China's second-tier National Basketball League team Guangzhou Free Man has dissolved, according to Jon Pastuszek of NIUBBALL.com. The team has been "bleeding through money with no rescue in the form of promotion to the Chinese Basketball Association in sight." The '12 NBL runner-up announced that it is "disbanding and will no long be participating in the league." The decision followed an investors meeting with team officials shortly after the playoffs. However, Free Man's disbandment from the league "was unexpected." As league runner-up for two consecutive years, Free Man "had built up one of the stronger teams in the league with the potential to win titles." To its demise, Free Man was "never content to win NBL hardware; rather, they were committed to being part of the CBA's long rumored plans for expansion." For the past two years the team has been "committed first and foremost to getting into the CBA." When news revealed that the CBA would remain at 17 teams, "it was a death blow for an organization that has been investing and losing piles of cash in recent years" (NIUBBALL.com, 9/13).