Does Yi/Bucks situation affect China long term?

[Sothron]

Just curious.

After watching this absolute debacle how likely would any team be in the NBA of drafting another Chinese kid? You know the government is going to heavily influence any decision by simply preventing the player from coming to your team.

I know there are some other prospects over there but if this Yi debacle continues to spiral out of control what team in their right mind would want to take that risk?

I am honestly surprised we have not seen Stern who is by far the most world concious commish in any sport (possibly except NHL) step in and try and mediate this thing out. China needs the NBA and the NBA wants China. How can China expect the NBA to draft its players and treat it as a serious market if their government tries to handicap the draft and handpick the teams they want?

[coachx]

You know I'm not short on opinions.

I know the Bucks will hold a grudge.

The cities with a high Asian population will still see Chineese players as busines oppurtunity as much as the quality of the player. So for the cities on the west coast it will not effect them as much but I'm sure plenty of other teams may hold a grudge.

I never see , Charlotte, Miwalukee, Utah, Cleveland, Minnesota, Memphis, Toronto, ever taking the chance of adding a Chineese guy unless it is a 7'6'' Yao Ming like player.

I think it can and should leave a black eye on China's government with many NBA teams. However, the real black eye will be on the young Chineese basketball players who wish to leave their repressed county they grew up in for the land of oppurtunity; only to let their government continue to control their lives to a excessive degree by road blocking their dreams if the "right" team, in China's government's opinion, does not draft them.

Even if the "right" team did draft Yi, how big of a pain in the butt would China's government continue to be? You know they would want input on everything from marketing to even coaching and personal decisions.

I would rather have a good ole' American boy and cut out all the BS, personally.

[drzachary]

I think the best possible situation would be for Yi to defect and then play for the Bucks.

[Sothron]

What about his family though? IIRC some Chinese female swimmer was wanting to defect back in the mid 90's and their govt basically said if she did then she wouldn't have a family to worry about...hint hint.

I don't think its a situation like the Cuba baseball players where they have a high chance of defecting and not having their families suffer for it.

[BigDirty]

Why does China need the NBA?

[coachx]

Quote:

---

I think the best possible situation would be for Yi to defect and then play for the Bucks.

---

That sure would show his government but that country has some serious laws. You don't brake China's laws. Their law enforcement makes the US loos like Mickey Mouse. Dirt floor cells that are 6 X 6, isolation, one meal a day. They literally give you just enough to stay alive if your not sentenced to death. That is how they roll. That is why the people have not over thrown them. If they fail the penalties are unimaginable. They rule their people on this fear.

Yi would never be able to return to his home land with out prosecution. That would be the ultimate slap in the face to their government's controlling way of thinking. It is probably what they need. It could even lead to a REVOLUTION the Chineese people so desperatly need.

Wicked, wicked governemnt.

For you politically correct ding bat haters, somebody has to have the balls to tell it like it is.

[pathway23]

I'm not all that sure that china is all that different from Singapore. Repression works for Singapore, as it does for China.

[Johnnybravo4]

I think that it is funny all this talk about Yi. No one killed Vasquez for not coming to Orlando. Sabonis didn't go to Portland until years after he was originally drafted.

[Lascar78]

Quote:

---

I think that it is funny all this talk about Yi. No one killed Vasquez for not coming to Orlando.

---

Vasquez didn't try to hold out for particular teams. He put his name in the draft, Orlando never had a conversation with him, and after being drafted he decided a couple more years in Europe to get ready would be best. If Orlando had done their homework and talked to him it would not have happened.

That's very different from trying to pick the select teams you'll play for.

[Swatguy]

Quote:

---

Why does China need the NBA?

---

That was my first thought. China does not need the USA for anything.

Milwaukee was told not to draft him and they arrogantly, stupidly, insainly drafted Yi. I suspect Stern warned them also.

The Chinesse culture is very very old and a Billion strong.

Need the USA? are you insane?

[frosgrim]

China needs the U.S. to buy its goods. China buys U.S. debt (something like 40% of our foreign debt is owned by China- that makes me want to throw-up). In other words, China has used the U.S. to become an economic power-house.

The next question of why does China want Yi in the NBA? Public relations. By having Chinese players successful in the U.S. pro-sport scene they can provide their populace with "golden" images of how well China competes with the big, bad, USA.

This is a brewing, cold-war type of propaganda issue with China and the U.S.

