FILE–Sonny Weems (R) of Guangdong Southern Tigers drives the ball past Wang Huadong of Liaoning Flying Leopards during their Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) basketball match in Qingdao in China’s eastern Shandong province on August 15, 2020. (Photo by AFP) / China OUT
MANILA, Philippines—American basketball player Sonny Weems was targeted with racial abuse by fans in China.
Fans repeatedly hurled the N-word toward Weems, who plays for the Guangdong Southern Tigers in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA).
Weems, a former NBA player, was also told by the screaming fans to “get out of China.”
According to a report by CNN, the incident took place after the Southern Tigers’ road game against the Liaoning Flying Leopards on Thursday—in a match that saw a scuffle between Weems and Chinese center Han Dejun.
Both players were tossed from the game won by the Flying Leopards.
In a statement released by the CBA on Friday as posted by CNN, the league said it has a “zero-tolerance attitude toward any discriminatory words or deeds.”
The CBA has also urged its fans to “watch the game in a civilized manner, respect each other, do not do anything that damages the reputation of the team.”
Jeremy Lin, the first American of Taiwanese descent to play in the NBA who now suits up for the Beijing Ducks in the CBA, condemned the racist act on China’s social media platform Weibo, as per CNN.
“The abuse Weems received really was disrespectful, that word carried so much hurt, unfairness and hatred that I couldn’t put into words.”
The 35-year-old Weems was a second round pick by the Chicago Bulls in the 2008 NBA Draft.
He played for the Denver Nuggets and Toronto Raptors in his first three seasons in the NBA before deciding to play a year Lithuania and then in Russia for three seasons.
Weems returned to the NBA during the 2015-16 season where he had stints with the Phoenix Suns and Philadelphia 76ers.