Bateer to return to China for national team duty
(cri.com)
Updated: 2004-04-04 14:14

Waived in January by the Orlando Magic, centre Mengke Bateer will return to China this month to rejoin the national team.

The six-foot-11 former Toronto Raptor is expected to appear in China's Olympic warm-up against Australia in May.

Before returning to Beijing, Bateer plans to attend tryouts with several NBA teams in hopes of finding a new home in the league.

Bateer has recently been training with the Dallas Mavericks, whose assistant coach Del Harris was hired in February to lead the Chinese team at the Olympics.

Bateer, who has had an injured left ankle, has played with the Denver Nuggets, San Antonio Spurs, and Raptors over his three-year NBA career.

China hired Harris in hopes of improving its chances of success in Athens after finishing a dismal 10th at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.

There was no word on national team duty for China's other NBA players: Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets and Wang Zhizhi of the Miami Heat.

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