Chinese Basketball Association reigning champions Sichuan Blue Whales have expressed their desire to renew the contract of the Iranian veteran center Hamed Haddadi.

"Haddadi did help a lot last season," said Geng Jie, the President of the Sichuan Blue Whales. "We want to keep this champion line-up. We hope Haddadi will stay."

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Haddadi, 30, helped the Blue Whales win their first ever CBA Championship title against the Liaoning Flying Leopards in the 2015-16 season and steered Sichuan to become the fastest growing team to win the league, claiming the hardware in just their third campaign in the Chinese basketball league. Haddadi was named the CBA Finals MVP.

Haddadi was the very first Iranian to enter in the NBA.  He played for the Memphis Grizzlies and wore their jersey for five seasons. The 7'2" center is averaging 2.2 points, 2.5 boards and 0.3 assist per contest. He was traded and had a short stint with the Phoenix Suns before being waived by the Western Conference Pacific division team in June 2013.

According to Sina, Haddadi signed with Sichuan in September 2013 as the team's bonus foreign Asian player, a league's policy in favor of low-ranked CBA teams. However, the 2013 William Jones Cup MVP left Sichuan and moved to Qingdao in the 2014-15 season.

Haddadi, who is the FIBA Asia Championship MVP for the years 2007, 2009 and 2013, returned to the Wenjiang District, Chengdu-based club in a deal that also bought American reinforcements Justin Dentmon and Mike Harris from Qingdao.

In the coming 2016-17 season of the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in Asia, Sichuan will be limited to just two foreign players. Some players in the league have expressed interest in joining the champion team after witnessing their magical season.

"We will reinforce some positions. For example， the PG position needs to be strengthened if Dentmon leaves," Geng said.

Tagscba, Hamed Haddadi, Sichuan Blue Whales, Liaoning Flying Leopards, NBA, Memphis Grizzlies, FIBA Asian Championships