Mengke Bateer

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Mengke Bateer
Position	Center
Height	211 cm
Weight	131.5 kg
Team	Free agent
Nationality	China
Born	November 20, 1975 Inner Mongolia, China
Pro career	1991 – present
Former teams	Beijing Ducks Denver Nuggets San Antonio Spurs Toronto Raptors Huntsville Flight

Mengke Bateer (or Menk Batere, Chinese: 巴特尔; pinyin: Bātèěr, born November 20, 1975 in Hangjing County, Erdos Prairie, Inner Mongolia, China) is a professional basketball player formerly in the American NBA. Like many ethnic Mongolians, he does not have a family name, and his full name is a composition of two words: Menk = Eternal; Bateer = Hero. In China he is only referred to as "Ba Te Er" in the Chinese tradition.

Mengke Bateer made his debut for China Men's Basketball Team in the 1994 Asian Games at the age of 19. Bateer had always been a regular in the National Team, but in 1997 he was cut from the team after "disciplinary problems". A filial son, Bateer had several times in his career attempted to voluntarily leave his teams to be back in his hometown with his family.

In 1999, while training with the National Team, he was invited to play in a pre-draft tournament held in Phoenix, where he suffered from jetlags and did not impress. He also made a short appearance in the Treviso Pre-Draft Camp in Italy.

In October 2001, Mengke Bateer was invited by the Denver Nuggets in their preseason training camp. He was cut after 2 preseason games, but in April he would be invited again after the Nuggets was in desperate need of a big man after trading away Raef LaFrenz. Bateer arrived in Denver promptly and played the remaining 25 games, even starting in 10 of them, averaging 5.5 points while battling foul problems.

In the summer of 2002, Bateer was traded to Detroit for Don Reid. After an impressive showing against Team USA in the World Championship in Indiana where he scored 19 (and led China in scoring 5 out of 7 games in the tournament, sharing time with recently drafted Yao Ming), American assistant coach Greg Popovic of the San Antonio Spurs decided to take a chance at the big man, trading a second round pick to Detroit to acquire Bateer.

He was the second man from China to play professional basketball in the American National Basketball Association. Bateer was a member of the San Antonio Spurs 2002-2003 championship team, and has also played for the Denver Nuggets and Toronto Raptors. However, his playing time was very limited.

After being waived by the New York Knicks in September 2004, he played for the Huntsville Flight of the National Basketball Development League for a while. He rejoined the Beijing Ducks of the Chinese Basketball Association in mid-February 2005, a couple of weeks before the end of the 2004–2005 regular season, and was named MVP of the 2005 CBA All-star Game (played at the end of the regular season, before the playoffs). He continues to play for the team in the 2005–2006 season.

At 6' 11" and over 300 lbs, he was considered one of the stronger centers in the NBA. He is also an accomplished passer, and dished out 6 assists in one NBA game. It is his speed (or lack of) that greatly forbids his chances in the fast-tempoed NBA.

The trio of 7' 1" Wang Zhizhi, 7' 6" Yao Ming and Mengke Bateer were known as the "Walking Great Wall" of the Chinese national basketball team.

After carrying his Beijing Ducks team to a franchise-best CBA North Division title while averaging 25 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists, Mengke Bateer failed to receive the 2005-06 CBA MVP due to an archaic rule forbidding suspended players from any awards. In mid-season, Mengke Bateer received the heaviest fine in CBA history for arguing with a referee and sat out two games as a result. At the end, nobody received the CBA MVP trophy and the CBA stated they will consider changing the rule.

In the summer of 2006, while healing a foot injury, Mengke Bateer starred in an Inner Mongolian movie named The Blue Hanggai (Sky), playing the protagonist, a Judo wrestler.