Three UCLA players reportedly detained in China.
BEIJING — Three UCLA men’s basketball players, including LiAngelo Ball, the brother of the Los Angeles Lakers rookie Lonzo Ball, will not play in an exhibition game on Friday in Shanghai. Multiple news media accounts said the players were detained on suspicion of shoplifting.
Coach Steve Alford announced the decision to bench the players, but would not elaborate on the nature of the circumstances.
Both UCLA and the Pac-12 Conference used the term “situation” to describe what was going on with the players.
“We are aware of a situation involving UCLA student-athletes in Hangzhou, China,” UCLA said in a statement. “The university is cooperating fully with local authorities on this matter, and we have no further comment at this time.”
Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott said: “Yesterday in Hangzhou, China, UCLA student-athletes were involved in a situation, and UCLA is cooperating fully with local authorities. We are directing all inquiries about the specifics of this matter to UCLA. We are very disappointed by any situation that detracts from the positive student-athlete educational and cultural experience that this week is about. Whether in the United States or abroad, we expect our student-athletes to uphold the highest standards. We will continue to closely monitor the situation.”
The other players involved were Cody Riley and Jalen Hill. All three are freshmen.
Ball’s father, LaVar, who is in China, told ESPN that he was “going to wait until I get more intel on what’s going on” before making a comment. The Ball family is being followed by a reality television crew for the Facebook Watch program Ball in the Family.
Multiple media outlets reported that the players had been released on bail.
Players from Georgia Tech, the team UCLA is set to play, were questioned, but not charged. “During the questioning, it was determined that Georgia Tech student-athletes were not involved in the activities being investigated,” Georgia Tech athletics said in a statement.
In China, theft can result in punishment ranging from a few days to many years in prison.
China’s justice system has an extremely high conviction rate, which critics have said is indicative of its unfairness. In China, those detained, including foreigners, can be held for prolonged periods without a trial and subject to harsh conditions and violence. Still, given the high-profile nature of the case, the players could be given preferential treatment.
Last month, the Chinese Web company Alibaba announced that it had bought the rights to air Pac-12 sports, including men’s basketball, across China through 2024. While basketball is immensely popular in China, most viewers focus on the NBA and not the college game. Hangzhou is the home city of Alibaba, which is sponsoring the game.
For the Pac-12, the exhibition is an opportunity to raise the profile of its programs in China, possibly attracting students who have well-to-do parents and who want to study abroad. The University of California system, which includes Pac-12 universities UCLA and Berkeley, has in recent years increasingly relied on foreign students paying higher international tuition rates to help fill a significant budget deficit.
The incident occurred as President Donald Trump landed in China on Wednesday for an official state visit.