Another Chinese player entering the NBA: Yi Jianlian
In the 2007 NBA Draft, 6’11″ Yi Jianlian was selected sixth overall by Milwaukee. Highly touted as the next Yao Ming, he has been working out and playing with the Bucks since the draft a month ago. Since then, there has been criticism regarding his commercial development since Milwaukee is not a predominantly Asian locale and there are several big men on the team already, including the incumbent 7-foot Andrew Bogut. Yi’s former Chinese team, the Guangdong Tigers, still hold the rights to his playing contract and the Tiger’s chief, Chen Haitao, recently stated that he will block Jianlian from playing for the Bucks. Chen clarified that his reason is not due to the demographics of Milwaukee, but rather the limit on Yi’s ability to grow on the team. He instead wants to find an environment that will help Yi develop for the national team, with the Olympic Games in Beijing around the corner.
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