VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- China's men's basketball coach did little Thursday to clear up the turmoil surrounding Wang ZhiZhi, sidestepping questions regarding the national team status of the NBA's first Chinese player.

	Wang

"Chinese Basketball Association always wish Wang ZhiZhi can come back to play in the World Championships. Everybody wants him to come back,'' coach Wang Fei said.

Wang ZhiZhi, however, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that he is waiting in Los Angeles for a phone call from Chinese basketball authorities asking him to join the team.

China will play Canada in an exhibition game Friday night before moving its training base to Denver. Next up is an exhibition game against the United states next Thursday in advance of the Worlds, which will be held in Indianapolis Aug. 29-Sept. 8.

Wang angered the Chinese federation in May by refusing to report for training with the national team. He has stayed in the United States since finishing last season with the Dallas Mavericks, and currently he's an unrestricted free agent.

Wang told the Star-Telegram he chose to stay in the United States to work on his game against better competition, with the idea that it would aid the Chinese national team. The newspaper said Wang did not sound optimistic that he'll be allowed to represent his country.

China's coach met with reporters at G.M. Place, offering little explanation by answering questions in English.

"We hope. We hope,'' the coach said. "I very want him to play, but he has to play.''

Wang ZhiZhi said he might not know until three days before the World Championships whether he'll be permitted to play for China.

"Things have not been easy for me, and there are a lot of reasons why I'm going through this,'' he said. "There will be a time when I let people know, and then they'll fully understand why I'm doing this.''

Wang averaged 5.6 points and 2.0 rebounds in 51 games for the Mavericks last season.