China probes ‘racial abuse’ of US player

SHANGHAI: Chinese basketball officials were investigating on Wednesday after reports that former Houston Rockets player Aaron Jackson was racially abused by opposition fans.

The 32-year-old American guard is said to have been targeted during the Beijing Ducks’ 117-103 Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) play-off victory at the Shanghai Sharks on Tuesday evening.

Broadcast footage of the game showed an agitated Jackson being ushered along the sidelines of the court by a Ducks team-mate and an official instructing the crowd to sit down. A reporter at the game posted on social media that a fan near the Beijing bench shouted a racial slur at Jackson, who had a stint last year with the NBA’s Houston Rockets but has spent most of his career overseas.

The Sharks, where Yao Ming made his name before starring in the NBA, said they were unaware of any incident and had not received a complaint from the visiting Ducks.