2021–22 Chinese Basketball Association season

CBA
CBA
Season	2021–22
Duration	16 October–14 November 2021; 25 December 2021–28 January 2022; 1–22 March 2022 (Regular season); 1–26 April 2022 (Playoffs)
Number of games	38
Number of teams	20
Regular season
Season MVP	Hu Jinqiu (Zhejiang)
Finals
Champions	Liaoning Flying Leopards
Runners-up	Zhejiang Lions
Semifinalists	Guangdong Southern Tigers; Shanghai Sharks
Finals MVP	Zhao Jiwei (Liaoning)
	← 2020–21 2022–23 →

The 2021–22 CBA season was the 27th season of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). The regular season was reduced to 38 games for each team and was divided into three stages. The first stage, which was played in Zhuji, Zhejiang, began on 16 October 2021 and ended on 14 November 2021.^[1] The second stage, which was played in Changchun, Jilin, began on 25 December 2021 and ended on 28 January 2022.^[2]^[3] The third stage, which was played in Foshan, Guangdong and Shenyang, Liaoning, began on 1 March 2022 and ended on 22 March 2022.^[4] The playoffs, which were played in Nanchang, Jiangxi, began on 1 April 2022 and ended on 26 April 2022.^[5]

Transactions

Teams

Team	Head Coach	Home city	Arena	Capacity	Ref.
Beijing Ducks	Yannis Christopoulos	Beijing	Cadillac Center	17,178	^[6]
Beijing Royal Fighters	Stephon Marbury	Beijing	Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium	6,500	^[7]
Fujian Sturgeons	Cui Wanjun	Jinjiang	Zuchang Gymnasium	4,500	^[8]
Guangdong Southern Tigers	Du Feng	Dongguan	Dongguan Basketball Center	16,000	^[9]
Guangzhou Loong Lions	Guo Shiqiang	Guangzhou	Tianhe Gymnasium	8,000	^[10]
Jiangsu Dragons	Li Nan	Suzhou	Suzhou Sports Center Gymnasium	6,000	^[11]
Jilin Northeast Tigers	Wang Han	Changchun	Changchun Gymnasium	4,000	^[12]
Liaoning Flying Leopards	Yang Ming	Shenyang	Liaoning Gymnasium	12,000	^[13]
Nanjing Monkey Kings	Ma Zhuang (caretaker)	Nanjing	Wutaishan Gymnasium	9,300	^[14]
Ningbo Rockets	Li Ke	Ningbo	Ningbo Youngor Gynmasium
Qingdao Eagles	Wu Qinglong	Qingdao	Conson Gymnasium	12,500	^[15]
Shandong Hi-Speed Kirin	Xu Changsuo	Jinan	Shandong Arena	8,000	^[16]
Shanghai Sharks	Li Chunjiang	Shanghai	Yuanshen Sports Centre Gymnasium	5,091	^[17]
Shanxi Loongs	Yang Xuezeng	Taiyuan	Shanxi Sports Centre Gymnasium	8,131	^[18]
Shenzhen Leopards	Qiu Biao	Shenzhen	Shenzhen Dayun Arena	18,000	^[19]
Sichuan Blue Whales	Zhou Jinli	Chengdu	Wenjiang Gymnasium	4,500	^[20]
Tianjin Pioneers	Zhang Degui	Tianjin	TUFE Gymnasium	4,000	^[21]
Xinjiang Flying Tigers	Adiljan Jun	Ürümqi	Hongshan Arena	4,000	^[22]
Zhejiang Golden Bulls	Liu Weiwei	Hangzhou	Binjiang Gymnasium	5,000	^[23]
Zhejiang Lions	Wang Bo	Zhuji	Zhuji Jiyang Sports Center Gymnasium	6,077	^[24]

Team changes

New team

Ningbo Rockets^[25]

Draft

The 2021 CBA Draft, the seventh edition of the CBA draft, took place on 18 July 2021 in Qingdao, Shandong.^[26]^[27]

Foreign players

This is the full list of international players competing in the CBA during the 2021–22 season.^[28]

