[ESPN] Guangdong Tigers to block Yi from playing for Bucks

Hopefully this is a negotiating ploy for playing time since training camp doesn't start until October. If not, I hope the Bucks do not trade him and reward this stance.

 

wtf is this garbage. I remember the Chinese pulled the "we want Yao on a competitive team" crap back in 2002 but I never for a second thought it was serious and figured it was just a money issue (as demonstrated by the fact that the CBA got a good chunk of Yao's first contract) along with the fear that Yao might defect like Wang ZhiZhi.

This on the other hand seems to be a bit more serious as the Chinese are actually putting on a real show.

 

Agreed, i'm getting a bit tired of this whol Yi thing. I'm starting to hope he will fail. I really do not like people that complain this much.

 

Apparently his chinese club is privately owned.
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=626535

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/25/sports/basketball/25nba.html

The owner is controlling the action and getting a slice of what Yi's going to make in the NBA.

 

If Yi doesn't want to play with the Bucks, then don't let him play in the NBA at all. Simple. The league better not let this go down the way Steve F. did.

**** China and their imitation sneaks.

 

I actually am starting to hate whoever is managing Yi. I hope Yi becomes a big bust as well. Hopefully that will shut those people up next time. Seriously they think he's the second coming of Garnett or something.

I feel a little bad for Yi because as far as I'm concerned, he might just be happy to be in the NBA. Not so much with the CBA and whoever the hell is responsible for him.

I hope if they trade Yi, they'll trade him to Charlotte or Atlanta so they can see his career die slowly.

 

After his summer league performance maybe the Bucks should be glad he doesn't want to join the team.

 

Think the NBA would compensate the Bucks for this in some way?

 

yeah, i suppose so.

it's just a bit different from the francis deal. at least the grizzlies were able to get some players back for the rights to francis. it sounds like, in this instance, a guy declares for the draft and then says, "eh...not gonna do it."

but you're right...it's possible the league will just say, "sorry..there's nothing we can do about it."

 

isn't that what happened too Orlando a few years ago?

 

The Bucks need to trade him for their own good. Why should they be the ones to stand up for the rest of the NBA. It could end up working really well for them.

Consider that the Chargers got Philip Rivers and Shawne Merriman for Eli Manning. Sure they could've stood up for what was right, but they needed to think selfishly just like the Bucks do because no one is going to give them Ws for taking a stand.

 

Wang didn't defect.

 

It sounds as though its not Yi that is saying no, but all the conniving people who "own" him.

I am sorry but if the kid wants to play in the NBA then you let him play. I do not understand saying it affects his marketability. It's the freaking NBA, earn your marketability and pay your lumps like everyone else.

Just because you are from another country doesn't mean you should get special treatment over the kids that worked hard here in college to get drafted.

I hope that Stern steps in. I may disagree with a lot of what the guy does, but if this goes through and sets a precedence, then the entire NBA is going to suffer because they won't be choosing the best players anymore. They will be drafting the ones they know won't give them ultimatums.

 

Yeah he did, he just recently came back to China.

 

Is he under contract in China? I wasn't aware that the NBA has to buy out his contract. If Yi isn't under contract, how are they to block him?

 

Is there any legitimacy to the claim that Yi might not get playing good playing time on the Bucks? They've got Bogut and Villaneuva to compete with, right? After that, the big guys he's got to take playing time are guys like Skinner and Gadzuric. It seems to me he'd be slated for starter's minutes in his rookie season. Am I missing something there?

I can see China being legitimately worried about the playing time and not just using it as an excuse. It isn't long until the Olympics and they want to be sure his experience is valuable. I think he'll get a lot of PT in Milwaukee, so I don't think their worry is legitimate.

 

These guys are ruining Yi's career.

Not that Yi was going to be great anyway, but they are ruining whatever he has.

 

I wouldn't be so sure - David Stern is supposedly unequivocally (though silently, for PR reasons) on the Bucks side in this case in order to protect the integrity of the draft, and particularly small market teams from being held hostage and being shut out of good players.

P.S. - a pathetic move by Guangdong Tigers. If it were Yi holding out it would be one thing. But his club? How pathetically paternalistic. He's an adult.