So what about Francis? I firmly believe that Rockets fans have no right to complain about players holding out because we benefited from SF holding out from the Grizzlies. It says on Wikipedia that Kobe didn't wish to play for the Hornets, and I've seen snippets on old news sites that state that Kobe wouldn't play for the Hornets and demanded a trade. This was back in 1996 before the Internet really exploded.
Im just glad this hasnt become an issue of race. I thought there would be a lot of hate that some chinese kid dared try to dictate where he went. This is no different then Eli Manning, John Elway, Steve Francis and Kobe Bryant not wanting to play for the teams that drafted them. That being said, I think Yi should go to Milwaukee and play his rookie deal out and then choose wherever he wants to go. If anything though this should put into perspective the Vspan situation. He doesnt want to be in Houston, and he gets bashed. Yi deserves the same treatment from fans in Milwaukee.
Too late. It already is an issue of race. Look at the poll options and half of the posts in this thread. Not only is Yi a foreigner, he's from China and the Chinese government is (supposedly) involved (Nike is actually the main culprit, but we can't blame homegrown big business now can we? It's always the fault of those damn reds), which makes the perception worse.
Sorry I don't have the links but it was widespread at the time (referring to Kobe). If he gets drafted by another small market team he still has the right to say he doesn't want to play there. I have no issue with a dude choosing to turn down millions of dollars because he doesn't want to play somewhere. More power to him.... This kind of thing rarely happens anyway.....
I'm not surpised by the reaction. Are you? Kind ironic though. Since alot people criticize China's stance on human rights yet here we have a kid supposedly wanting to do things his way...yet somehow this gets linked with the Chinese government...again. So basically, Yao being too timid, passive and obedient to the CNT is blamed on China. Yi being supposedly selfish and arrogant, the opposite...is still blamed on China.
Why would he want to be traded to Houston? He wants to make a name for himself and he's not going to be able to do it here in Yao's shadow.
I say this Yi character just needs to suck it up and play. He's still got a billion loyal fans that watch NBA games. It's one thing to not want to play in a NBA crap-hole (which Milwaukee is) but it's another thing to not want to play because of exposure. It's only a rookie contract any way so he can just play else where afterwards. And from the Summer League reports, the guy can play so why not go out there and help your (hopefully) future teammates? If not, then Stern needs to start banning guys who refuse to play for teams that draft them. It should be an honor to get to play at this level and by refusing to play they're just plain insulting the NBA...
