It does not look like Yi will be showcasing his talent to the Bucks, however. Amidst complaints of Milwaukee lacking a suitable Asian American population and of the Bucks having too many similarly-sized players, Team Yi (comprised of Yi's agent Dan Fagan and Chen Haitao, owner of Yi's Chinese professional team, the Guangdong Tigers) have spurned the Milwaukee Bucks and any negotiations altogether.

I cannot explain the Yi situation better than Beijing-based journalist Jonathan Ansfield. Ansfield makes a key observation:

In a package on Yi previewing the June 28 draft, the Chinese edition of Sport Illustrated magazine observed:“In contrast to Chinese royalty like Wang Zhizhi and Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian looks more like a player from the streets of America.”

If so, then Yi is certainly acting like an American basketball player, holding out for more prestige and a team with a greater market for his talents (coincidentally, a "big city" market like Los Angeles or New York, where he can get paid). Ansfield notes that Yi wants to escape Yao's shadow; so far, Yi is doing a good job of undermining China's paragon of hard work and determination. Yi's outright refusal to even communicate with the Bucks is downright disheartening and a sobering wake-up call. The NBA is not exactly brimming with Asian players, and Yi has a chance to tie together China with America in a way that not even Yao could. Even at 7', Yi relates more to the average basketball player than "The Great Wall" because of his style and flair. Yet, he spurns the opportunity to play for an NBA team, creating clouds of doubt over future Asian-based basketball players ("Do we really want to draft him? Remember what happened with that Yi Jianlian kid?").

If Yi really wants to escape Yao's shadow, he'll make a name for himself...by taking advantage of the opportunity at hand and playing for the team that drafted him.