RETIRED basketball star Yao Ming may have two new jobs as suggested by China’s General Administration of Sport: the head of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) and the coach of the Chinese national basketball team, newspaper Basketball Pioneers reported Monday.

    According to the report, the new director of the General Administration of Sport, Gou Zhongwen, is attempting a sports system reform according to the central government’s demands. His sports administration has issued 10 instructions regarding the future development of men’s basketball in China, two of which refer to Yao Ming.

    The first one suggests Yao be CBA chairman, while another suggestion is that the sports authorities invite Yao to be head coach of the Chinese men’s national basketball team.

    Yao’s excellent basketball abilities and his experience in the NBA make him the best candidate. Moreover, the Chinese Basketball Association, together with 20 top-tier clubs, announced in November 2016 the establishment of CBA League (Beijing) Sports Co. and Yao took the position as vice chairman of the company.

    But CBA representatives said they didn’t know if the news was true, while Yao Ming’s publicists said they could not comment on the news at the time. A source from General Administration of Sport told Beijing Morning Post that “anything is possible.”

    The news was supported by many Internet users, as one wrote on Weibo, “Finally there’s a man in General Administration of Sport wise enough to let a man who understands basketball run China’s basketball.”(SD-Agencies)