Team	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3	Player 4	Replaced
Beijing Ducks	Barry Brown Jr.	Justin Hamilton	Jonathan Gibson	Jeremy Lin	-
Beijing Royal Fighters	Isaac Haas	Sylven Landesberg	Marko Todorović	-	-
Fujian Sturgeons	Trae Golden	-	-	-	-
Guangdong Southern Tigers	Ricky Ledo	Sonny Weems	-	-	-
Guangzhou Loong Lions	Nate Mason	T. J. Leaf	-	-	-
Jiangsu Dragons	-	-	-	-	-
Jilin Northeast Tigers	Dominique Jones	-	-	-	-
Liaoning Flying Leopards	Kyle Fogg	Eric Moreland	-	-	-
Nanjing Monkey Kings	D'Montre Edwards	-	-	-	-
Ningbo Rockets	Clarence Trotter III	Vladimir Štimac	-	-	-
Qingdao Eagles	Dakari Johnson	Dez Wells	-	-	-
Shandong Hi-Speed Kirin	Troy Gillenwater	Lester Hudson	-	-	-
Shanghai Sharks	Jamaal Franklin	Noah Vonleh	-	-	-
Shanxi Loongs	Kay Felder	Jonathon Simmons	-	-	-
Shenzhen Leopards	Askia Booker	Jared Sullinger	-	-	-
Sichuan Blue Whales	Hamed Haddadi	Sterling Manley	-	-	-
Tianjin Pioneers	Kenny Boynton	Taylor Rochestie	-	-	-
Xinjiang Flying Tigers	Arnett Moultrie	-	-	-	-
Zhejiang Golden Bulls	Erick Green	Nick Rakocevic	-	-	-
Zhejiang Lions	Jarrod Jones	Jahlil Okafor	-	-	-

Regular season

League table

#	2021–22 CBA regular season
#	Team	W	L	Pct.	Tiebreaker
1	Liaoning Flying Leopards	32	6	.842
2	Zhejiang Lions	31	7	.816
3	Shanghai Sharks	28	10	.737
4	Zhejiang Golden Bulls	28	10	.737
5	Guangdong Southern Tigers	26	12	.684
6	Shenzhen Leopards	26	12	.684
7	Beijing Ducks	24	14	.632
8	Guangzhou Loong Lions	23	15	.605
9	Shanxi Loongs	23	15	.605
10	Jilin Northeast Tigers	22	16	.579
11	Shandong Hi-Speed Kirin	20	18	.526
12	Tianjin Pioneers	19	19	.500
13	Beijing Royal Fighters	18	20	.474
14	Xinjiang Flying Tigers	18	20	.474
15	Qingdao Eagles	13	25	.342
16	Sichuan Blue Whales	12	26	.316
17	Fujian Sturgeons	7	31	.184
18	Jiangsu Dragons	5	33	.132
19	Ningbo Rockets	3	35	.079
20	Nanjing Monkey Kings	2	36	.053

Key to colors
	Top 4 teams advance directly to Quarter-finals of CBA Playoffs
	5th-12th place teams progress to First Round of CBA Playoffs

Results

The regular season was reduced to 38 games for each team. 20 teams will play against each other twice.

