The Shanghai Sharks on Saturday announced that the team will retire the No. 8 jersey of their legendary player Liu Wei at their 2019-20 CBA season opener at home against the Nanjing Monkey Kings on November 2.

Having spent most of his career with the Sharks, Liu was the third player to get 10,000 points in CBA history. Before his, there were in total eight jerseys retired by CBA teams and, interestingly, only seven of them belong to players.

In 2003, the Sharks retired the No. 15 jersey of Yao Ming, after the Chinese giant left for the NBA. Before his departure, Yao led the Sharks to a 3-1 defeat of the Bayi Rockets in the 2002 CBA Finals to win the championship. Having played 122 games in the Chinese league, Yao dropped 23.4 points and 15.4 rebounds per game for Shanghai. In his last season, his numbers rose to an average of 32.4 points and 19 rebounds. His dominance earned him the honor of becoming the first CBA player to have his jersey retired.

In 2009, the Guangdong Southern Tigers retired the No. 15 jersey of American center Jason Dixon, making him the first and the only foreign player in CBA history that saw his jersey retired. Having been considered as the greatest foreign player in franchise history, Dixon helped the Southern Tigers win five CBA championships. He's also the only foreigner who has played for the same team for 10 years.

In 2010, the Beijing Ducks retired the No. 15 jersey of Zhang Yunsong, basketball icon of the city. Since he joined the Ducks in 1995, Zhang has contributed all 15 years of his playing career to the team.

In 2011, the Sharks held a jersey-retiring ceremony for Wang Yanning, who is not a player, but a commentator. In order to appreciate his 15 years of work commentating the team's games, Yao Ming, owner of the Sharks back then, gave Wang a jersey on which both his name and a golden microphone were printed. Wang became the first and the only non-player who had a retired jersey in CBA history.

In 2012, the Sharks retired the No. 6 jersey of Zhang Wenqi who retired in 2008. He played for the team during his whole career. When he became a key member of the Sharks in 1993, Yao Ming was a 13-year-old teenager. When they won the 2002 CBA title, Zhang was the team's captain.

In 2013, the Zhejiang Lions retired the No. 7 jersey of Wang Bo, despite him having only played four years for the team between 2009 and 2013. Back then, as the successor of China's basketball legend Sun Jun, Wang gave the CBA newcomers Lions a cardiotonic by joining the team.

In 2017, the Southern Tigers retired the No. 8 jersey of Zhu Fangyu, one of the most successful CBA players. He was a two-time CBA MVP, four-time CBA Finals MVP, eight-time CBA champion, the first player to score 10,000 points in the history of the Chinese basketball league and the CBA all-time scoring leader with 11,165 points.

In the same year, the Jiangsu Dragons retired the No. 55 jersey of Hu Xuefeng. As a legendary point guard who leads the CBA in assists (2,492) and steals (1,712), Hu is also the league's only player who could put down 6,000+points, 2,000+assists and 1,000+steals. In 2013, the Dragons appointed him as their head coach but continued to allow him to play. On December 25, 2013, Hu claimed a triple-double of 14 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in the game against Jilin. China's Sohu Sports praised him as "a coach who outplays players."

It should be pointed out is that these nine are not the only people who deserve to have their jerseys retired. Liu Yudong, Sun Jun, Hu Weidong, Wang Zhizhi; the list can grow longer. There are reasons for this. First, before 2006, players could only choose a number between No. 4 and No. 18. If any number gets retired, the team may not have enough left to register for their players. Second, the CBA is only 24 years old and thus teams need a longer time to build their own culture, which is the basis of jersey-retiring.