Macau Black Bears
Wikipedia - Macau Black Bears
The Macau Black Bears (simplified Chinese: 澳门黑熊篮球俱乐部; traditional Chinese: 澳門黑熊籃球俱樂部; pinyin: Àomén Hēi Xióng Lánqiú Jùlèbù) are a Macanese professional basketball team competing in the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL).
History
Chong Son Kung Fu was a Chinese basketball team playing in the ASEAN Basketball League. Based in Nanhai District, Foshan, Guangdong, the team plays their home games at the 4,000-seated Nanhai Gymnasium. They joined ABL from 2017–18 season as the "Nanhai Long Lions". They changed their name to Nanhai Kung Fu to differentiate themselves from their mother team, the Guanzhou Long Lions. After they partnered with Macau's Grupo Desportivo Chong Son they changed their name once again to their present name by November 2017.
After the 2018 season, the team relocated to Macau to become the Macau Black Bears, in a bid to promote professional basketball in the city. The name was derived Bobo the Black Bear, an individual Asian black bear who first came to public attention in the 1980s when it was rescued from being cooked in a gourmet restaurant as a cub.
The inaugural season was led by General Manager Lukas Peng.
O Black Bears tem uma forte presença na internet, com mais de 100.000 seguidores no Weibo, 50.000 seguidores no WeChat e 20.000 seguidores no Facebook. A equipe é propriedade da Black Bears Sports Investment Company, que também é dona do time de basquetebol chinês Guangdong Southern Tigers.
O Black Bears manda seus jogos no Macau East Asian Games Dome, que tem capacidade para 15.000 pessoas. A equipe tem um elenco composto por uma mistura de jogadores locais e estrangeiros, liderados pelo armador filipino Kiefer Ravena.
O Black Bears é uma equipe jovem e ambiciosa, que espera se tornar uma potência no basquetebol chinês. A equipe tem um forte apoio da torcida local e do governo de Macau, e está confiante de que pode alcançar grandes coisas nos próximos anos.