When will Chinese fans see the next Chinese player enter the NBA? Li Hongquan, who goes by Ben Li may be their latest hope. The 18-year-old was named for the BioSteel All-Canadian Basketball Game after delivering an incredible performance this season.

With a 1.98-meter-height, 105-kilogram-weight and 2.03-meter-wingspan, Li is nicknamed "Chinese Zion Williamson" by some fans for his explosive, powerful play-style on the court. He has averaged 23.6 points and 10.9 rebounds at field goal, 3-point and free throw rates of 48.2, 32.0 and 75.5 percent respectively in eight games.

In 2019, Li attended a Chinese basketball TV show called Rebound and Youth. He completely destroyed the Japanese player in his match before injury forced him out. Yang Ming, head coach of the show was impressed by Li. As the general manager of the CBA's Liaoning Flying Leopards, Yang wanted to make Li a member of his team.

"I want to give him a contract now and take him to train in my team. I've seen how trains, plays and gets along with others. He's built for professional competition," said Yang.

However, Li apparently is aiming for something bigger – not the CBA, but the NBA. In order to do that, he needs to go through the NCAA first. Li already agreed to join the Lehigh Mountain Hawks of the Lehigh University. 2016 NBA Most Improved Player C.J. McCollum is from this university.

Japanese forwards Rui Hachimura and Yuta Watanabe both made their ways to the NBA via NCAA. Li's athleticism, physical conditions and skills are better than those of Watanabe. If he can improve his defense and shooting, Li will have better chance of becoming the next Chinese NBA player.