Naturalized Taiwanese basketball player shocked by plans to list him as 'foreigner'

已歸化台灣的籃球員 對於計畫將他列為“外國人”感到震驚

P. LEAGUE+ reportedly considering changing Davis' status from 'local player' to 'foreign player'


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — American-born naturalized Taiwanese basketball star Quincy Davis (戴維斯) says he is shocked by plans for Taiwan's P. LEAGUE+ (PLG)to potentially change his status to a "foreign player."

Davis, 39, was born in Los Angeles but in 2013 gave up his American citizenship to enable him to play for Taiwan's national team in international competitions. The move soon bore fruit as he helped lead Taiwan in defeating China in the quarterfinals of the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship.

Davis, who now plays for the New Taipei Kings, has garnered much praise from Taiwanese fans for his exploits as a player for the national team with nicknames such as "New Taiwanese" (新台灣人) and "Protect the Nation God Q" (護國神Q).

However, it has recently been reported that PLG may change his status from a "local player" (本土球員) and reclassify him as a "foreign player" (洋將). The news of Davis' potential change in status in the league has sparked heated debate online.

In an interview with TVBS, Davis said that he is in a "state of shock" by the news and does not understand why the change is being considered. He pointed out that he has done so much for Taiwan over the past ten years for the development of basketball in Taiwan and yet "It seems like no one cares anymore," said Davis.

Davis emphasized that he became a Taiwanese citizen after making many sacrifices. Unlike his case, another foreign player "doesn't have to give up anything and after everything is said and done, he can take all of his money and all his experience and just go back home if he wants to. Anybody could do that," said Davis. However, he said that in his case, he will not leave Taiwan after his basketball career is over and will continue to give back to the community.

In response to controversy over the matter, PLG released a statement on Sept. 25 emphasizing that some teams had doubts about the different standards for the identification of naturalized players in the league's regulations and put forward the suggestion. Since the matter involves the significant rights and interests of players and teams and there is currently no clear unified standard for the tournament regulations, the PLG stated that it is a matter that should be decided by the league's board of directors.

According to PLG, the topic was raised to the board of directors for discussion.