Yang Hansen Bio
Yang Hansen is a Chinese professional basketball player for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA), with assignment time spent alongside the Rip City Remix of the NBA G League. A 7-foot-1 center born in 2005, he plays a modern inside-out style built on vision, passing, and rim protection. After two award-winning seasons with the Qingdao Eagles of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA), Yang entered the 2025 NBA Draft and was selected 16th overall by the Memphis Grizzlies before being traded to the Trail Blazers. He is the ninth Chinese player drafted to the NBA and the third-highest Chinese draft pick in league history.
Early Life and Background
Yang Hansen was born on June 26, 2005, in Zibo, a city in Shandong Province, China. He began playing basketball as a child and joined a local club for training during the third grade of elementary school. His father, Yang Lin, is an electrician who also plays amateur basketball, while his mother, Zhu Jing, works as an accountant. Growing up in a household with a basketball-playing parent helped shape his early love for the sport.
Yang later enrolled at Zibo Sports School to continue his development as a young athlete. After graduating, he attended Zibo No.11 High School, where he competed in the China High School Basketball League (CHBL). During the 2020–21 season, he helped his high school team reach the national tournament final, where it ultimately fell to Tsinghua University High School. Around 2020, at the invitation of Qingdao Guoxin Haitian Club, he entered that organization’s youth training system, beginning the structured pathway that would carry him toward a professional career.
Path to Basketball
Yang’s path to professional basketball accelerated through the Qingdao Guoxin Haitian youth program, which produced one of China’s most decorated recent age-group products. In 2021, the Qingdao Guoxin Haitian Youth Team defeated Tsinghua High School in the finals to win the China Youth Basketball League (CYBL) U-17 Championship, and Yang was named the tournament’s Best Defensive Player. The following year, the same youth team defended its U-17 national title, and Yang earned Most Valuable Player honors, signaling his arrival as one of the country’s top young big men.
His performances for Qingdao’s youth setup led to a promotion to the senior Qingdao Eagles roster for the 2023–24 CBA season. Yang made his professional debut on October 23, 2023, in a regular-season matchup against Beijing Enterprises, becoming one of the youngest regulars in the league. In that debut campaign, he announced himself as a foundational piece of the franchise’s future and a serious candidate for the NBA.
Yang Hansen Career
Early Career (2023–2025)
Yang spent his first two professional seasons with the Qingdao Eagles of the CBA, the top-tier professional league in China. In his rookie 2023–24 season, he averaged 16.6 points, 10.5 rebounds, and three assists per game, while earning selection as a starter for the North Division Team in the CBA All-Star Game. He swept the league’s top individual awards, taking home both CBA Rookie of the Year and CBA Defensive Player of the Year honors.
During that first season, NBA scouts and front-office personnel visited the Qingdao training complex on multiple occasions to evaluate him. Yang ultimately chose not to declare for the 2024 NBA Draft, opting to continue his development in China. In his second CBA campaign, he again earned CBA Rookie of the Year recognition, was named a CBA All-Star, and was selected to the All-CBA Domestic First Team, cementing his status as one of the league’s premier young centers.
Qingdao Eagles Breakthrough (2023–2025)
Yang’s two seasons with the Qingdao Eagles represented a rapid rise from teenage prospect to CBA standout. In his debut year, his double-double averages and defensive presence made him the league’s most impactful newcomer and one of its most disruptive interior defenders. His selection as a starting All-Star in his rookie season was a clear signal of the respect he had earned from coaches, players, and league officials across China.
In his sophomore season, Yang continued to produce at an elite level for a player his age, repeating as CBA Rookie of the Year, returning to the All-Star Game, and earning a second consecutive All-CBA Domestic First Team selection. Across his two CBA seasons, he compiled two CBA Rookie of the Year awards, one CBA Defensive Player of the Year award, two All-Star appearances, and two All-Domestic First Team selections, an unprecedented haul for a player who had only just turned 20.
Portland Trail Blazers Era (2025–Present)
On June 25, 2025, Yang was selected by the Memphis Grizzlies as the 16th pick of the 2025 NBA Draft. Shortly after the selection, his draft rights were traded to the Portland Trail Blazers, along with future draft considerations, in exchange for the draft rights of Cedric Coward. The move made him the ninth Chinese player ever drafted to the NBA, the highest Chinese draft pick since Yi Jianlian in 2007, and the third-highest Chinese draft pick in NBA history.
