1996–97 Chinese Basketball Association season
# 1996–97 Chinese Basketball Association season

The 1996–97 CBA season was the second season of the Chinese Basketball Association.

The season ran from November 27, 1996, to March 30, 1997.

The Shanghai Sharks and Sichuan Pandas were promoted from the Second Division.

## Regular season standings

These are the final standings for the 1996-97 CBA regular season.

| # | 1996–97 CBA season | 1996–97 CBA season | 1996–97 CBA season | 1996–97 CBA season | 1996–97 CBA season | 1996–97 CBA season | 1996–97 CBA season | 1996–97 CBA season |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| # | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Tiebreaker |
| 1 | Bayi Rockets | 19 | 3 | .864 | – | 10–1 | 9–2 | |
| 2 | Liaoning Hunters | 18 | 4 | .818 | 1 | 9–2 | 9–2 | |
| 3 | Shandong Flaming Bulls | 14 | 8 | .637 | 5 | 8–3 | 6–5 | |
| 4 | Guangdong Southern Tigers | 13 | 9 | .591 | 6 | 8–3 | 5–6 | GD 1–1 (151–145) SH |
| 5 | Shanghai Sharks | 13 | 9 | .591 | 6 | 8–3 | 5–6 | GD 1–1 (151–145) SH |
| 6 | Jiangsu Dragons | 12 | 10 | .545 | 7 | 7–4 | 5–6 | |
| 7 | Air Force | 9 | 13 | .409 | 10 | 6–5 | 3–8 | AF 1–1 (162–161) SA |
| 8 | Shenyang Army | 9 | 13 | .409 | 10 | 8–3 | 1–10 | AF 1–1 (162–161) SA |
| 9 | Beijing Ducks | 8 | 14 | .364 | 11 | 5–6 | 3–8 | |
| 10 | Zhejiang Squirrels | 7 | 15 | .318 | 12 | 6–5 | 1–10 | ZJ 1–1 (151–142) SC |
| 11 | Sichuan Pandas | 7 | 15 | .318 | 12 | 7–4 | 0–11 | ZJ 1–1 (151–142) SC |
| 12 | Ji'nan Army | 3 | 19 | .136 | 16 | 3–8 | 0–11 | |

Key to colors :

* Top 8 teams advance to the Playoffs
* Bottom 4 teams advance to the Relegation Round

## Playoffs

The top 8 teams in the regular season advanced to the playoffs.

In the Final series, the Bayi Rockets defeated the Liaoning Hunters (2-0) for the CBA championship.

| Fifth place | Fifth place | Fifth place | Fifth place | Fifth place | Consolation semifinals | Consolation semifinals | Consolation semifinals | Consolation semifinals | Consolation semifinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | | | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | | | Final | Final | Final | Final | Final |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | | | | | | | | | | 1 | Bayi Rockets | 128 | 110 | 2 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | 8 | Shenyang Army | 78 | 69 | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | 8 | Shenyang Army | 92 | 72 | 1(164) | | | | | | | | 1 | Bayi Rockets | 109 | 119 | 2 | | | |
| | | | | | 5 | Shanghai Sharks | 91 | 94 | 1(185) | | | | | | | | 4 | Guangdong Southern Tigers | 81 | 84 | 0 | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | 4 | Guangdong Southern Tigers | 84 | 87 | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | 5 | Shanghai Sharks | 74 | 82 | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 5 | Shanghai Sharks | 90 | 68 | 1(158) | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1 | Bayi Rockets | 100 | | | 102 | 2 |
| 6 | Jiangsu Dragons | 73 | 96 | 1(169) | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1 | Bayi Rockets | 100 | | | 2 | Liaoning Hunters | 68 | 66 | 0 |
| | | | | | | | | | | 3 | Shandong Flaming Bulls | 102 | 77 | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | 6 | Jiangsu Dragons | 72 | 74 | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Seventh place | Seventh place | Seventh place | Seventh place | Seventh place | 6 | Jiangsu Dragons | 121 | 105 | 2 | | | | | | | | 3 | Shandong Flaming Bulls | 70 | 77 | 0 | | | Third place | Third place | Third place | Third place | Third place |
| | | | | | 7 | Air Force | 118 | 99 | 0 | | | | 2 | Liaoning Hunters | 93 | 78 | 2 | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Shenyang Army | 99 | 75 | 1(174) | | | | | | 2 | Liaoning Hunters | 80 | 2 | Liaoning Hunters | 85 | 2 | | | | | | 4 | Guangdong Southern Tigers | 87 | | | 78 | |
| 7 | Air Force | 94 | 97 | 1(191) | | | | | | 7 | Air Force | 55 | 77 | 0 | | | | 3 | Shandong Flaming Bulls | | | 69 | 79 | | | |

## Relegations

The bottom 4 teams played the relegation phase by round-robin.

The Ji'nan Army Zhejiang Squirrels were slated to be relegated to the Second Division.

| Team | W | L | PF | PA | PD |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Beijing Ducks | 5 | 1 | 500 | 432 | +68 |
| Sichuan Pandas | 4 | 2 | 447 | 424 | +23 |
| Zhejiang Squirrels | 3 | 3 | 445 | 464 | −19 |
| Ji'nan Army | 0 | 6 | 453 | 525 | −72 |

Key to colors :

* Bottom 2 teams relegated to the Second Division

| | BJ | JA | SC | ZJ |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Beijing Ducks | – | 92-82 | 71-64 | 95-69 |
| Ji'nan Army | 75-92 | – | 79-85 | 77-90 |
| Sichuan Pandas | 76-70 | 81-69 | – | 74-64 |
| Zhejiang Squirrels | 66-80 | 85-71 | 71-67 | – |

## CBA Awards

These are the award winners for the 1996-97 CBA regular season.

* CBA Most Valuable Player: Hu Weidong (Jiangsu Dragons)
* Best Techniques Award: Gong Xiaobin (Shandong Flaming Bulls)
* Sportsmanship Award: Liu Yudong (Bayi Rockets)

## All-Star Weekend

The 1997 CBA All-Star Game was played on April 5, 1997, in Shanghai.

The South All-Stars defeated the North All-Stars 98-84. Hu Weidong from the Jiangsu Dragons was named MVP of the All-Star Game.

James Hodges from the Liaoning Hunters won the Slam Dunk Contest, and Saulius Štombergas from the Shanghai Sharks won the Three-Point Shootout.

