Li Yueru Joins Shanxi, to Wear No. 28 for Part of the New WCBA Season
On October 13, the Shanxi women's basketball team officially announced that Chinese national-team center Li Yueru has joined the club. During the WNBA offseason she will wear No. 28 and play part of the 2026-27 WCBA season for Shanxi. Born in Changzhi, Shanxi, Li will play for her hometown team for the first time in her career. The club called the signing a long-awaited homecoming and described her as the most important piece in its push for a championship.
Under the arrangement, Li will first play part of the regular season's first stage for Shanxi, then travel to the United States around December 18 to play in the Unrivaled league, returning to Shanxi as soon as that commitment ends. Unrivaled is the women's 3-on-3 professional league founded by WNBA stars; Li was previously drafted by its Mist BC team.
Li, 27, is a 6-foot-7 (2.01 m) center. In the 2026 WNBA season she played for the Dallas Wings, appearing in 33 regular-season games and averaging 3.3 points and 2.8 rebounds in 10.3 minutes a game. A mainstay of China's national team, she has won a Women's World Cup silver medal and an Asian Games gold medal, and in the WCBA she has earned a league championship as well as regular-season and Finals MVP honors. Her last WCBA season was in 2022-23.
Shanxi reached the WCBA Finals last season, losing 3-2 to Sichuan to finish as runner-up. Li's arrival strengthens the team's frontcourt. (GSM, based on Shanxi's official announcement and reports by Sina Sports and Titan Sports)
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：李月汝2025年效力WNBA西雅图风暴队期间（资料照片）。图片来源：Wikimedia Commons（CC BY-SA 2.0）。Photo: Li Yueru during her time with the WNBA's Seattle Storm in 2025 (file photo). Source: Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0).
