Short answers, pulled from the story.
Yi Jianlian played for four NBA franchises: the Milwaukee Bucks, the New Jersey Nets, the Washington Wizards, and the Dallas Mavericks. He also signed with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2016 but was waived before the regular season began.
Yi Jianlian was selected sixth overall by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2007 NBA draft. His selection alongside Sun Yue marked the first time two Chinese-born players were taken in the same NBA draft, a feat not repeated until 2016.
Yi Jianlian and his representatives objected to playing in Milwaukee because the city lacked a large Asian-American community. His agent Dan Fegan had warned the Bucks not to select Yi and blocked them from attending pre-draft workouts. Yi eventually signed with Milwaukee on the 29th of August 2007, after owner Herb Kohl traveled to Hong Kong and personally assured Chinese officials Yi would receive enough playing time to prepare for the 2008 Olympics.
Yi Jianlian competed in four Olympic Games: 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016. At the 2012 Olympics he ranked first among all players in rebounds per game at 10.2 and second in blocks at 2.2 per game.
Yi Jianlian's birth year was disputed throughout his career. He was officially born on the 27th of October 1987, but during the 2004 Four Nation Tournament he was listed as born in 1984. In 2007 a Chinese reporter uncovered a high school enrollment form from 1997 listing his birth date as the 27th of October 1984. No official ruling resolved the matter definitively.
Yi Jianlian officially retired on the 30th of August 2023, after announcing his decision on Sina Weibo. The 2022-23 CBA season with the Guangdong Southern Tigers was his final professional season, closing a career that spanned 21 years.