http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives...e_to_milwaukee/ ESPN - The Milwaukee Bucks ' campaign to secure the services of reluctant power forward Yi Jianlian has suffered a blow after the player's Chinese club said it would block his move to the United States. Yi, taken by Milwaukee with the sixth selection in the NBA draft last month, would "definitely not" play for Milwaukee, Tuesday's Beijing News quoted Guangdong Tigers chief, Chen Haitao, as saying. "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.
First i was disgusted with a guy named John Elway. I hated that anyone would try and dictate what team he would play for or who he wouldn't. Thinking he was bigger than the league. I wanted to see his career ended every snap of the ball for this arrogance. I now focus that on Eli Manning. Especially living in San DIego. THen.... There was Danny Ferry, what a clown. It was almost comical this guy refusal to play for the Clips then having the career he did. Steve Francis was the worst. He should have been banned from the league after refusing to play for Vancouver. He should have been happy just to be a professional basketball player. Play out your rookie contract and become a free agent, then dictate who you want to sign for. I think he got a little karma the way his career has unfolded. Then you have the selfish scumbag Kobe Bryant again refusing to sign with any team other than the lakers, under the threat of staying in Italy or going to Duke. What a joke. i still am waiting for that career ending twist of the knee for this moron. You may say, hey that is a little harsh. But, oh well, I don't think this guy should even be in the league... and karma will get him as well. I certainly dont want to see the rapist representing the USA or me as a citizen. BUt Yi, and his reps are taking this seriously too far. I was applauding the Bucks drafting him in the face of being warned not too. Play out his rookie contract and go free agent. But these threats are ridiculous. What will this lead too? Are we too ban Chinese players? This is setting an ugly precedent. If Milwaukee caves then what? Will all players start dictating where they play? I mean ferry, francis and to a lesser degree Kobe should have been banned a year or two for their acts. I hope Stern steps in and tells the Yi camp it is the bucks or nothing. And if Yi chooses to go back to China then ban chinese athletes from the nba excluding those players already playing.... also send back Sun for the lakers..... and give milwaukee some sort of compensation in next years draft. This could get ugly. What do you guys think on this YI thing?
So what's the problem? The Chinese government/Chinese Basketball Association thinks that Yi can't crack the rotation that features Andrew Bogut, Dan Gadzuric and Charlie Villanueva? He probably wouldn't even be able to crack the rotation of Al Harrington and Al Harrington's twin if the guy doesn't get better on the glass and defensively. I don't think we should ban Chinese players in general, what would be the basis of that? Because the dude is Chinese? As mentioned before, plenty of American athletes and their agents do the same thing and it's disgraceful, but it shouldn't happen all the time and I think it doesn't. The problem is the people trying to handle the business for Yi. They are the ones to blame. I think Yi is caught in the middle and is having a hard time trying to get what he wants (which is probably to play in the nba for any team just as long as its in the nba). The other thing is I think fans aren't seeing the whole picture. There's probably more than meets the eye regarding the signing and I don't think it's Yi entirely doing all this. There's probably a lot of promises or secret room deals involving agents, former teams, businesses, and government entities. It could have happened to Lebron James or somebody, but would we ban all high school players or all African American players (which would be the majority of the league)? How could we discriminate over the choices of a few individuals? Sometimes, it's just bad people giving out bad advice to guys like Yi. That could be the case. But no I don't think we should ban Chinese players because of what's going on with Yi. There could be some crappy 2nd round guy from China that nobody cares about and it won't even pertain to Yi's situation because Yi actually has a chance to be good and meet all that hype and generate all this revenue. Yi could be American and it'd still be the same crap we saw with Eli Manning and Kobe and all these other hyped up players that have expensive endorsement deals in place and all these extra money making incentives. I'm still in the belief that people aren't representing Yi's best interests.
lol that's SO stupid. A VERY rare chance for China to be represented in the NBA, and they want to call all the shots like they're Donald Trump? What a disappointment. I don't see any other draftees HAND PICKING their team as if they have a choice, lol. Watch, Yi will be a bust anyway. Dan Fegan is as much of an ass as anyone for this. What the fuk is he thinking? I wouldn't even want Yi on GS after this. "Suitable for Yi's growth," lol. Next you know, you'd have Chinese government officials dictating how many minutes Nelly must play Yi, at what position, and what plays." "We want Yi to have the ball on the perimeter more often. This is the root of the problem. If Don Nelson does not comply with these requirements, we will have no choice but to bring YI back to China." What am I missing? Yi ain't Kevin Durant. He basically sucked during the summer league. Take his ass back to China, yo. Or leave him here and let him get 5 minutes a game. No one will miss him.
