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

From what I've read, Yi can't play for any club, if he wants to re-enter the draft. They've made too much fuss about playing time and preparing for the Olympics for Yi to actually sit out a year. He'll play overseas, and the Bucks will retain his NBA rights.

 

I think the first part was what his agent told the media. He can play for his national team but not for any clubs.

 

It is not correct to say that. LeBron James plays in Cleveland, a dying rust belt city. Yao Ming plays in Houston, which is not exactly New York or LA. Tim Duncan is boring and plays in a one horse small city called San Antonio. Allen Iverson played in a declining east coast city for most of his career. Shaq became famous well before he set foot in Hollywood, while plying his trade in a pale excuse for a city called Orlando. Etc, etc etc.

As advertising and endorsements are a global business, and especially since most of Yi's potential ad revenue will come from him endorsing products back in China, rather than a used-car lot in the local area where he plays, the size of the localized media market he is in is not entirely relevant nor is it going to be a big deal. Ask Kevin Durant or Greg Oden.

 

I must be only one who doesn't mind a player saying ,"I will not play for X". Yi didn't invent the draft system and I see this as nothing more than negotiating with a potential employer who has said he wants your services more than anyone left in the talent pool. It is up to Milwaukie to either convince him to sign, trade his rights, or stick to their guns.

Granted, I also believe fans of X (Milwaukie in this case) have the right to yell any obsenity or curse they want at a player that does this, because he is definitely sticking it to your city and your team.

 

some people could really read this article
titled "Americans Don't Understand Others"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20070718/sc_livescience/studyamericansdontunderstandothers

i don't want call names

 

I don't think so. The Bucks own Yi's rights, so he cannot re-enter the draft next year.

If that were the case, Scola would have done it a couple of years ago.

 

But scola has played pro ball in europe.

I believe the rule is that you can re enter the draft if you dont play ANY basketball (and I belive that includes national team stuff)

 

i doubt it, i think it only includes FIBA. basically, he can't play in CBA next year. but he can play with the national team.

 

Sam, San Antonio has more than one horse.

Second, Yi is a communist. He is an individual whose needs are second to the collective good.

 

most players want to play in a bigger city regardless race/nationality. bigger market means more exposure and more endorsements. as long as you are a good player. small cities, don't bring you crap. and if you suck, you will disappear.

 

Yi could very well "disappear" if he doesn't play in the NBA. Kevin Durant just signed on with Nike at $60MM playing in Seattle, one of the least covered teams in the league. Greg Oden was the #1 pick in the draft and has no problems playing in Portland, one of the puniest markets in all of professional sports in America.

If Yi can't wait 3-4 years to be a free agent, so be it. The NBA ("crap" cities included) will move on without him. Good luck with endorsements outside the NBA. You ever heard of the phrase, cutting off your own nose to spite someone else?

 

Well, apparently, Yi's agent disagrees with you strongly on this point, or they wouldn't push so hard for the Bucks to pass on him, even if Yi himself personally don't seem to care too much.

And your examples don't mean anything. Of course you can get plenty of advertising dollars playing for a small market. But it doesn't mean players like Yao and Lebron can't get even more $$ playing for the likes of the Lakers or the Knicks. Or that Shaq would get near the publicity or the rap/movie career in Orlando that he got in LA. Or that if Oden/Duncan had been drafted by the Celtics, they'd be freaking God by now in Boston, which features a much stronger fanbase than either SA or Portland.

I'm not saying I agree with Yi's team/agent on this. I'm simply pointing out that there's reason for all this BS. It's all about the money. And getting picked by the Bucks, a crappy team in a small market with little Asian population, certainly hurt the chances of everyone involved with Yi from making tons and tons of money.

 

You're wrong on many counts.

Take Shaq. Shaq was heavily marketed prior to coming to the lakers. As a rookie he was on TV every weekend. I remember - I watched. He recorded his first rap single with the Fu Shnickensin 1993, years before he went to the lakers. He was in the movie "Blue Chips" in 1994. "Kazaam" was filmed and released in 1996 when he was in Orlando. I forgot when the video game "Shaq-fu" came out but I'm 90% sure he was with the Magic at the time.

You and Yi's team are vastly hyper-exaggerating the influence of localized media markets in the NBA marketing machine. I have seen posters of Allen Iverson in Tibet. Do you think that he's popular in Tibet, because he plays in Philadelphia? You think there's a natural affintiy that Tibetans have for the city of brotherly love? Or that the bigtime Philly media market made him famous? This goes even more for Yi - whose target audience is overseas and not localized to any NBA city or region, so where he plays is bascially irrelvant for thos purposes as it will be covered by CCTV5 regardless.

If Yi becomes a star he will get deals. He and his team should STFU and see if he can actually become a star before he starts whining about all the money he is losing (in which case he will be a free agent in 4 years and is free to flee milwuakee)

 

i dont care how many draft picks have asked to be traded but its a priveledge to play in the nba if i had enough talent to be in the nba draft i dont care which team i would play for as long as i was in the league, stop being selfish and realize how many people would cherish the opportunity you have been given

 

What about the other players? Besides, didn't Shaq go to LA partially because he want expand his movie/rap career? He would've gotten basically the same money in Orlando too, but he still made the move to the west coast.

I personally think so too, and was very surprised that Yi's people are going through so much trouble to get him out of Milwaukee. Considering his location shouldn't matter to the Chinese audience(likely don't even know the difference between Sacramento and Milwaukee), why bother? Yet thats exactly what they're doing. You can say all you want that location doesn't matter. But I'm more inclined to think that the companies who are/will be paying Yi in the future do care.

And quite frankly, I think Philly is a huge step up in terms of market compared to Milwaukee.

Actually, it's 5 years... but I digress. If Yi becomes a superstar like Yao, I'm sure he can play in Alaska and rake in tons of money. But all indications are that he's hardly a sure thing. Even much less so than Yao. In which case, I can see market playing a bigger role. Borderline star/role player should get much more run in a big market than a small one.

But anyway, unless we actually have solid advertising numbers from comparable players from different markets for comparison, it's all just pure guessing. Btw, is there any place we can look this stuff up?

 

well, if he can wait for just 0/1 year. why wait 3/4 years?

 

shaq also didn't like lil'penny.

 

This is getting out of hand. If this is all about marketing, the Chinese team should start worrying about how well he is going to play, not where. Plus whoever designed the Bucks jersey and colors need to rework their uniform and logos cause I doubt that it's appealing to wear even if you're a big fan

 

WE ARE THE BORG. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE. YOU WILL BE ASSIMILATED!

 

what marketing?

Is Yi going to market Charmin?
the softest, you can squeeze it!