Loading AI tools
Z Wikipedii, wolnej encyklopedii
Yi Jianlian, Chin. upr. 易建聯, Chin. trad. 易建聯 (ur. 27 października 1987 w Heshan) – chiński koszykarz grający na pozycji silnego skrzydłowego. Obecnie występuje w New Jersey Nets. Karierę rozpoczął w chińskim zespole Guangdong Southern Tigers w 2002 roku. W pierwszym sezonie został wybrany Debiutantem Roku w Chińskiej Lidze Koszykówki (CBA). Podczas pięciu lat występów w tym klubie zdobył trzy tytuły Mistrza Chin. W tym samym czasie występował również w Reprezentacji Chin, z którą zagrał na Igrzyskach Olimpijskich w 2004 oraz Mistrzostwach Świata w 2006 roku. W 2007 został wybrany w Drafcie NBA z numerem 6 przez Milwaukee Bucks. Przez kilka miesięcy odmawiał podpisania kontraktu, jednak ostatecznie 29 sierpnia został zawodnikiem tego klubu.
# 9 New Jersey Nets | |
silny skrzydłowy | |
Data i miejsce urodzenia |
27 października 1984 |
---|---|
Wzrost |
213 cm |
Masa ciała |
113 kg |
Kariera | |
Aktywność |
2002 – obecnie |
Draft |
2007, numer: 6 |
Sprawa jego wieku budzi wiele kontrowersji, ponieważ istnieją podejrzenia, iż oficjalna data jego urodzin (27 października 1987[1]) została celowo sfałszowana, aby mógł dłużej występować w zawodach juniorów. Yi odmawia komentarzy na ten temat[2].
Yi jest jedynym dzieckiem Yi Jingliu i Mai Meiling, którzy uprawiali piłkę ręczną[3]. Jego rodzice początkowo nie chcieli wysyłać go do szkoły sportowej, do której uczęszczają wyjątkowo uzdolnione dzieci[4]. Jednakże trener koszykówki w szkole sportowej przekonał ich do tego, żeby Yi Jianlian rozpoczął profesjonalny trening[4].
W 2002 roku Adidas zaprosił go do udziału w organizowanym przez tę firmę obozie treningowym ABCD w Teaneck w Stanach Zjednoczonych, gdzie Yi grał przeciwko zawodnikom z amerykańskich uniwersytetów.[5][6] Po powrocie do Chin w tym samym roku dołączył do zespołu Guangdong Southern Tigers. W pierwszym sezonie uzyskał średnią 3,5 punktu oraz 1,9 zbiórek na mecz. W czterech finałowych spotkaniach CBA zdobywał średnio 7,3 punktów oraz 7,3 zbiórek, dzięki czemu przyznano mu tytuł Debiutanta Roku. 24 sierpnia 2003 roku w magazynie TIME ukazał się artykuł zatytułowany „The Next Yao Ming” („Kolejny Yao Ming”) poświęcony temu zawodnikowi[5]. Przez kolejne trzy sezony Yi prowadził drużynę z Guangdong do Mistrzostwa Chin,a w 2006 roku zdobył tytuł MVP finałów CBA.[6][7] W ostatnim sezonie swoich występów w Chińskiej Lidze Koszykówki osiągnął rekordowe osiągnięcia w swojej karierze – 24,9 punktów oraz 11,5 zbiórek na mecz, jednak „Tygrysy” przegrały w finale z klubem Bayi Rockets[6].
Yi Jianlian nie mógł wziąć udziału w drafcie NBA przed 2009 rokiem, ponieważ przepisy Chińskiego Związku Koszykówki zabraniają zawodnikom poniżej 22 roku życia przechodzić do zagranicznych klubów[8]. Na początku 2006 Yi ogłosił, że chciałby wziąć udział w najbliższym drafcie, jednak ostatecznie nie zdecydował się na to rozwiązanie argumentując swoją decyzję brakiem doświadczenia potrzebnego do gry w NBA[9]. Rok później, 1 listopada 2006 Tygrysy ogłosiły, że Yi weźmie udział w drafcie NBA w 2007 roku[10].
