Yi Giving Bucks the Cold Shoulder
Chinese Prospect Ruining his NBA Career with petty Demands
Jul 22, 2007
The phrase "one bad apple spoils the barrel" was never more evident than on draft night and the subsequent weeks thereof. Joy and happiness were shining from almost every young player chosen that night by various NBA teams. No one was overly disappointed by when he was chosen. It was one of the most celebrated NBA Drafts ever due to the talent and character of this latest infusion of youth in the NBA.
All of that has become a footnote in the wake of the one person who was disappointed that evening: Yi Jianlian. Yi was the one player who had no idea which team would chose him that evening. He was projected by mock drafts to go as high as number three to Atlanta, or as low as nine to Chicago. The 6-foot-11 forward was every GM's enigma: a lot of potential, and a lot of question marks.
Very little actual game footage of Yi in action was available, as Chinese Basketbll games aren't exactly ESPN regulars. Teams wanting to evaluate him were almost solely dependent on seeing Yi in personal workouts. The problem was that Yi's representatives were extremely selective on who they wanted to show their product off to. Teams that were refused access to Yi's workouts included Memphis, Milwaukee, Charlotte and Minnesota.
Which was why, on draft night, Yi's expression when chosen by the Bucks made viewers think he'd been sentenced for four years at Levenworth, instead of getting a four-year multi-million dollar contract to play basketball in the U.S. Yi was stunned. He and his reps had done everything possible to make sure the Bucks, as well as other teams, did not select him. Bucks brass proved they were stubborn too, and chose him anyway.
Yi's reaction (more importantly, his agents' reactions) was to refuse to meet with Bucks' staff and hide within the confines of his Chinese representation and national basketball program. They have also demanded that the Bucks trade Yi to another team, although new specific franchises have been named.
The common theory as to the cause of this standoff is that Milwaukee offers to small an Asian market for both Yi's comfort and marketing potential. His representatives have denied such reasoning, stating that the Bucks wouldn't be conducive to Yi's development as a player, and that he wouldn't see much playing time.
The Bucks are obviously confused by this idea. With only Andrew Bogut (who plays center, which is not Yi's position) and Charlie Villanueva, the Bucks have no other competent frontcourt players. Yi would probably get all the playing time he could want, as well as a chance to make the playoffs in the weak Eastern Conference.
This new Cold War involves much more than Yi and Milwaukee. NBA David Stern and superstar Lebron James have been making a push to market the NBA in China, whose interest in basketball has exploded over the last few years. With a conflict between China's newest star and the NBA, Stern must be anxious to see how this will affect the NBA's relationship with its newest (and largest) market.
What Yi and his reps need to understand is that he applied to enter the draft. Yi requested the privelege of playing in the NBA. In essence, Yi applied for a job, and was given one, albeit in a location less desirable than intended. When someone applies for a job, that person does not turn around tell his/her boss, "You know what? I don't like where you're putting me. Move me somewhere or make me do something that I like, and then I'll work for you."
Yi's reaction (and that of his agents) has crippled his potential as a professional, as well as the professionalism of the entire draft process. His desire to play in the NBA should not come with restrictions and requirements. He's probably gotten away with making his own rules in his homeland, but that won't work when he comes over to play for someone else, because he is playing for them, and not the other way around.
A lot of good things are happening right now in the NBA. At least a dozen teams have improved this offseason, this year's rookies boast some of the best talent seen in a while, and everyone is feeling optimistic about the upcoming season. It's a shame that rather than all of those things being the headlines, we're forced to hear about a Chinese teenager and his reps throwing a temper tantrum over being a ball-playing millionaire in Milwaukee for a maximum of four years.
