{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}} {{Short description|Chinese basketball player (1986–2019)}} {{family name hatnote|Ji|lang=Chinese}} {{Infobox basketball biography | name = Ji Zhe<br />吉喆 | photo = | caption = | height_cm = 203 | weight_kg = 100 | birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1986|10|14}} | birth_place = Shenyang, Liaoning, China | death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2019|12|5|1986|10|14}} | death_place = Beijing, China | college = Northeastern University | career_start = 2005 | career_end = 2018 | career_number = 51 | career_position = Power forward | years1 = 2005–2007 | team1 = Liaoning | years2 = 2007–2018 | team2 = Beijing Ducks | highlights = *3× CBA champion (2012, 2014, 2015) *No.51 retired by the Beijing Ducks}} {{Infobox Chinese|c=吉喆|p=Jí Zhé|w=Chi Che|mi={{IPAc-cmn|j|i|2|-|zh|e|2}}}} '''Ji Zhe''' ({{zh|s=吉喆}}; 14 October 1986 – 5 December 2019) was a Chinese professional basketball player for the Beijing Ducks of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). Playing the position of power forward for the Ducks, he won three CBA championships and served as the team's captain. He died from lung cancer at the age of 33.
== Career == Ji Zhe was born 14 October 1986 in Shenyang, Liaoning, China. In 2005, he led the Northeastern University men's basketball team to win the 2nd Chinese University Basketball Super League championship.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_5151338|title=吉喆，突然离开……|date=5 December 2019|website=The Paper|access-date=9 December 2019}}</ref> He was also a member of the Liaoning provincial team which finished 4th at the 2005 National Games of China.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_5185913|title=吉喆追悼会举行，北京首钢全队与大批球迷前来送别|last=Song Xiang 宋翔|date=9 December 2019|website=The Paper|access-date=10 December 2019}}</ref>
In 2007, Liaoning loaned Ji to the Beijing Ducks of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He permanently joined the Ducks in 2012. As a member of the Ducks, he won three CBA championships in 2012, 2014, and 2015.<ref>{{cite news|author=Jiang Lu|title=Former CBA champion captain's death shocks fans|date=5 December 2019|work=China Daily|url=https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201912/05/WS5de87dd2a310cf3e3557c320_1.html|accessdate=19 December 2019}}</ref> He played the position of power forward and served as the captain of the Ducks.<ref name=":0" /> He was listed at {{convert|2.03|m}} tall and weighed {{convert|100|kg}}.<ref name="stats">{{Cite web|url=http://cbadata.sports.sohu.com/players/statistics/500356|title=CBA data: Ji Zhe|website=Sohu Sports|access-date=9 December 2019|archive-date=12 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200212211543/http://cbadata.sports.sohu.com/players/statistics/500356|url-status=dead}}</ref>
Ji played his final game on 22 March 2018, the Ducks' last game of the 2017–2018 CBA season.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://sports.sina.com.cn/basketball/cba/2019-12-08/doc-iihnzahi6143411.shtml|title=永远的51号！这一夜，北京男篮为吉��而战|last=Han Er 韩二|date=8 December 2019|website=Sina Sports|access-date=9 December 2019}}</ref> During his CBA career he played 434 games, averaging 23.9 minutes, 7.3 points, and 4.7 rebounds per game.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://sports.sina.com.cn/basketball/cba/2019-12-05/doc-iihnzhfz3735550.shtml|title=前北京首钢冠军球员吉喆因肺癌去世 年仅33岁|last=Liu Wenming 刘文明|date=5 December 2019|website=Sina Sports|access-date=9 December 2019}}</ref> He was considered a good rim protector.
== Death == In August 2018, Ji was diagnosed with lung cancer, but did not publicly disclose the news and quietly sought treatment in the United States. Despite more than a year of treatment, his health deteriorated and he died on 5 December 2019 at the China-Japan Friendship Hospital in Beijing, aged 33.<ref name=":0" /> He had a son.<ref name=":4" />
On 8 December 2019, the Ducks' played their first home game after Ji's death as a tribute to him, and all Ducks players wore his No. 51 jersey before the game.<ref name=":1" /> The team placed a T-shirt with the number 51 on each of the 18,000 seats inside the Wukesong Arena<ref name=":4" /> and retired the number.<ref name=":1" /> Many players and fans were in tears.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=https://www.scmp.com/sport/china/article/3041186/jeremy-lin-seals-dramatic-beijing-ducks-win-over-shenzhen-aviators-team|title=Jeremy Lin seals last-gasp Ducks win on emotional night|last=White|first=Jonathan|date=9 December 2019|website=South China Morning Post|access-date=9 December 2019}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite web|url=http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-12/08/c_138615712.htm|title=Feature: Former CBA player Ji Zhe never leaves beloved basketball|last=Su|first=Bin|date=8 December 2019|website=Xinhua|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191209030520/http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-12/08/c_138615712.htm|archive-date=9 December 2019|access-date=9 December 2019}}</ref> The Ducks defeated the visiting Shenzhen Aviators by the score of 102 to 100, with Jeremy Lin scoring three free throws in the final seconds of the game.<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bjnews.com.cn/sport/2019/12/09/659339.html|title=这一夜五棵松为吉喆流泪，北京会永远记住他的名字|author=Liu Chen 刘晨|language=zh|date=9 December 2019|website=The Beijing News|access-date=9 December 2019}}</ref> Lin called the comeback victory a "miracle".<ref name=":3" />
== In popular culture == In the 2016 film ''My Other Home'', a biopic of Ji's former Ducks teammate Stephon Marbury, the Taiwanese-Canadian actor Godfrey Gao portrayed the player based on Ji. By coincidence, Gao died suddenly at the age of 35, eight days before Ji's death.{{Citation needed|date=October 2020}}
== References == {{reflist}}
==External links== *[http://cbadata.sports.sohu.com/players/statistics/500356 Ji Zhe's CBA career stats] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200212211543/http://cbadata.sports.sohu.com/players/statistics/500356 |date=12 February 2020 }}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ji, Zhe}} Category:1986 births Category:2019 deaths Category:Beijing Ducks players Category:Basketball players from Shenyang Category:Northeastern University (China) alumni Category:Deaths from lung cancer in China