Yi Jianlian

• 1. Introduction

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  Yi Jianlian was spotted playing street basketball as a child, and a single coach's decision changed the course of his life. That coach persuaded Yi's family to allow professional training after Yi's parents had originally refused to enroll him in a sports school. From that chance encounter on a court, Yi went on to compete in four Olympic Games, be drafted sixth overall in the NBA, and play across two continents for more than two decades.

  His story raises questions that shadowed him throughout his career: How old was he really? Why did his own agent try to stop one of the most storied franchises from drafting him? And what happens when a player becomes a diplomatic event watched by hundreds of millions of people?

• 2. Age in Question

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  During the 2004 Four Nation Tournament, Yi was listed as being born in 1984 rather than 1987, the year his representatives had always cited. Chinese officials dismissed the discrepancy as probably a typographical error.

  Two years later, a reporter from The Houston Chronicle named Fran Blinebury wrote that Yi had told Shane Battier he was 24 years old during an exhibition game before the 2006 FIBA World Championship. Both Yi and Battier refuted that account.

  Yi was not the first Chinese player to face this kind of scrutiny. Former NBA player Wang Zhizhi had been listed as born in both 1977 and 1979 at different points in his career. In 2006, a senior Chinese official admitted that past youth squads had included players above the permitted age.

  By 2007 and 2008, the questions around Yi's birth date had grown specific. A Chinese reporter uncovered a high school enrollment form from 1997 listing his date of birth as the 27th of October 1984. The form became one of the most concrete pieces of evidence in a debate that no official ruling ever settled definitively. The uncertainty meant that throughout his NBA career, many observers were never entirely sure how to read his development arc or project his future.

• 3. The Draft Standoff

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  On the 28th of June 2007, the Milwaukee Bucks selected Yi with the sixth overall pick, even though his agent Dan Fegan had explicitly warned the Bucks not to draft him and had blocked Milwaukee from attending Yi's private pre-draft workouts in Los Angeles. Fegan's objection was specific: Milwaukee did not have a large Asian-American community, and he believed that mattered for Yi's endorsement potential and comfort.

  Milwaukee's general manager Larry Harris pushed back, saying the team had simply drafted the best player available. What followed was months of standoff. The Bucks owner, Herb Kohl, wrote Yi a letter on the 2nd of July 2007, asking him to sign. Three days later, head coach Larry Krystkowiak and Harris met with Yi in person. Yi's camp responded by requesting a trade to a city with a larger Chinese presence.

  Chinese officials added their own condition: whatever team Yi played for would have to guarantee him enough playing time to prepare for the 2008 Summer Olympics. Kohl made a personal trip to Hong Kong to appeal directly to Yi. Finally, on the 29th of August 2007, Yi agreed to a standard multi-year rookie contract with Milwaukee.

  The standoff had a footnote of broader significance. Yi and Sun Yue together became the first two Chinese-born players ever selected in the same NBA draft. That milestone would not be repeated until 2016.

• 4. A Rookie Season Televised Across China

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  Krystkowiak put Yi in Milwaukee's starting lineup on opening night in place of Charlie Villanueva, and Yi scored nine points in a loss to the Orlando Magic. Three days later, his first home game in Milwaukee was also the first time he was televised nationally in China, and an estimated 100 million viewers tuned in. He scored 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds in a 78-72 win over the Chicago Bulls.

  Yao Ming, watching from afar, offered public praise. He said that comparing his own third NBA game to Yi's, Yi's statistics were far better.

  On the 9th of November 2007, Yi and Yao met on an NBA floor for the first time. The Houston Rockets hosted Milwaukee, winning 104-88. Yi posted 19 points and nine rebounds, including two three-pointers. Yao posted 28 points and nine rebounds. The audience in China surpassed 200 million, making it one of the most-watched games in NBA history. After the game, Yao called Yi's talent unbelievable, Tracy McGrady described Yi as having a tremendous upside, and Del Harris, the former head coach of the Chinese national team, called Yi the most athletic seven-footer in the NBA.

  Yi's best individual moment that season came on the 22nd of December 2007, when he scored a career-high 29 points on 14-of-17 shooting against the Charlotte Bobcats, earning him the NBA Rookie of the Month award for December. He was also selected for the rookie team at the 2008 NBA All-Star Game. But injuries began accumulating. He missed eight games before a knee injury on the 2nd of April 2008, ended his season. He finished having played 66 of a possible 82 games, averaging 8.6 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. An assistant coach later said the injuries bothered Yi more than people realized.

