Sichuan Blue Whales
| Sichuan Blue Whales | |||
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| Leagues | CBA | ||
| Founded | 2009 | ||
| History |
Sichuan Blue Whales (2009–present) |
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| Arena | Sichuan Provincial Stadium | ||
| Capacity | 9,200 | ||
| Location | Chengdu, Sichuan, China | ||
| Team colors | Blue, White, Orange |
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| Main sponsor | Jinqiang Group | ||
| President | Zhou Shiqiang | ||
| Team manager | Zhu Xuegui | ||
| Head coach | Yang Xuezeng | ||
| Ownership | Jinqiang Group | ||
| Championships |
1 NBL Championship (2013) 1 CBA Championship (2016) |
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| Uniforms | |||
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The Sichuan Jinqiang Blue Whales (四川金强蓝鲸), also known as Sichuan Jinqiang or Sichuan Blue Whales, are a professional basketball team based in Wenjiang District, Chengdu, Sichuan, China, which plays in the North Division of the Chinese Basketball Association. The Jinqiang Group is the club's corporate sponsor while its mascot is a blue whale.
In 2016, the team won the CBA Finals in their first appearance in the championship series, defeating the Liaoning Flying Leopards 4–1 in the best of seven series. They became the fifth different club to claim the title in the league's 21 seasons of existence, and the fastest expansion squad to ever do so, collecting the hardware in just their third campaign in the CBA.
The team spent the first four years of its existence a member of the higher-tier Chinese National Basketball League, until getting "promoted" ahead of the 2013–14 CBA season, after winning the NBL championship in 2013.
Affectionately referred to by many local fans as the Sichuan Army (川军), the club received international media attention during the 2014–15 CBA season, after signing former NBA All-Star Metta World Peace. Embracing his move to China, the man born as Ron Artest soon gave himself a new name, The Panda's Friend.
The team missed the CBA Playoffs for a second straight year, however, finishing 18th of 20 clubs with a record of 8–30, and despite telling reporters he had indeed found a bit of inner peace in Sichuan, World Peace headed to Italy after the campaign ended. His departure left the Blue Whales to adopt a different offensive approach for the 2015–16 CBA season.
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Wikipedia