The Georgetown men’s basketball team’s 10-day trip to China this summer was intended to be an opportunity for the University to use “basketball diplomacy” to strengthen its brand internationally and to allow the players to test themselves against a different kind of opponent. But the bench-clearing brawl that cut short the team’s exhibition game against the Bayi Rockets cast a pall over a trip designed to foster goodwill between the University and the most populous nation in the world. The rest of the trip, however, went off without a hitch, and credit should go to coach John Thompson III both for his on-court leadership during the fracas and for his diplomatic handling of its aftermath.
While the brawl erupted on the court, members of the Georgetown contingent urged Chinese police to intervene to allow the players to exit the court safely. But when it was evident that the police would make no attempt to break up the fighting, Thompson pulled his players off the floor and led them to the exit, rallying the team around him as they walked out. Despite the fighting and a barrage of plastic bottles thrown at the team, no one was seriously injured.
The day after the fight, Thompson, along with players Jason Clark and Hollis Thompson, met with Bayi coach Adi Jiang and several Bayi players at Beijing Capital Airport just before the team departed for Shanghai. The coaches exchanged autographed basketballs, and Thompson suggested that Chinese players could attend Georgetown’s summer youth basketball camp next year. Thompson was conciliatory and delicate enough to satisfy China’s vice foreign minister, who claimed he was “pleased” at the conflict’s resolution, but rightfully stopped short of apologizing for his players’ reaction to the Bayi team’s instigation.
Despite the widespread media attention given to the brawl and its aftermath, it is impressive that the rest of the trip went off without a hitch, as the team went on to defeat the Liaoning Dinosaurs as well as the Taiwanese national team. Thompson’s leadership, both during the brawl and afterward, kept the tour on track when some suggested the team should return home immediately. He also helped ensure that the unfortunate on-court violence will not prevent the University from continuing its broadening engagement in China.
