Zhou Qi (middle) of the Xinjiang Flying Tigers encourages wheelchair basketball players in Zhuji, East China's Zhejiang province on Dec 2. [Photo/shaoxing.com.cn]

The second phase of the 2020-21 Chinese Basketball Association league tipped off in Zhuji, East China's Zhejiang province on Dec 2.

In the 13th round match between the Xinjiang Flying Tigers and the Shandong Heroes, Zhou Qi of the Xinjiang Flying Tigers met with players of the Zhejiang provincial wheelchair basketball team.

The activity was designed to pay respects to physically challenged players who pursue their basketball dreams despite being differently abled before Dec 3, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

The signed jerseys of players from both teams will be collected for a charity auction to raise funds for China's wheelchair basketball.

National basketball player Yi Jianlian said that the heart is always the strongest part of one's body, alluding to wheelchair basketball players' perseverance.

The first phase of the season started in Zhuji, a county-level city in Shaoxing, on Oct 17. Twenty teams were divided into two groups and played at two stadiums, one at Jiyang College of Zhejiang A&F College and the other in Hailiang Education Park.

Each team will play 56 games in an extended regular season, with the top 12 clubs advancing to the playoffs in May, making the 2020-21 season the longest in the CBA's 26-year history at over six months long.