Yi chose NBA agent Dan Fegan to represent him in the NBA Draft and flew to Los Angeles to participate in pre-NBA Draft camps[11]. Before the draft, Yi was predicted to be picked anywhere from third to twelfth[12]. On June 28, 2007, Yi was selected by the Milwaukee Bucks with the sixth overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft, despite Fegan warning the Bucks not to pick Yi and not allowing Milwaukee to be one of the teams invited to Yi’s pre-draft private workouts in Los Angeles. He did not want Milwaukee to select Yi because they did not have a large Asian-American community[13]. However, general manager Larry Harris said they had only drafted the best player available to them.[13]
After the draft, the Bucks attempted to convince Yi to sign with the team. On July 2, the owner of the Bucks franchise, Senator Herb Kohl, wrote a letter to Yi and his representatives, hoping to persuade Yi to sign with the Bucks[14]. Three days later, Harris and head coach Larry Krystkowiak met Yi in Las Vegas, desiring to influence Yi to play for Milwaukee[11]; however, Yi’s representatives requested that the team trade Yi to another city with a large Chinese presence. Chinese officials also required that any team Yi played with would have to give him sufficient playing time for him to improve before the 2008 Summer Olympics[13].
Kohl made a special trip to Hong Kong to appeal to Yi personally[15]. He also assured Chinese officials that Yi would have sufficient playing time, and on August 29, 2007, the Milwaukee Bucks and Yi agreed to a standard, multi-year rookie contract[13].
After being named to the Bucks’ starting lineup by Krystkowiak in place of Charlie Villanueva to begin the 2007–08 NBA season[16], Yi had nine points and three rebounds in a loss to Orlando in his NBA debut[17]. He played his first home game in Milwaukee three days later and scored 16 points while grabbing eight boards in a 78–72 win against the Chicago Bulls[18]. The game was also Yi’s first game to be televised nationally in China, where it was watched by 100 million viewers[19]. Yao Ming praised Yi’s play in his first games, saying, „If you compare us in our third NBA games, you will see that Yi’s statistics are far better than mine”[19].
On November 9, Yi played against Yao for the first time when the Houston Rockets hosted Milwaukee in the Toyota Center. Yi had 19 points and nine rebounds, including two three-pointers, but the Rockets topped the Bucks 104–88, with Yao scoring 28 points and grabbing 10 rebounds[20]. The game was also watched by over 200 million people in China, making it one of the most-watched games in NBA history[20]. After the game, Yao called Yi’s talent „unbelievable”, and Tracy McGrady said that Yi had „A tremendous upside in this league”[20]. Del Harris, the coach of the China’s 2004 Olympics basketball team, also described Yi as „the most athletic 7-footer in the NBA”[21].
Yi was named the Rookie of the Month for December after averaging 12.1 points and 6.6 rebound per game in that month[22], and scoring a career-high 29 points on 14-of-17 shooting in the game against the Bobcats on December 22, 2007.[23] On January 30, he was selected for the rookie team in the Rookie Challenge at the 2008 NBA All-Star Game[24]. On February 2, 2008, Yi faced Yao for the second time when the Bucks played the Rockets in Milwaukee, which Krystkowiak dubbed it the „Chinese Super Bowl”[25]. However, both players struggled during the Rockets’ 91–83 victory. Yao had 12 points, and Yi injured his shoulder during the game, finishing the game with 6 points and scoring on one of his ten field goal attempts[25].
On April 2, it was announced that Yi would miss the rest of the season with a knee injury[26]. Having already missed eight games with other injuries, Yi played in only 66 (out of a possible 82) games in his rookie season[26], averaging 8.6 points on 42% shooting and 5.2 rebounds per game[1]. One of Milwaukee’s assistant coaches, Brian James, later said that „the injuries he had bothered him more than people realized, and he couldn’t play through them.”[27]
On June 26, 2008, Yi was traded along with Bobby Simmons to the New Jersey Nets for Richard Jefferson[28]. The Nets team president Rod Thorn said that „we feel strongly he’s going to be a real good player”[29], and the team’s chief executive Brett Yormark said „it opens up a truly new fan base for us.”[30] Yi said he didn’t expect to be traded, but that it was „an honor to join the Nets.”[31]
Through his first 37 games with New Jersey, Yi averaged 10.5 points and 6.2 rebounds a game, while shooting 39% from behind the three-point line, which was well above his average from the previous season[32]. But on January 9, 2009, Yi broke the little finger on his right hand, and was expected to miss four to six weeks[33]. Thorn called it „lousy timing” because „he’d been playing well”, but Yi said „(I’ll) just take my time. I’ll come back.”[33] In voting for the 2009 All-Star Game, Yi finished third in total votes for Eastern Conference forwards, ahead of players such as Paul Pierce and Chris Bosh[34], which raised allegations of Chinese fans voting for Yi only because of his nationality[35][36][37].
