The 1997–98 CBA season was the third season of the Chinese Basketball Association.
The season ran from November 23, 1997, to March 29, 1998.
The Ji'nan Army and Zhejiang Squirrels had been relegated to the Second Division after the previous season, but extenuating circumstances earned reprieves for both teams, and the league played with the same 12 clubs for the second straight year.
Regular season standings These are the final standings for the 1997–98 CBA regular season.
# 1997–98 CBA season Team 1Shandong Flaming Bulls 19 3 .864 – 11–0 8–3 SD 1–1 (163–149) BY2Bayi Rockets 19 3 .864 – 10–1 9–2 3Liaoning Hunters 17 5 .773 2 10–1 7–4 4Beijing Ducks 14 8 .636 5 9–2 5–6 5Jiangsu Dragons 12 10 .545 7 8–3 4–7 JS 1–1 (161–152) SH6Shanghai Sharks 12 10 .545 7 6–5 6–5 7Guangdong Southern Tigers 10 12 .455 9 7–4 3–8 8Ji'nan Army 9 13 .409 10 7–4 2–9 9Sichuan Pandas 7 15 .318 12 3–8 4–7 10Shenyang Army 6 16 .273 13 4–7 2–9 11Air Force 4 18 .182 15 3–8 1–10 12Zhejiang Squirrels 3 19 .136 16 2–9 1–10 + Key to colors Top 8 teams advance to the Playoffs Bottom 4 teams advance to the Relegation round
Playoffs The top 8 teams in the regular season advanced to the playoffs.
For the first time, the quarterfinals and semifinals used best-of-three series to determine the advancing team.
In the best-of-five Finals, the Bayi Rockets defeated the Liaoning Hunters (3–0) to win their third straight CBA championship, remaining unbeaten in their CBA playoffs history.
Teams in bold advanced to the next round. The numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's seeding in regular season, and the numbers to the right indicate the number of games the team won in that round. Home court advantage belongs to the team with the better regular season record; teams enjoying the home advantage are shown in italics.
Relegations The bottom 4 teams played the relegation phase by round-robin.
The Shenyang Army and Sichuan Pandas were relegated to the Second Division.
TeamWLPFPAPDZhejiang Squirrels60486404+82Air Force42437397+40Sichuan Pandas15431469−38Shenyang Army15381465−84 + Key to colors Bottom 2 teams relegated to the Second Division
AFSASCZJ Air Force–69–5782–5770–76 Shenyang Army52–70–100–8657–82 Sichuan Pandas66–6972–65–81–83 Zhejiang Squirrels89–7786–5070–69–
CBA Awards These are the award winners for the 1997-98 CBA regular season.
CBA Most Valuable Player: Gong Xiaobin (Shandong Flaming Bulls) Sportsmanship Award: Yao Ming (Shanghai Sharks) & James Hodges (Jiangsu Dragons) Outstanding Coach: Wang Fei (Bayi Rockets) & Ye Peng (Shandong Flaming Bulls)
All-Star Weekend The 1998 CBA All-Star Game was played on April 4, 1998, in Shenyang, Liaoning.
The International All-Stars defeated the Chinese All-Stars 83–80.
James Hodges from the Jiangsu Dragons won the Slam Dunk Contest for the second straight year, and Zhang Jingsong from the Bayi Rockets won the Three-Point Shootout.
See also Chinese Basketball Association
References