All-Star guard Guo Ailun wants to leave Liaoning

SHENYANG, China - All-Star point guard Guo Ailun asked Tuesday to leave Liaoning Flying Leopards after serving the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) champions for 12 years.

Guo, 29, informed the club of his intention through his agent team by e-mail on Tuesday, citing for better development of himself and better service for the Chinese national team as the reasons to leave.

Guo is in Europe now on a training tour with the Chinese team after he missed the Asian Cup last month.

According to the agent team, Guo wants to have more contribution to the national team as the pivot of the back court during next year's FIBA World Cup, which serves as the qualifying tournament for Paris 2024.

After failing to qualify for the Tokyo 2020, Guo realized he needs to put more pressure on himself and find bigger challenges, his agent team noted.

There is no CBA club so far giving any offer to Guo.

Guo also expressed his gratitude to the Liaoning Flying Leopards club and thanked the local fans, who had already tagged him as the icon of Liaoning basketball.

Guo led Liaoning to two CBA championships and won the National Games twice in the past decade. He averaged 21.5 points, 6.5 assists and 3.7 rebounds during the 2021-22 CBA season when Liaoning beat Zhejiang Lions 4-0 in the Finals.