NBA DRAFT: China’s star-in-waiting
Next Big Thing to hit pro game?
Yi Jianlian rated 3rd-best prospect
Janny Hu, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
(06-12) 04:00 PDT Los Angeles -- His country has long held an allure fueled by secrecy and curiosity, so it is no surprise that the biggest mystery of the NBA draft is working out in the shadow of a floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall divider.
Yi Jianlian, a 7-foot standout from China, has globe-trotted his way onto UCLA's campus and into its men's gymnasium, where he is deep into shooting drills. His father watches approvingly from the sidelines, his mother from a fold-up chair underneath the basket.
A group of local college players drowns out the scene with their pick-up game on the other side of the screen, but they can only dream of causing the commotion Yi has this month.
Some NBA insiders have the young Chinese star rated as high as the third-best prospect in the draft and a consensus lottery pick with his combination of athleticism and size. The 248-pounder boasts a 7-foot-4 wingspan and his name appropriately means "building together" in Chinese.
Relations between the NBA and China are at an all-time high following Yao Ming's selection as the No. 1 pick five years ago and Yi's impending arrival. The Chinese National Team will play as an entry in the Las Vegas summer league next month; the Cleveland Cavaliers and Orlando Magic are scheduled for a pair of exhibition games in China this fall, and the entire world will descend upon the capital city of Beijing for the 2008 Olympics.
While the 7-5 Yao is undeniably China's biggest sports star, Yi has been billed as its Next Big Thing. He is already a celebrity back home -- sort of the hip-hop yang to Yao's old-school yin -- and insists he is unfazed as he prepares to make the transition to the NBA.
"There is no reason to be nervous," Yi says in Mandarin. "I know what I've been learning, what I've been working on. How hard (the jump is) depends on yourself. I think if you work hard enough, you'll be fine."
Impulse says to compare Yi to Yao, but their games and personalities are entirely different. Yao is a traditional post-up center with range who is perfectly suited for a half-court offense. Yi is more of a slasher and shooter, fit for an up-tempo system like Golden State's or Phoenix's.
Watch Yi shoot around and several things jump out: He has soft touch, a high release point and overall fluid mechanics. He is lanky, but not rail-thin, and gets good lift from his legs. Like most foreign players, his upper body needs work, and that has been the focus of his strength and conditioning program since he arrived two months ago.
While Yao took several years to adjust to the American lifestyle, Yi's acculturation has been quick. Home for now is a luxury apartment near UCLA a few doors down from his parents, Yi Jingliu and Mai Meiling -- former handball players turned postal workers -- who will remain in town through the draft.
In between daily workouts and English lessons, Yi has found time to walk the red carpet at several movie premieres and go out with friends. His English is impressive for someone who has been in the U.S. less than two months, as evidenced by his basketball self-analysis.
"My game is power forward," Yi says in English. "I guess I'm tall, but I can run and get down and shoot the ball and sometimes post inside. I'm working on post moves. I'm getting stronger."
He has spent much of the last seven weeks working out at the Home Depot Center under the supervision of trainer Joe Abunassar, who counts Warriors' Al Harrington and Baron Davis among his clientele. Abunassar says Yi's numbers in the traditional vertical leap, three-quarter-court sprint and lane agility drills are eye-popping.
"Usually the stronger a guy is, the less flexible he is. That's not the case with Yi," Abunassar said from Las Vegas. "His numbers for a guy his size are at the top of the charts I've seen in 13 years. He runs as well as some guards, most guards, I should say."
That does not surprise Del Harris, the 30-year NBA veteran who was hired to coach the Chinese National Team prior to the 2004 Olympics and witnessed its improved skill level. Harris says his first task was simply getting players to run properly and reshape their bodies.
But not Yi.
"Here was this young, 7-foot kid that could literally fly," Harris said in a phone interview from Dallas. "This guy could run and jump. We didn't have to teach him. His jumping made sense. And then he had this soft touch from 15 or 17 feet."
