Yi Jianlian will "definitely not" play for the National
Basketball Association's Milwaukee Bucks, the Milwaukee
Journal-Sentinel newspaper reported on Tuesday.
The newspaper cited a Chinese press report quoting Guangdong
Tigers owner Chen Haitao as saying Yi, the sixth overall selection
in the June 28 NBA draft, is not a good fit for Milwaukee.
However, the owner insisted that the decision was made not
because of Milwaukee's relatively small Asian-American population
but due to concerns about playing time and development.
"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."
But Milwaukee general manager Larry Harris and coach Larry
Krystkowiak, who met with Yi earlier this month in Las Vegas, have
said that he should not worry about his minutes - saying that he
would share time with Charlie Villanueva at power forward.
Chen, for his part, seems more worried about how shared playing
time will affect Yi's performance in the 2008 Olympics in
Beijing.
"The national team and the Olympic Games are now our key
considerations," Chen said. "If Yi goes to a team where he can't
compete, that would be being irresponsible to the national
team."
But the Bucks have not given up on the possibility of bringing
the sharp-shooting big man to Milwaukee. The team has invited Yi,
his family and Chen to tour the city and its facilities.
But it seems to be a lost cause for the Bucks, who drafted Yi
despite the forward's representatives not allowing him to work out
for the team at NBA pre-draft camps. At the time, Milwaukee
insisted on selecting the Chinese star, calling him a "big piece of
the puzzle."
(Agencies via CRI.cn July 18, 2007)