What I do find interesting is that we are throwing Yi under the bus, but we haven't thrown the U.S. players who did the same thing, refuse to play for the team that drafted them. Here is a short list: Kobe, Manning, Elway, J.D. Drew, and others.

[macdaddy]

If Cleveland had drafted Yi he'd been on the first plane out. Its not the asian population of the city. Its the calibre of the team. You think they wouldn't have been letting him play with the best player in the league who just carryed his team to the finals?

[Swatguy]

Quote:

---

China needs the U.S. to buy its goods. China buys U.S. debt (something like 40% of our foreign debt is owned by China- that makes me want to throw-up). In other words, China has used the U.S. to become an economic power-house.

The next question of why does China want Yi in the NBA? Public relations. By having Chinese players successful in the U.S. pro-sport scene they can provide their populace with "golden" images of how well China competes with the big, bad, USA.

This is a brewing, cold-war type of propaganda issue with China and the U.S.

What I do find interesting is that we are throwing Yi under the bus, but we haven't thrown the U.S. players who did the same thing, refuse to play for the team that drafted them. Here is a short list: Kobe, Manning, Elway, J.D. Drew, and others.

---

The label "Made in China" is in the "fabric" of the USA economic landscape for DECADES . That will not change, especially for Milwaukee, the NBA and Yi.

With 1.3 Billion people, there are probably a 700,000 that care less about the USA much less than the NBA.

Arrogant Americans never seise to amaze me.

[AHF]

China only needs the NBA if it is trying to grow its basketball program. $$ is a part of the equation but this is a drop in the bucket in the big picture. The reason China needs Yi in the NBA is to develop their players to give their team international credibility and recognition. The need for the NBA is to validate China's athletes, IMO.

[chillzatl]

and by that I mean that it should show China that they can't dictate the terms of how one of their players comes to play in OUR league. If he wants the spotlight of the NBA, he'll get in the draft and play where he's drafted or he can stay in China.

[Lascar78]

Exactly. China as a general country and an economy don't need Yi in the NBA. But China as a basketball nation needs Yi in the NBA. That's how your country grows. More players in the NBA gives you more talent when they come back and play on the national team with their peers, it gives you more kids watching the NBA at a young age and learning.

Not to mention that the summer Olympics are in China next year and it will look bad if their new prodigy is either not playing any ball or still playing in China because his team / government wanted to pick and choose where he would play.

[BigDirty]

They could also send Yi to Europe which in my opinion would be far better concerning the Olympics, cause there is only one team that plays like team USA (and China will not beat theam anyway) but there are several teams that play a european style. So if China wants their national team to get better, they should send players to Europe first, it'll get them a better chance to win some games. Just look at teams like Slovenia who had several NBA players in the last years but they never really helped their national team win, while teams like Greece, Germany (1 NBA player) and Spain (1 NBA player at that time) were very successful.

Also I don't think more chinese people would watch NBA if there was one more Chinese in the NBA, cause chinese basketball fans would already watch NBA cause a)it's the best league and b)Yao is already there (I think they already televise most if not all of the Rockets games, so kids already have more than enough access to get to watch NBA basketball and become interested in the sport). If Tim Ohlbrecht would be drafted and then go to the NBA I don't think there would be a single german basketball fan that would suddenly become interested in the NBA just because there are now more german players, it would also not affect the number of games shown here.

And you have to remember Mengke Bateer and Wang Zhizhi, they both did not get significantly better because they played in the NBA and because they failed they kinda lowered China's basketball reputation, so if Yi, their biggest young star, fails too (and we all think that he has huge bust potential) it will actually hurt China's basketball.

So all in all I'd say that in my opinion if China wants to grow as a basketball nation, they should send players to Europe first, it's safer and more logical (I mean you don't go from junior high straight to the NBA, no you go to high school and then to college and after that you go to the NBA), if they have success with this, then they can advance to the NBA, little steps is the key to longterm success. If China's primary goal is money (although they don't need it, cause ALL the european soccer teams want to establish themselves in China) then the NBA is the best way to go. But in both cases China certainly doesn't need the NBA.

[Lacsho]

I think this Yi situation will have long term adverse affects, especially in the smaller markets. I think it will have an eternal affect pertaining to the Chinese players. You may see some defecting in the future. I'm just glad that I live in America. America has its faults, but I'll take her any day in comparison to China.