Relative Age Effect on basketball. The case of Chinese professional basketball players

Abstract

The Relative Age Effect (RAE) consists of an asymmetry in the birth distribution, involving an overrepresentation of people born in the first months of the year playing different activities. Out of Europe, the background and research on this topic are not as consistent, especially in the sports field. China hosts the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA), which is the main basketball league in Asia. Thus, in the present study, we analyzed the existence of the Relative Age Effect (RAE) in the CBA during the season 2017/2018. Participants were professional basketball players who participated in the competition (n=318) with an average age of 26.98 ± 4.18 years. The existence of RAE was found for all players. Analyzing the players by their position on the pitch, RAE was found at point guards and shooting guards (p<0.001). The greater RAE effect on these positions could be explained by the specific physical and performance requirements of point guards and shooting guards. Our results suggest that China is not an exception in the existing bias about the selection of talent based on the date of birth of players, which generates unequal opportunities in early categories.