The 2014 Yao Ming Charitable Basketball Foundation basketball all-star game will be held for the first time in Dongguan, reports the Dongguan Times. Yao Ming made the announcement yesterday after meeting with Dongguan officials, a city described in the report as the Chinese ”capital of basketball”.

NBA players tentatively named to appear at game to be held on August 31 include Tony Parker of the San Antonio Spurs, George Hill of the Indiana Pacers, and Shane Battier who recently retired from the Miami Heat. CBA players to participate in the match include Yi Jianlian, Zhou Peng, Li Muhao, and Sun Tonglin.

Proceeds from the game will benefit the Yao Foundation Hope Primary School Basketball Season, a charity with the purpose of aiding underprivileged children through sports.

This will be the first time the charity basketball game will be held outside of Beijing. It was held three times previously in 2007, 2010 and 2013.

Yao Ming expressed his wish that sports could become more of a part of people’s lives in China. Yao also took the time to criticize the current state of basketball in the country as being a top-heavy pyramid with resources provided to the national team, but none to local teams.

“The national team is the big head, while the training system is a small figure. This is unsustainable, Yao said.

Dongguan was originally going to host Jeremy Lin on his China basketball tour this summer before he was forced to cancel and return to the USA in order to sign with the LA Lakers.

Photos: Dongguan Times