Well summer league is summer league, lots of players who sucked their first season in summer league actually turn out to be good players. Yi could be one of those guys. I'm not sure what Yi's genuine thoughts are, but I'd imagine he'd be happy playing for anyone just so long as he gets his shot at the nba. There's plenty of hype surrounding this guy and there's probably lots of people who are trying to make money off this kid on both the Chinese side and the American side. So I just don't want to call out Yi, the player, when I don't know what deals were put in place for him by others trying to get something for themselves. I don't know what's going on to make this such a big deal for any player who has a lot to prove in the nba. I don't have much evidence, but I think Yi is being exploited and he's not assertive enough in letting others know what he really wants out of all this. Maybe he is being controlled somehow... who knows? But I think people are getting way too hostile toward Yi and even towards Chinese players in general (almost to a point where its ridiculous). That's not a good thing.
Link: Who's behind Yi's mess I believe this article hit the spot. It's not Yi, nor the Chinese gov't (there could be some involvement from either but the major force behind this whole mess is definitely not Yi or the Chinese gov't). AlleyOop, there's actually a handful of past draftees from different professional sports that has refused to play for the team that drafted them. Steve Francis & Danny Ferry are probably the 2 main names you'll recognize from the NBA. Google them up. There are also others from different sports leagues that you just haven't heard about, but it's out there.
<div class="quote_poster">SupraJames Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Link: Who's behind Yi's mess I believe this article hit the spot. It's not Yi, nor the Chinese gov't (there could be some involvement from either but the major force behind this whole mess is definitely not Yi or the Chinese gov't). AlleyOop, there's actually a handful of past draftees from different professional sports that has refused to play for the team that drafted them. Steve Francis & Danny Ferry are probably the 2 main names you'll recognize from the NBA. Google them up. There are also others from different sports leagues that you just haven't heard about, but it's out there.</div> Yes! Thank you, Supra! <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Here's the reality: Most of us in the media have no idea what we're talking about in this Yi-Bucks situation, which means that most fans don't, either. In fact, I am not sure the Bucks fully understand what (and who) they're dealing with here. I laughed out loud when I read that Bucks owner Sen. Herb Kohl wrote a letter to Yi, requesting to meet face-to-face. What Kohl has to understand is that the situation with Yi has very little to do with Yi himself.</div> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> 1. Yi is not Yao... 2. Yi is not in charge... 3. The Chinese government is not in charge... 4. Ask yourself: Who's not happy with Yi in Milwaukee? 5. The Bucks will probably win... </div> I really like all the points Sean Deveney pointed out because everytime I read a Yi article it seemed like he was cool with playing with the Bucks, and if there was an article that potrayed that he wasn't cool with the Bucks, it was some agent or representative speaking on his behalf. Well what gives? I don't know all the facts or the whole situation. Everything is rather vague or mysterious with what is at stake here. I'm clueless as most sports fans, but I know something has to be questioned and answered before we can come up with our own conclusions about where Yi, the player, stands on this whole situation. After reading a lot of different forums, blogs and articles, I think random fans are firing off a whole bunch of false conclusions about Yi without knowing all the details firsthand. Often accompanying those remarks, are their two cents that we should take it out on the Chinese government or future nba players from that country. Nonsense. We just don't know exactly what's going on, but we're mad about the process so we all fill in our own blanks. It's just emotion taking over, I think. I'm probably guilty of it too. I mentioned "Chinese government" as a possible culprit, but I think I really meant was whoever is supposed to represent Yi on the chinese side of things. Whoever that is has a lot of influence in the way of Yi wanting to play in the nba because why can't Yi get a chance to speak by himself? He's already made brief comments that suggest he wouldn't mind playing as a Buck...