• 5. New Jersey and the Injury Years

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  On the 26th of June 2008, Milwaukee traded Yi and Bobby Simmons to the New Jersey Nets in exchange for Richard Jefferson. The Nets' president Rod Thorn said the team felt strongly that Yi was going to be a real good player. The team's chief executive Brett Yormark framed the acquisition in business terms, noting that it opened up a truly new fan base.

  Yi started fast in New Jersey. Through his first 37 games, he averaged 10.5 points and 6.2 rebounds while shooting 39% from three-point range, well above his Milwaukee numbers. Then on the 9th of January 2009, he broke the pinkie on his right hand. He missed weeks. When he returned after the All-Star break, he averaged only six points on 36% shooting. His agent suggested the team performed better when Yi played more and asked publicly who was accountable. Coach Lawrence Frank responded that Yi was only 21 and patience was required.

  The following season brought more breakdowns. Yi sprained his medial collateral ligament on the 4th of November 2009, then suffered a laceration on his upper lip on the 8th of December 2009, and sprained his left ankle on the 8th of March 2010. Despite those losses, he still managed to post his best NBA season numbers: 12 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, with 40% shooting from the field and 37% from three-point range.

  On the 29th of June 2010, he was traded to the Washington Wizards along with three million dollars in cash considerations for Quinton Ross. Washington chose not to extend his contract when they had the chance before the 30th of June 2011.

• 6. The Olympics and National Duty

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  Yi's first international experience came at the 2003 FIBA Under-19 World Championship, where he averaged 18.9 points and 11.5 rebounds per game. He made his senior debut at the 2004 Summer Olympics and later averaged six points and six rebounds at the 2006 FIBA World Championship.

  At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, the pressure on Yi was enormous. China lost its first two group stage matches against the United States and Spain, with Yi contributing nine and four points respectively. But in a win over Angola he recorded a double-double, and in a win over Germany he scored nine points and grabbed 11 rebounds, hitting a crucial shot with 28 seconds left that helped send China to the quarter-finals. Lithuania ended China's run in the quarter-finals, winning 94-68. Yi scored 11 points in that final game.

  At the 2012 Summer Olympics, Yi ranked first among all players in rebounds per game at 10.2 and second in blocks at 2.2. He appeared at the 2016 Olympics as well. At the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup, Yi was still leading the national team at close to 32 years of age, averaging 17.8 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 1.2 assists. Against Nigeria, he scored 27 points and posted a player efficiency rating of 26, described as his best national team performance in recent years.

• 7. Guangdong and the Final Chapters

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  Yi returned to Guangdong during the 2011 NBA lockout on a one-year deal that carried an unusual provision: he retained the right to return to the NBA once the lockout ended. Most NBA players who went to the CBA during that period did not negotiate that exit clause.

  On the 6th of January 2012, Yi signed with the Dallas Mavericks. He was assigned immediately to the Texas Legends, Dallas's D-League affiliate, and averaged 23 points and 12 rebounds in two games there before being recalled. Dallas reached the playoffs that year, and in game 3 against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Yi played in his only career NBA playoffs game, scoring two points in five minutes.

  He returned to Guangdong for the 2012-13 season and won a fourth CBA championship. He briefly returned to the NBA orbit in August 2016 when he signed a one-year, eight-million-dollar contract with the Los Angeles Lakers. Coach Luke Walton considered Yi the team's best-shooting big man during preseason, but gave him little regular-season role. Yi averaged 3.0 points and 2.5 rebounds over six preseason games before requesting and receiving a release. The Lakers waived him on the 24th of October 2016.

  On the 15th of August 2020, Yi was on the court when Guangdong won their 10th CBA championship with a 123-115 victory over the Liaoning Flying Leopards in game 3 of the finals. During that same game, Yi ruptured his Achilles tendon. He returned for what became his final season in 2022-23. On the 30th of August 2023, he announced his retirement on Sina Weibo, writing that basketball had been by his side for 21 years and that after much contemplation he had decided to officially bring his career to a close. He was the same player whose parents once refused to let him attend a sports school.