They weren't sure, so I guess they decided to take the risk and so far getting burned. This would be somewhat reminiscent of Joe D. taking Darko and knowing all the risks.
They would need to get a list of teams that is approved by Yi, his agent, the coach of his Chinese team, Chinese basketball federation, Chinese government, and a couple of billion of Chinese basketball fans to make sure there are no issues.
Exactly. Sign your 3 year deal and then go to where you want to go. The Bucks are kind of stupid for drafting a guy they never seen. The smart thing would have been to ask who wanted Yi at #6 and traded down out of that pick and get another player and a draft pick.
They could easily trade him for Joakim Noah, right? The Bulls would do it. China would be cool with it. So, it seems like that is their worst case scenario.
They seemed to think that whoever Milwaukee has is good enough to keep Yi on the bench. So, I'd say Joe Smith couldn't be worse.
The issue is that he's not going to get enough playing time and therefore not be ready for the Olympics, thus ruining Chinese team's chances of winning it.
I thought that he would get playing time in Milwaukee, but they didn't want him there because there isn't enough of a Chinese population there... not that that makes any sense either.
I cannot even fathom this kind of external pressure on life decisions. I thought it was suffocating when I was pressured to pursue a career as an accountant by my parents. The expectations of 1 billion people being placed on one young man shows little regard for his humanity and individuality.
I don't remember this being some huge issue when Wang ZhiZhi came into the league, or when that 8' tall chick played for the Sparks in the first WNBA season. This new capitlistic global economy is a mutha.
I think it is more a left over from the old Communist regime rather than the China's pseudo capitalistic one that they have now. The Communist party in China is not only not extant but they still runs the country with an iron fist and as enlightened Communists, which means its okay for people to get rich as long as it doesn't conflict with "The People's Interests" i.e.; the interests of the ruling Communist party and its leaders. This is not capitalism at all.
I wonder if Prince has his own billboard in "Beer Town" Prince of New York: Prince Fielder Will Win The NL MVP Prince Fielder Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com Yi practices with Bucks for the first time after arriving from China, dodges age question - NBA - Yahoo! Sports