Home \ Away	BJD	BJR	FJS	GDS	GZL	JSD	JLN	LNF	NJM	NBR	QDE	SDK	SHS	SXL	SZL	SCB	TJP	XJF	ZJG	ZJL
Beijing Ducks		83–79	106–86	80–92	84–56	86–69	105–76	99–76	119–78	106–70	89–78	89–96	109–103	112–118	91–99	98–69	114–126	106–65	89–81	88–99
Beijing Royal Fighters	81–97		109–92	106–93	119–111	114–82	87–88	80–85	101–80	95–79	94–88	93–105	83–102	97–102	89–101	91–83	116–105	112–116	90–102	74–101
Fujian Sturgeons	113–111	79–112		104–108	75–98	97–88	99–110	83–109	118–94	117–111	116–105	115–143	76–126	131–142	78–103	80–101	85–105	134–140	90–100	84–109
Guangdong Southern Tigers	67–91	109–80	98–91		98–89	108–73	99–95	95–115	101–87	111–88	98–91	127–101	101–108	99–125	106–83	111–108	118–91	118–99	110–94	94–114
Guangzhou Loong Lions	74–108	102–98	125–107	120–101		90–84	107–104	89–107	100–88	93–70	108–97	116–106	84–103	111–105	104–119	103–110	98–113	123–105	82–92	103–108
Jiangsu Dragons	71–87	74–91	101–109	84–97	72–80		95–109	95–108	99–91	102–104	82–79	87–93	94–109	84–111	80–90	97–94	96–90	93–98	68–108	88–110
Jilin Northeast Tigers	75–106	73–93	104–99	99–116	94–95	99–82		89–117	91–79	111–86	120–100	98–83	118–108	104–87	106–103	101–86	99–101	88–86	115–111	101–94
Liaoning Flying Leopards	103–95	97–86	128–109	102–90	110–98	101–75	103–88		114–103	118–102	85–108	114–97	100–102	129–97	92–90	134–90	112–93	87–109	101–82	102–94
Nanjing Monkey Kings	77–114	101–108	98–130	86–101	101–115	95–80	81–112	109–129		92–108	98–119	90–102	91–131	90–122	102–122	106–110	103–124	84–120	78–127	90–108
Ningbo Rockets	84–118	96–124	109–106	80–106	105–125	66–89	95–107	70–99	73–97		83–110	75–111	85–119	85–110	94–121	78–105	88–110	91–114	64–99	75–121
Qingdao Eagles	73–78	100–80	99–91	90–103	117–100	91–86	80–98	101–111	104–82	119–78		98–104	107–110	110–105	92–102	100–93	106–101	100–119	88–93	89–121
Shandong Hi-Speed Kirin	112–103	95–105	113–102	111–110	89–107	105–100	93–87	87–98	107–89	114–92	112–105		97–125	107–114	106–111	101–102	114–117	89–103	94–100	97–94
Shanghai Sharks	105–86	118–104	117–93	97–112	105–101	107–74	94–81	101–121	134–110	119–93	121–88	100–117		135–111	108–118	115–97	120–94	121–96	112–103	80–122
Shanxi Loongs	90–115	105–94	120–109	96–111	97–99	114–84	119–91	107–99	116–100	105–92	98–85	112–116	151–128		119–113	117–99	130–123	93–101	106–146	103–113
Shenzhen Leopards	104–97	107–126	100–93	90–106	114–120	107–85	102–103	80–93	120–84	103–81	98–97	118–115	119–103	126–110		126–107	131–104	115–116	100–94	106–105
Sichuan Blue Whales	66–101	78–93	100–90	76–110	71–92	100–84	91–104	85–121	96–84	111–106	98–87	83–94	84–118	101–119	96–125		96–94	103–109	78–104	80–110
Tianjin Pioneers	96–112	115–93	106–87	98–110	106–110	97–77	107–99	88–106	121–101	113–98	91–79	134–124	75–110	113–109	94–122	115–86		120–102	89–128	84–105
Xinjiang Flying Tigers	111–100	84–91	145–116	109–107	102–117	125–97	96–117	99–109	92–86	109–79	92–89	96–106	112–121	97–112	104–105	97–102	124–119		102–107	69–108
Zhejiang Golden Bulls	96–73	96–84	108–85	124–101	104–113	112–76	115–100	97–96	124–92	114–100	105–98	113–86	85–91	111–109	90–78	111–81	104–81	98–91		101–104
Zhejiang Lions	94–91	110–83	125–111	98–86	93–67	97–80	102–92	100–112	117–95	99–92	96–103	112–92	101–95	118–122	118–84	106–57	125–94	109–100	107–95

Source: Results
Legend: Blue = home team win; Red = away team win.
Matches with lighter background shading were decided after overtime.

Playoffs

Bracket

First round Best-of-three			Quarter-finals Best-of-three			Semi-finals Best-of-five			Finals Best-of-seven

			1	Liaoning Flying Leopards	2

			9	Shanxi Loongs	0
8	Guangzhou Loong Lions	1

9	Shanxi Loongs	2
						1	Liaoning Flying Leopards	3

						5	Guangdong Southern Tigers	0



			4	Zhejiang Golden Bulls	0

			5	Guangdong Southern Tigers	2
5	Guangdong Southern Tigers	2

12	Tianjin Pioneers	0
									1	Liaoning Flying Leopards	4

									2	Zhejiang Lions	0



			3	Shanghai Sharks	2

			6	Shenzhen Leopards	0
6	Shenzhen Leopards	2

11	Shandong Hi-Speed Kirin	0
						3	Shanghai Sharks	0

						2	Zhejiang Lions	3



			2	Zhejiang Lions	2

			10	Jilin Northeast Tigers	0
7	Beijing Ducks	0

10	Jilin Northeast Tigers	2

Bold Series winner

First round