Despite the stigma that American basketball players are greedy and overly demanding, it's been Yi Jianlian and his handlers who were unreasonable and unfair to Milwaukee.
After the Milwaukee Bucks drafted highly touted Yi Jianlian (pronounced "E Jee-ahn-lee-ahn") from China in the 2007 NBA Draft, his handlers and agent made demands for him to be traded. Though the Bucks were finally able to sign him, Yi's handlers' initial preference was for him to play for a team with a higher market value and that has a larger Chinese population. Obviously, Milwaukee doesn't meet either of those standards. However, it boggles the mind how a player who has proven absolutely nothing can make such demands. It seems as though American players are ridiculed for being pompous and demanding. Yet, it's apparent that foreign-born players can be just as unreasonable.
Certainly, Yi will be a standout player. At seven feet, he's incredible mobile and coordinated and already has a vast array of tools. He's a face up scorer with great athleticism who should only get better. It will be interesting to see how he fits on the Bucks. They're a young team, but they really need a bruiser on the interior to complement center Andrew Bogut. Yi, like teammate Charlie Villanueva, is an athletic, finesse player. Still, Milwaukee's looking better than last year and could make some noise if they stay healthy. It will also be interesting to see if Yi decides to continue playing for Milwaukee after his rookie contract is up.
