Chinese Basketball Association Fines Former NBA Player For National Anthem Mishap

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Former NBA Player fined by CBA

Guerschon Yabusele fined $1,400

Former Boston Celtic faces sanctions

A former NBA Player was fined by the Chinese Basketball Association for allegedly disrespecting the Chinese flag during the singing of the country’s national anthem prior to a scheduled game.

The player was former Boston Celtic Guerschon Yabusele, who was fined $1,400 (10,000 yuan) and warned “for not meeting the league's requirements for anthem etiquette,” according to TMZ Sports. Based on the report, the French basketball player failed to look up the Chinese flag during the anthem of their game against the Zhejiang Golden Bulls where he played for Nanjing Tongxi Monkey Kings.

Guerschon Yabusele is fined by Chinese Basketball Association for ¥10k ($1.42k) for not saluting the Chinese national flag during the national anthem ahead of the game against Zhejiang Golden Bulls. It is a courtesy that one should comply with persuant to the league handbook. pic.twitter.com/8e9za2oLs5
— Titan Sports Plus (@titan_plus) December 7, 2019

While apologizing, the 23-year-old former 16^th overall NBA draft pick insisted that he had no intentions to disrespect the country and its flag, saying that he was looking down because he was saying a prayer.

"I have the same routine, I've been doing this my whole career and I wanted to apologize for the people that took it Personal [sic] because it was not my point," Yabusele said. "I will show my respect during the Chinese national anthem and keep my head up for now on, Love you guys."

The tradition being practiced by players in the CBA is called the “March of the Volunteers” where they are expected to look up the national flag while the anthem is being played.

The Chinese Government is taking sanctions about matters on patriotism seriously. President XI Jinping signed into law in 2017 a regulation that punishes anyone who displays the lack of courtesy to the flag and national anthem. Anyone found guilty of the act will have to spend up to three years of jail time.

Yahoo Sports gathered some reactions from fans after the penalty was dropped on Yabusele, and the response was apparently split up. "This player must be expelled immediately and his club must be disqualified from the championship," one fan said.

Some cut the foreign reinforcement some slack, believing that the ruling was a bit too much. "It's nonsense. First, he's not Chinese. Moreover, he stood up and didn't make any insulting gesture," another fan said. "He has his head down. So what? In what era does the CBA live? It's 50 years behind."