Harris raised plenty of eyebrows when he put the Chinese Basketball Association's Rookie of the Year in 2002-03 on the national team roster and then into the starting lineup alongside Yao. But Yi went on to lead his team to three straight championships and averaged 24.9 points, 11.9 rebounds and 1.8 blocks in his recently completed fourth season with the Guangdong Tigers.
How will those numbers hold up in the NBA, and for whom?
Yi worked out for Boston, Atlanta and Chicago in Los Angeles last week and the Kings will be in town Wednesday. Warriors special assistant Mitch Richmond saw Yi practice during a session for Chinese media, and a larger contingent from Golden State could be on its way should the Warriors explore the possibility of trading up.
His agent, Dan Fegan, is largely keeping Yi under wraps. Yi was held out of the physicals portion of the predraft camp in Orlando and is only working out for selected teams. After all, nobody wants a repeat of the Darko Milicic story, where the No. 2 pick languished for two-plus years on the Pistons' bench before being traded to Orlando.
As with most many foreign players, there are also club-based complications from contract buyouts to players choosing to remain overseas, and in the case of China, government tie-ins.
When Wang Zhizhi, the first Chinese player in the NBA, defied the Chinese Basketball Association by refusing to report home for national team duties in 2002, it complicated negotiations for Yao's departure that same summer.
"There's a risk," Fegan said of Yi not being released by the government. "But my sense of it is that the teams are going to get a very clear sense before the draft."
In a world where Nike's swoosh is more ubiquitous than Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods combined, there is naturally consideration beyond basketball.
China, with its population in the billions, is a marketers' dream, as is fielding a Chinese star in a densely Asian-populated region like Los Angeles or the Bay Area.
Golden State, in fact, offered refuge to Wang during his brief rebellion five years ago. The former NBA center Wang, citing a desire to improve his skills against better competition, ignored letters to return to China following his second season with the Mavericks and latched onto the Warriors' summer league team. He played for the Clippers and Heat before eventually being allowed back onto the Chinese national team.
Yi currently has his own controversy, though it will not create any tension. He is officially listed as 19 years old, but his true age remains a mystery. His birth year has ranged from October of 1984 to 1987 on documents and stands at the latter.
He has been compared to some impressive European big men, from Dirk Nowitzki to Pau Gasol to the retired Toni Kukoc. He is also bound to be compared to Nikoloz Tskitishvili, the onetime No. 5 pick who turned out to be a bust for the Nuggets and every other team he latched onto, including the Warriors.
To Yi, the transition is about growth. He used to follow athletes like Michael Jordan religiously. Now that he plays, he has a different focus.
"When I watch a game, it's not so much who I like or who I don't like," Yi said. "It's watching the team, watching how they play, and seeing what I can learn from that."
And what the Chinese can learn as a whole. An official from Yi's Guangdong club said that on average, each of the 16 CBA teams has two foreign players, and most of those are from the United States. The mix of talent has helped increase the level of competition.
So far, the four players to come from China have all been big men. That could change next season with swingman Sun Yue among the draft hopefuls. Though Yue is 6-8, he is one of China's better ballhandlers and showed flashes the Orlando pre-draft camp.
"The impact of Wang and Yao and Mengke Bateer -- it's the Great Wall, the three of them -- they definitely had an influence on the players that are now 20 years old and younger," Harris says.
"Kids that were 12, 14, 15 back six, seven years ago had more incentive for working hard and watching NBA games to see the skill level and imitate some of the things."
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The Next Generation
Age: 19 (at least) Ht./Wt.: 7-0/248
Wingspan: 7-foot-4
Nickname: Next Generation
Current residence: Westwood
Playing style: Shoot or slash
'06-07 team: Guangdong Tigers
'06-07 stats: 24.9 ppg, 11.5 rpg
Honors: '02-'03 Rookie of the Year in top Chinese league; starter in 2004 Olympics
