Yi Jianlian to stay in China like the bubble boy he is

by Stupendous

Today's news was that the Tuesday's Beijing News quoted Guangdong Tigers chief, Chen Haitao, as saying that Yi Jianlian would "definitely not" play for the Milwaukee Bucks. Additionally, Haitao had this to say: > > "This is not -- as media reports have said -- because Milwaukee, as a city with very few Chinese people, is not good for Yi's commercial development," Chen said. > > "Rather we want to find a team suitable for Yi's growth. That's the root of the problem," he added.

As an NBA fan, I find this whole situation to be very disturbing. I have previously referred to Yi as being a "spoiled red-headed step child", and that very well may be the case, however I am wondering how much of this is Yi and how much of this is the Chinese National Team speaking.

Chen is also quoted as saying "If [Yi] goes to a team where he can't compete, that would be being irresponsible to the national team."

To say that I disagree with these quotes would be an understatement. First of all, I think that the fact that Milwaukee's lack of a Chinese presence has played a significant factor. It has been suggested from the beginning and I don't think things have really changed. Wikipedia lists the Asian Population at 3.6%, who knows what portion of that is made up of Chinese people. Any way you look at it, that number is sparce, and the marketing potential of Yi might not be fully utilized in a city such as Milwaukee. If you were wondering, Houston (the home of Yao Ming) has an Asian-American population of 5.31%. [1]

The rest of his argument is just purely Chen pampering (or sheltering) Yi. I feel like Yi is like Jake Gyllenhaal in Bubble Boy. He is willingly forced to live in his bubble dome in his bedroom (China) because his mother (Chen) leads him to believe that he has no immune system (chance of playing) and that if he goes outside (the NBA) he will die (ride the pine for eternity).

This is not the way the NBA draft is intended to work. Imagine if every player who wasn't entirely thrilled with the team who selected them. We'd have a league of Steve Francis crybabies. The part that kills me is that Chen believes that Milwaukee is not "suitable for Yi's growth." Granted, they have some good -arguably average- frontcourt players in Charlie Villanueva, Bobby Simmons and Ruben Patterson, but really, what team in the NBA is going to be more "suitable" for Yi's development? This is a perfect opportunity to compete, yes Chen "compete", for playing time - and probably with a large possibility for success. It is, and always has been, that the best players will be on the floor. Yi would be able to "develop" his game in the NBA regardless if he is logging major minutes at the very beginning of his career or not. This holdout is obviously about more than basketball.

I believe the current rule is that if a player opts not to play for the team that drafts them they have to sit out of any professional play for a year. Maybe this isn't harsh enough of a penalty? I'm assuming that Yi gets payed for playing for the Chinese National team, so he certainly should have to sit out this whole upcoming year. The infusion of international players has been a major contributing factor in making the NBA the best league in the world. It is a shame to see Yi excluded from the NBA because of loosely formulated opinions and bad politics.

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