<div class="quote_poster">SupraJames Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Link: Who's behind Yi's mess I believe this article hit the spot. It's not Yi, nor the Chinese gov't (there could be some involvement from either but the major force behind this whole mess is definitely not Yi or the Chinese gov't). AlleyOop, there's actually a handful of past draftees from different professional sports that has refused to play for the team that drafted them. Steve Francis & Danny Ferry are probably the 2 main names you'll recognize from the NBA. Google them up. There are also others from different sports leagues that you just haven't heard about, but it's out there.</div> Thanks for posting that link SupraJames, I think it's pretty much dead on and jives with what I've been thinking about this situation. I really do feel bad for Yi. The shortsighted view is to blame Yi, since he's the player, but he's clearly not in control of his destiny. Look at who is being quoted in the papers, it's Fegan and it's the Tigers. Americans have to understand that how things work over here is not always how they work in other parts of the world. The Chinese government has WAY more control over its people than the U.S. government has over us. boogielew, I kind of understand your frustration. You've got your principles and believe that people should have some perspective, realize how fortunate they are to play professional sports, and honor their contracts and the system itself. That's admirable. BUT, I really hope that was just a rant and not your true feelings. First of all, why wish injury on any player? It doesn't improve your life if the player is injured. Meanwhile, the games that we all love are diminished by having one less star in them. Not to mention the player and the people he supports have to endure a major tragedy. Why, with so much suffering in the world would you wish more? I know I'm taking this way too seriously, but still, comments like that really strike a chord with me. Secondly, seriously, look at a situation before you pass judgment on a player. If it were up to Yi and Yi alone, I'm sure he'd be happy to play for the Bucks, but it's not. Sure you can say that he's an adult and he should be a man about it, but we're talking about a 19 or 22 year old kid. Can you imagine taking on and defying the U.S. government when you were that age? I sure can't. I'm fine with banning a player for as long as he refuses to report to the team that drafted him, and so is David Stern. That's the rule. Play for the Bucks or don't play professionally at all for a year. If you do play professionally, the Bucks continue to hold your rights. As for setting a precedent, having a player try to get out of playing for the team that drafted him once every 9 or 10 years is hardly a precedent. This same argument was raised when Francis was drafted in '99, and it had a lot more legitimacy than Yi's representatives wanting to strong arm the Bucks because Francis was an American college player. Yi and Sun will be the 4th and 5th Chinese player to ever play in the NBA. Sending Sun back to China as well for this? To quote Ricky Bobby: Yeah, that's dumb. It just is.
Excellent post, as usual, Wtwalker. There's a lot of empathy and insight we can all relate to in your writing... and no small detail gets by you!
<div class="quote_poster">Warriorfansnc93 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Oden had a bad summer league showing too, does that mean he is going to be a bust?</div> Who said because Yi had a bad summer league, he's going to be a bust? ---------------------------------------------- BTW -- I'm not blaming Yi. I'm blaming Dan Fegan and the CBA who are "withholding" YI from the Bucks. They're acting like he's the messiah. During the pre-draft, I was very high on Yi's game. I still think he has potential. The reason why I'm blasting his game in this context isn't against Yi. It's against the presumption by anyone -- Dan Fegan, the CBA -- that Yi is SO GOOD they can just dictate wherever he plays. Why? He's done nothing to prove himself. Oden has been a dominant force in his pre-NBA play. Durant has been a superstar during his Freshman season. Yi is still just a prospect, and so far, the only chance he's had to prove himself, he's basically sucked. Still, I'd think it's a shame if Durant / Oden tried to hold out from a city they didn't like. I think it was poor class for Eli Manning to hold out from the Chargers, too. But in this situation, it's more. This is a VERY RARE opportunity for China to be represented in the NBA. I personally think building this type of connection transcends anything that has to do with sports. This is a chance to strengthen connections between the two countries, and little old Dan Fegan is playing the Grinch who stole Christmas. This is the same agent who counseled Gilbert Arenas to leave GS. He is totally screwing this thing up for Yi, for China, for the US, and for the fans. So my comments in my first post were directed at Fegan and the CBA. If they think Yi is the next Wilt Chamberlain, then they can take him back to China and let him become a hall-of-famer in the Chinese Basketball Association. Otherwise, let him show up to Milwaukee, play the game, and earn his paycheck just like everyone else.
I also agree that simply banning Chinese players from the NBA is short-sighted and ultimately hurts the league, because it'd deny good talent from coming in and hinder their efforts to globalize the game. I wish Yi would step up and take a stand against these people who are clearly exploiting him, but it doesn't seem like he's that type of person (unlike Yao). I've never seen a situation handled with as little discretion as this one, though.
