Almost everybody knows by now that the Portland Trail Blazers drafted center Yang Hansen with the 16th pick of the 2025 NBA Draft. It was the shock of the first round of the draft, a bigger swing than even the Utah Jazz taking Ace Bailey in the 5th spot or the Brooklyn Nets selecting Egor Demin 8th overall.
Everybody also knows that Hansen is a native of China, suiting up with the Qingdao Eagles of the Chinese Basketball Association before the Blazers drafted him.
What you may not know is that the discourse surrounding the 20-year-old has been shaded by his nationality already, sometimes in positive ways but also to the negative.
Let’s start with a couple of affirmations.
First, the Blazers have announced that their new center will wear the name “Yang” on the back of his uniform. He, himself, has let the public know that he prefers the traditional Asian ordering of his name, with the surname first followed by the given name. Nobody is more expert on Yang Hansen than he is. It’s literally his name. In accordance with his wishes, we will now be referring to him as “Yang Hansen” at Blazer’s Edge. We invite you to do the same in comments on site.
Second, the Blazers have told the world that Yang was their target all along, for years before the actual draft. They coveted him enough to draft him earlier in the order than any other team. Fans and analysts alike can argue with their judgment. That’s fair. But it’s not fair to ascribe any other motive to them than the one they’ve stated, particularly if that motive is wrapped up in Yang’s nationality.
Already, less than 24 hours into the process, we’ve seen and heard the following:
Several comparisons (most nationally) to Yao Ming, also of Chinese descent. The Blazers drafted Yang Hansen because he’s Yang Hansen, not because he’s Yao Ming. Plenty of centers have played basketball in China over the years. Just because Americans don’t know the names of any of them besides Yang and Yao does not mean that those two automatically belong together. Think of everybody else in the U.S. who does your job. Imagine traveling abroad and hearing someone say, “Oh, you’re an American welder? Do you know Jimmy Joe Barker? He’s a welder too. I bet you two are just alike! Now I know exactly how you’ll do your job!” Uhhhh...no.
Suggestions that the Blazers drafted Yang to lure a Chinese audience or attract owners from China. The first may be a byproduct of this draft pick. It was for international stars Rudy Fernandez, Sergio Rodriguez, Nicolas Batum, and others. That doesn’t mean Yang was drafted just because of his country of origin. Nor does it follow than any potential owner from China would be more attracted to the Blazers because an untried rookie joined the team. Yang is a real basketball player with actual skills, a young man who has worked hard and sacrificed plenty to get where he is. Saying, or even implying, that he got drafted 16th because of his nationality is an insult to him and to the front office personnel who scouted and drafted him. It’s lazy and, absent any hard evidence, ridiculous.
Jokes invoking various aspects of Chinese culture. Look, I get it in a sense. Most of us in the dominant culture have been raised to view this kind of connection as funny. 20 years ago I guarantee I would have led my analysis of the draft pick by claiming that neither Blazers fans nor (most) national experts knew the difference between “Hansen Yang” and [insert other celebrities with the name “Yang” here]. Ha ha. When I thought about it, I realized that it was cheap and low-hanging fruit and had nothing to do with this player or pick besides his ethic origin. That’s not humor. That’s not analysis. That’s racism. It’s wrong and it shouldn’t be ignored. Nor should casual connections between Yang and cuisine, religion, architecture, or any other aspect of Chinese culture unless those are legitimate discussions about his real-life experiences and preferences. Yang Hansen gets to talk all he wants about what being Chinese means. We don’t get to presume we know nor make those associations for him.
Here’s the point: you’re not going to see any of these things from the staff here at Blazer’s Edge. (If you ever did, we would address it immediately.) We’ll do what we always do...talk about basketball. We invite you to do the same with Yang and every other NBA player.
There’s been a storm of comments on site surrounding the draft, thousands upon thousands over the last few days. We’ve done the best we can to moderate those. Frankly, we’re re-learning how to do that. At this point, we probably won’t go back and correct every wrong or respond to every gray-area assertion. But from this point forward, with Yang and every other player, we’re going to do the best we can keep the conversation above board in the comment section. That means no racism, casual or otherwise, intentional or unintended. If you notice a comment that goes over the line, you’re able to flag that to get the attention of the moderation team. We’ll be in the comments participating in discussions too. Let’s all do what we can to make Portland a welcoming community for all players and this site an amazing place to talk basketball.
And seriously, welcome Yang Hansen. We hope your Blazers journey stands out as one of the best experiences of your life.
Dave Deckard, Managing Editor