Sharks put their faith in ex-star Arenas

THE Shanghai Sharks announced yesterday they had reached a deal with Gilbert Arenas and the American will be one of the foreign players in the team for the coming Chinese Basketball Association season.

Yao Ming's team stated on its official website that the trial for Arenas had ended and the team and his agent had reached an agreement on the 30-year-old's contract. When some minor details are confirmed, the self-styled Agent Zero will be officially part of the Sharks for the 2012-2013 CBA season starting this weekend.

The former National Basketball Association All-Star point guard should lead the Sharks when they face defending CBA champions Beijing Ducks and their import Stephon Marbury, in the opening game of the season this Saturday in Beijing.

According to the physical examination and the evaluation based on Arenas' trial in Shanghai, the team believes that he can play 25 to 30 minutes of each game but due to his injury record, the Sharks finally decided to sign a one-year deal with him instead of the rumored "1+1" contract, said Sha Yifeng, Arenas' Chinese representative.

Shanghai was not Arenas' first choice. He earlier went to the Guangdong Southern Tigers, hoping to reunite with Yi Jianlian, his former Washington Wizards teammate, but the deal fell through.

Arenas joined the NBA in 2001 after playing two years in the NCAA with the University of Arizona and has played for the Golden State Warriors, Washington Wizards, Orlando Magic and Memphis Grizzlies.

Arenas was selected for the All-Star team three times. In the 2006-2007 NBA regular season, he scored a career-high 60 points for the Wizards in a game against Kobe Bryant's Los Angeles Lakers.

Meanwhile, each team in the league will receive 10 million yuan (US$1.603 million) from the CBA - 10 times the amount given last season - because of higher sponsorships, according to CBA officials.

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