a Chinese team. But I think if you have good imports with good Chinese players, that really helps. I say that’s the best combination.”
In addition, Player 3 mentioned how he can be creative on the court, replying, “On the court benefits, my playing style is real fast and trying to be real creative, basically. I get the chance to hone my creativity a lot here.” On the other hand, Player 10
discussed how he’s able to, even expected to in some case, to play various roles and positions on the court. He said, “You know in the NBA, you used to playing a certain type of way; I’m playing a role. Here you kind of got to do a lot and you play a lot.”
A couple of the players compared their basketball position in the CBA to when he played in the NBA as, sticking to one specific position (Forward, Center, Guard, etc.) in the NBA but having more freedom in the CBA or expected to control the ball regardless of his position. According to Player 4, foreign players can exhibit their skills and talents, by saying:
“You can really showcase your talent here because it’s what they expect. And then they want you to really perform well…In Europe and the NBA, you’re more of a role player…it more of a team concept. In Europe, you’re more just playing a role instead of being the man depended upon.”
CBA League Structure
The structure of the CBA and the season provided some pull factors that attracted the American basketball players to move to China, and more specifically in comparison to other leagues around the world. Many players mentioned different aspects of the league’s structure, style of play, and the organizational structure of a team as positive influences that contributed to their migration decisions. All the participants mentioned that the CBA has a shorter season than all the other professional basketball leagues in the world, including the NBA. The CBA’s season is only seven months (October 28, 2017 - May 1, 2018), including playoffs and championship games, while the NBA is eight months (October 17, 2017 - June 8, 2018) and the European leagues last about ten months comparatively (https://basketball.realgm.com/international/league/40/Chinese-CBA/players; NBA, 2017). As a result of the league’s short season, many players felt they have more time to rest, more time for their bodies to recover once the season ends, and the possibility to return to the NBA is a viable option. This factor was most surprising and has a number of effects, which will be further discussed in Chapter 5.
Other league structure-related factors consist of how player are related to their individual team experiences, but include team chemistry and team atmospheres, like when Player 5 stated, “I appreciate [what] the team and the organization for everything that they have done for me personally.” Player 1 discussed his relationship with his coach, saying, “My coach treats me like his son. He’s always joking, making
sure I’m ok. If I’m not feeling well, I can sit out from practice. They treat me like it’s home. For me, it’s great.”
“It’s great, but some of the Chinese [players] are a little quiet at first. But once they open up, they are respectful, really nice guys…Of course, it’s tough with the language barrier, that’s another big difference…I’ve never been on a team with as many people that don’t speak English. But luckily, we have a few guys from Taiwan and China who speak English and they can help translate for us. So without those guys, we would be in trouble. The team has been great, you know, sometimes it’s tough to communicate.
In addition, the American players also discussed the ability to get along with their team coaches and staff, and the handling missteps and injuries. Some players also mentioned how they feel less pressure coming from the coaches than their Chinese counterparts, regardless of the expectations to lead their team to victories and performance statistics.
Based on the interviews, there are other implications to having a shorter season, such as players being able to return home for half of the year. Players are able to spend more time with their families, who are back in the United States. Other players see their free time as business opportunities, or can progress in other areas in life. Player 10 mentioned being able to go home, “The main thing for me is just enjoying my family because 6 months here and 6 months at home.” In addition, Player 9mentioned his personal business and using his off-season time productively, stating, “Plus, I have a business back home. So me being 6 months off is good.”
Career Challenges
Many of the players had difficulty or adversities that affected their professional opportunities and abilities to play in the United States or in the NBA. These challenges became push factors that forced many of the players to leave their home country and pursue other professional opportunities in other countries, and in the end chose the CBA as their league of choice in which to play. There were various push factors present in this study that the host country provided to the situation that motivated the American basketball players to move from the U.S., all which are shown about in Table 4.1. The primary factor was the lack of opportunities in the U.S., specifically in the NBA; many of these players did not have an option of playing
in the NBA during the 2017-2018 season. The current push factors also include: low pay in the previous league, physical injuries, and team discord on previous teams.
Of the professional level push factors, the one that stood out the most was the lack of basketball playing opportunities in the USA, which nine out of ten players mentioned during their interviews. Many American basketball players aspire to obtain a professional basketball career in the NBA. When that option is not available, players are forced to look elsewhere and explore options overseas in other countries. Player 4 said, “If you don’t make the NBA, and you want to continue your professional career playing basketball. You have to find a job or your agent finds you a job that’s lucrative or that meets your standards, and you go.” Player 7 discussed his injury as a reason for going to China, saying, “at the beginning of the season, I had a injury, and I had knee surgery.” Player 5 also dealt with injuries in the previous season while playing in the NBA and stated that he “had a couple surgeries down the line last year.
So, teams [weren’t] calling (in the NBA).”
Country Push-Pull Factors
This category of country push-pull factors includes the factors that drew players to China, but more so on a country and cultural level, not having to do with basketball or professional influences. This category also consists of the responses that may not directly reflect the players’ reasons for migrating to China, but depict their experiences while playing basketball in China, factors that arose once they already moved to China. Most of the participants described their experiences in China as positive and valuable, stating that they have enjoyed their experiences in China, although they have not the opportunity to explore their current “home city.” Player 4, who had played in China multiple seasons said, “You get to experience the culture, see the great wall, see some things that you probably would never see as an American.” Player 2 discussed being a forerunner and doing things that is not common for professional basketball playing, migrating to another country. He said,
“It’s an experience, something most other [foreign] players haven’t done, like an accomplishment...being able to do something most people didn’t do.”
Most of the players pointed out various ways that they had to adjust to life in China, such as food, lifestyle, and the local culture. Many of the players mentioned the difference in food in China as a big adjustment, with Player 5 saying he had to
adjust to “the food. You can’t eat everything [here].” While some players felt it was a big adjustment moving to China, like Player 10 who said, “When I got here, I liked it.
[It was a] big adjustment, but I like it,” others were able to adjust with ease. For Player 1, he was excited about moving to China and didn’t have any problems adapting to life in China. He commented, “I like to indulge in cultures. So it wasn’t hard for me. I was excited.” Conversely, Player 4 remarked in detail about his experiences in China saying that he had to adjust to
“food, people, [and them] staring at you everywhere you go. Even though [there are] foreigners here, but it’s not really diverse when you get outside the major cities. So people staring at you everyday, taking pictures, or you can’t understand anything the people are saying. Trying to find something to eat before practice, after practice, before games…I think it got better as time went on, but I think there is more western food here now than there was in 2009.”
In terms of basketball, some players were less concerned about life in China and more concerned about basketball and their careers. A lot of the players seemed motivated primarily by basketball and their career. Player 4 stated,
“The biggest thing for me: I was kind of nervous about the playing and doing well, that’s it, more than anything…The biggest thing for me, just coming out and being able to play and perform well. being that young and first time overseas…I wanna play well, so I can earn a living and change life, kind of thing.”
Prior to migration, some of the players did obtain knowledge about China and the CBA, which did not hinder their choices to move from home, if anything, positively influenced their choice to move to China. Player 6 said, “I have some good friends that played here in the past, and they had good things to say about it. They say it’s a lot of fun, good competition, [and] you get to play a lot, kinda play your game.”
Prior to migration, some of the players did obtain knowledge about China and the CBA, which did not hinder their choices to move from home, if anything, positively influenced their choice to move to China. Player 6 said, “I have some good friends that played here in the past, and they had good things to say about it. They say it’s a lot of fun, good competition, [and] you get to play a lot, kinda play your game.”