Announced! The CBA New Year's Eve showdown! Zhang Zhenlin faces off against the Liaoning team

The new CBA season kicks off on December 12, with 42 rounds in the regular season,The key event is the New Year's Eve clash on December 31 where Liaoning will host Shanghai, marking Zhang Zhenlin’s first return to Liaoning’s home court after his transferThe league is clearly trying to generate a big wave of attention.

During this summer’s offseason, Shanghai sent two young players along with a sizable cash sum to obtain Zhang Zhenlin from Liaoning. Zhang played five seasons for Liaoning, winning three championships, earning one selection to the domestic first team, three selections to the domestic second team, and four All-Star appearances.

In recent years, Liaoning has made two major trades: last year sending Guo Ailun to Guangzhou, and this year trading Zhang Zhenlin to Shanghai. They are arguably the boldest team in the entire CBA, to the point that many outside observers find their moves hard to understand. Some speculate that after building a dynasty, they may have lost interest in continuing the same way.

However, the main reason Liaoning parted with 26-year-old Zhang Zhenlin, who is in his prime, was because he wanted to leave. In a previous interview, he stated it was a comprehensive decision involving not only his desire for greater challenges but also family considerations...

Recently, Zhang Zhenlin has played several warm-up games with Shanghai. In mid-September against the Japanese team Yokohama Pirates, he shot 5 for 14, scoring 12 points, grabbing 5 rebounds, and dishing out 6 assists, helping Shanghai narrowly win 70-67.

In early October, Shanghai lost 61-76 to Zhejiang in a warm-up game, with Zhang contributing only 7 points.

Shanghai clearly values Zhang Zhenlin highly, giving him a primary ball-handling role and considerable offensive freedom. However, his current form is inconsistent and has yet to meet expectations. Fortunately, his physical condition has mostly recovered, and he is gradually overcoming his injury setbacks.

In the 24-25 season, Zhang struggled with injuries, playing only 16 regular-season games with an average of 31.4 minutes, contributing 13.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, 4.8 assists, and 1.4 steals per game, shooting 41.6%, 32.5%, and 90% respectively in the three major percentages. In the playoffs, he averaged 25 minutes but only managed 7.8 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 1.8 assists, with shooting percentages dropping to 32.7%, 16.7%, and 68.8%.

Due to injury, Zhang missed the chance to represent China in this year’s Asian Cup. However, he is expected to be called up again by national team coach Guo Shiqiang for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against South Korea on November 28 (home) and December 1 (away).