When Chen Yang was a boy, he was obsessed with sports. Growing up in China, his family encouraged him, but it wasn’t until he studied in Boston that his dream began to take shape. There, he discovered how deeply sports were penetrated into everyday life. His host family took him to live games across the city — basketball, baseball, football, and even lacrosse. “Basically, my life kind of centers around these sports. The sports culture there really spoke to me, it was completely different from China,” he recalls. 

When he returned to Beijing in the early 2000s, the city was preparing for the 2008 Olympics. And fate soon opened a door for Chen Yang. Armed with his sports English major, he applied for a seven-day NBA training camp that needed translators capable of more than literal interpretation. They had to understand slang and even the nuances of African American culture. 

In 2010, destiny dramatically called again. Stephon Marbury, a former NBA All-Star, was heading to China to restart his career. He was in urgent need of a translator at that time. Yang did his homework, reading critical profiles that pictured Marbury as “difficult” and “unpredictable.” “For the longest time, I’ve been preparing to do things related to sports. Now I know that’s the moment. We talked for just a few minutes, and I knew the online picture was wrong. So it’s an important lesson not to generalize.”

He became Marbury’s translator, and much more. Over the next decade, he served as translator, agent, and eventually club executive. Together, they won three CBA championships with the Beijing Ducks, helping the city claim its first-ever titles. “I’m a big advocate for culture bridge work, the translator is not only about translating the phrase or the meaning, it’s about letting both sides understand each other’s culture and discuss it on top of that.”

Being both translator and agent meant he had to look after Marbury’s daily needs while handling tough contract negotiations. It meant managing daily life, from introducing Marbury to Chinese cuisine to explaining why the streets were unusually quiet during the Spring Festival. “I still remember when Marbury first arrived and joined a Chinese feast, surprised to see a whole fish placed on the table,” he laughs. He also taught Marbury the rituals of drinking baijiu and even took him to foot massages, which soon became one of Marbury’s favorite pastimes.

On the court, Chen Yang’s job was even more challenging. Coaches would emphasize scoring: “We need you to carry the offense and contribute to the result.” But Marbury valued teamwork. So, framing the message in a proper way, emphasizing leadership and responsibility, is important. Beyond coordinating between coaches and Marbury, after practice, he would go from player to player, reinforcing team unity while assuring the coaches that Marbury would shoulder the pressure. “For example, I encouraged players to look for qualities in their teammates that they could learn from and incorporate into themselves,” he explains.

“It seems to me that there’s a false stigma around sincerity. In our culture, this mindset suggests that being an honest man isn’t ‘cool,’ and that those who don’t try are somehow more stylish than those who do.” However, to Chen Yang, the secret of winning so many awards is sincerity.  “You can’t hide things. Whether it’s players, coaches, or management, you have to be honest. Things will be exposed no matter how good you are at hiding. That’s how trust is built. We put every effort to warrant the result: in the 2019–2020 season, the Beijing Royal Fighters achieved its best-ever finish, even in the midst of COVID lockdowns.”

Together, Chen Yang and Marbury built more than wins. As vice general manager of the Beijing Royal Fighters, Chen Yang oversaw contracts, logistics, and team culture. “My management philosophy emphasized three things: player attitude, trust between coaches and Marbury and players, and taking care of athletes’ well-being.”

From a boyhood love of sports to becoming the right-hand man of a basketball superstar, Chen Yang’s career has been anything but ordinary. His career is simple: bridge-building between languages, cultures, and people.