As Yang adjusted to the NBA during his rookie season, Portland assigned him to the Rip City Remix, the franchise’s NBA G League affiliate, to give him additional on-court experience. He was later recalled back to the Trail Blazers as part of the team’s long-term development plan. On January 26, 2026, the NBA announced that Yang had been named to the roster for the Rising Stars game alongside Donovan Clingan, highlighting his standing among the league’s top first- and second-year players.
Driving Style and Strengths
Yang Hansen plays a throwback center’s game with a modern twist, using his 7-foot-1 frame, soft hands, and high basketball IQ to facilitate offense from the post. He is widely regarded as an elite passer for his position, capable of reading defenses and delivering accurate kick-out passes to shooters. Defensively, his size, timing, and shot-blocking instincts earned him CBA Defensive Player of the Year recognition in his first professional season.
Notable Events and Milestones
Among Yang’s signature moments is his 2025 NBA Draft selection at 16th overall, a milestone that placed him among the most decorated Chinese draft picks in league history. His selection to the 2026 NBA Rising Stars roster served as another early marker of his trajectory, while his back-to-back CBA Rookie of the Year awards established him as one of the most accomplished young Chinese basketball players of his generation.
Yang Hansen Career Wins
While the NBA keeps individual win totals as a season-by-season team stat, Yang’s individual trophy case already includes multiple league-level honors earned in China. Across his two CBA seasons with the Qingdao Eagles, he collected two CBA Rookie of the Year awards, one CBA Defensive Player of the Year award, two CBA All-Star selections, and two All-CBA Domestic First Team selections, a haul that reflects both his two-way impact and his rapid rise.
China Youth Basketball League Highlights
Before turning professional, Yang helped the Qingdao Guoxin Haitian Youth Team win consecutive CYBL U-17 Championships in 2021 and 2022. In 2021, he was named the tournament’s Best Defensive Player, and in 2022, he earned Most Valuable Player honors as the club successfully defended its national title. These youth titles helped establish Yang as one of China’s most promising big-man prospects of his generation.
National Team Performances
Yang represented China at the 2023 FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup, where he averaged 12.6 points, 10.4 rebounds (third in the tournament), 4.7 assists (fourth in the tournament), and five blocks (the tournament high), earning a spot on the All-Second Team. In February 2024, he made his senior national team debut during the 2025 FIBA Asian Cup qualifiers against Mongolia, marking his transition into China’s senior program.
Yang Hansen Family
Family Background and Basketball Lineage
Yang Hansen comes from a family with direct ties to the game of basketball. His father, Yang Lin, works as an electrician and is an amateur basketball player, while his mother, Zhu Jing, works as an accountant. Yang has credited his upbringing, including his father’s basketball background, as a key influence in his decision to pursue the sport from a young age.
Personal Life
Off the court, Yang has shared that he enjoys sleeping, eating, and playing video games on his PlayStation 5, offering fans a glimpse of his everyday personality. He has continued to live a relatively private personal life as he transitions between professional leagues and countries, focusing on his development as a young NBA player.
2025 Season Performance
Yang’s 2025 calendar year was defined by one of the most important stretches of his young career, beginning with a second consecutive CBA season in which he repeated as CBA Rookie of the Year and earned another CBA All-Star nod with the Qingdao Eagles. His production and consistency in China helped confirm his status as a first-round NBA prospect heading into the 2025 NBA Draft.
Selected 16th overall by the Memphis Grizzlies and quickly traded to the Portland Trail Blazers, Yang used the opening months of his rookie NBA season to adjust to the speed, spacing, and physicality of the professional game. Assignments to the Rip City Remix in the NBA G League gave him meaningful minutes and allowed Portland’s staff to monitor his development closely before recalling him to the parent club.
On January 26, 2026, the NBA named Yang to the roster for the Rising Stars game alongside Donovan Clingan, a strong endorsement of his early-season trajectory. With continued development time and a clear role in Portland’s long-term plans, Yang’s 2025 season positioned him as a building block for both the Trail Blazers and the future of Chinese basketball in the NBA.