Wtwalker - First - I am conflicted, i know the politically correct answer and i know probaly deep in my heart i dont think or wish that injury. For example, When the Magic announcement came with the AIDS thing i was in college and surrounded by nothing but Laker fans. In hindsight, my complete immaturity, i at least vocally acted as if i was happy about it. Inside, i didnt feel this wayat all and could imagine the fear as we as a nation were pretty uneducated by AIDS. Now looking back, I think of it with nothing but sadness. For what we missed as fans watching a barely past 30 Magic Johnson cut down from hoops and like you say the repercussions for his family etc. I am sincerely glad that MAgic is or seems helathy to this day. And it did give us the MAgic show on tv, as well as watching MAgic fail as a coach. Kidding. So, yeah i guess it is mostly a rant. In examining what i said about wishing injuries.. well....yes i did for Elway.... but i can say i was just a kid..... but til the last day i was rooting for the pack to deny him that ring. As for FErry and Franchise.... I didnt sit there and root for an injury, but would have not sympathized had they gotten one and most likely would say "that is what you get, karma got ya." AS for Kobe, i do wish for nothing but bad things to happen to the guy. I think he is a scumbag. I believe he did just what was reported in denver and i do not want him representing our country. He had his chance and passed on it a few years ago, when he couldn't be bothered as it was interferring with his summer. Now he is in "repair my rep"mode and i dont think he gives two shits about being an American and he is just doing it for his own image and selfish reasons. So i aguess i am a bad person for rooting for karma to get Kobe, sorry. BUt for the most part you are absolutely right, just words of passion blown out of porportion. secondly - My response was prior to the article that was posted and after reading it i agree with you. I think Yi is the guy caught in the middle and i hope he plays for the bucks and it is worked out. I just hope the Bucks stay strong and are'nt pushed into giving Yi away to a market his reps desire. I was really fishing to find out everyone's else's views.
<div class="quote_poster">wtwalker77 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Thanks for posting that link SupraJames, I think it's pretty much dead on and jives with what I've been thinking about this situation. I really do feel bad for Yi. The shortsighted view is to blame Yi, since he's the player, but he's clearly not in control of his destiny. Look at who is being quoted in the papers, it's Fegan and it's the Tigers. Americans have to understand that how things work over here is not always how they work in other parts of the world. The Chinese government has WAY more control over its people than the U.S. government has over us. boogielew, I kind of understand your frustration. You've got your principles and believe that people should have some perspective, realize how fortunate they are to play professional sports, and honor their contracts and the system itself. That's admirable. BUT, I really hope that was just a rant and not your true feelings. First of all, why wish injury on any player? It doesn't improve your life if the player is injured. Meanwhile, the games that we all love are diminished by having one less star in them. Not to mention the player and the people he supports have to endure a major tragedy. Why, with so much suffering in the world would you wish more? I know I'm taking this way too seriously, but still, comments like that really strike a chord with me. Secondly, seriously, look at a situation before you pass judgment on a player. If it were up to Yi and Yi alone, I'm sure he'd be happy to play for the Bucks, but it's not. Sure you can say that he's an adult and he should be a man about it, but we're talking about a 19 or 22 year old kid. Can you imagine taking on and defying the U.S. government when you were that age? I sure can't. I'm fine with banning a player for as long as he refuses to report to the team that drafted him, and so is David Stern. That's the rule. Play for the Bucks or don't play professionally at all for a year. If you do play professionally, the Bucks continue to hold your rights. As for setting a precedent, having a player try to get out of playing for the team that drafted him once every 9 or 10 years is hardly a precedent. This same argument was raised when Francis was drafted in '99, and it had a lot more legitimacy than Yi's representatives wanting to strong arm the Bucks because Francis was an American college player. Yi and Sun will be the 4th and 5th Chinese player to ever play in the NBA. Sending Sun back to China as well for this? To quote Ricky Bobby: Yeah, that's dumb. It just is.</div> some good points..... I can easily see taking on the US Govt at age 22.....been there. You just need to be more focused. Caveat Emptor. When it was Yao,the question of China's govt or Basketball bureaucrats complicating things was looked at. Yao worked out well-and everyone forgot. Whether it's Yao or Yi...agencies in China get a piece of the action. The whole Yi thing has been a web of deciet and the Bucks got greedy,naive,or both and fell into the web. Better them than us.