Yi made his return from injury after the All-Star Game, in a loss to the Rockets on February 17.[38] However, after averaging only 6 points on 36% shooting after his return, Yi was removed from the starting lineup[39]. His final averages for the season were 8.6 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, as well as a 38% shooting percentage from the field, and 34% on three-point field goals[1]. After the Nets finished the season outside of the 2009 playoffs[40], Yi’s agent Fegan suggested the Nets played better when Yi played more minutes and took more shots, and said it „begs the question...who’s accountable?” Head coach Lawrence Frank said that „you have to be patient. He’s only 21,” and Yi assessed his season by saying he was „still too much up and down”[41].
Yi’s first major international experience came at the FIBA Under-19 World Championships, where he averaged 18.9 points and 11.5 rebounds per game[7]. He debuted with the senior national team in the 2004 Olympic Games and averaged 6 points and 6 rebounds a game at the 2006 FIBA World Championships.[7] His performance impressed coaches on the Chinese national team as well as the coaches from other countries[42].
In 2008, Yi was once again selected to play for the national team in the Beijing Olympic Games. In China’s first two groups games, Yi scored only 9 and 4 points respectively, and China lost both their games against the USA and Spain[43][44]. But in a win against Angola, he recorded a double-double[45], and in the Chinese’s second win against Germany, Yi had 9 points and 11 rebounds[46], and hit the crucial shot with 28 seconds left, to help China advance to the quarterfinals[47]. However, Lithuania ended China’s run by beating them 94–68, as Yi scored 11 points[48].
Yi Jianlian, along with former NBA player Sun Yue, was a member of the Chinese National Team that played at the 2009 FIBA Asia Championship. The tournament was held from August 6 to August 16, 2009 in Tianjin, China[49].
In 2004, Yi was listed as being born in 1984 in China’s Four Nation Tournament[50], although Chinese officials said that it was probably a typographical error[51]. Two years later, Fran Blinebury of The Houston Chronicle reported that Yi told Shane Battier he was 24 in an exhibition game before the 2006 FIBA World Championship[52], although the story was refuted by both Yi and Battier[53][54]. Yi is not the first Chinese player to come under scrutiny, as former NBA player Wang Zhizhi has been listed as being born in both 1977 and 1979.[55][56]
In 2006, a senior CBA official admitted that past youth squads had included players above the permitted age[57], and Yi’s longtime American teammate in China, Jason Dixon, said to Chad Ford that Yi was „21 or 22...It’s pretty common over [in China] to change ages”[58]. In 2007, a Chinese government registration site made public by hackers showed Yi’s date of birth as being in 1984[59], and in December 2008, a Chinese reporter discovered school registration forms that listed Yi as being born in 1984.[60]
Yi is fluent in both Mandarin and his native tongue of Cantonese. Although his English has improved in the United States, Yi still conducts interviews through his interpreter, Walter Ho[27]. He is currently under contract with Coca Cola and Yili (a Chinese dairy company) to endorse their products in China[61], and after a bidding war with Adidas, Nike signed Yi to a six-figure endorsement deal.[62] He was ranked fourth on Forbes' Chinese celebrities list in income and popularity in 2007.[63] In 2008, Yi donated 100,000 yuan to support the Sichuan earthquake victims[64], and also participated in the 2008 Summer Olympics torch relay by carrying the torch during the Hainan leg of the relay[65].
Regular season | Team | GP | RPG | APG | FG% | FT% | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2002–03 | Guangdong | 36 | 3,3 | 0,2 | .58 | .60 | 5,0 |
2003–04 | Guangdong | 28 | 5,9 | 0,5 | .517 | .741 | 9,7 |
2004–05 | Guangdong | 53 | 10,2 | 1,4 | .568 | .717 | 16,8 |
2005–06 | Guangdong | 52 | 9,7 | 1,2 | .574 | .754 | 20,5 |
2006–07 | Guangdong | 39 | 11,5 | 1,1 | .585 | .816 | 24,9 |
Łącznie | 172 | 9,6 | 1,1 | .570 | .783 | 18,6 |
Legenda | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
M | Mecze | S5 | Pierwsza piątka | MPG | Minuty na mecz |
FG% | Celność rzutów z pola | 3P% | Celność rzutów „za 3” | FT% | Celność rzutów wolnych |
RPG | Zbiórki na mecz | APG | Asysty na mecz | SPG | Przechwyty na mecz |
BPG | Bloki na mecz | PPG | Punkty na mecz |
Sezon | Drużyna | M | S5 | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2007/08 | Milwaukee | 66 | 49 | 25,0 | 42,1% | 28,6% | 84,1% | 5,2 | 0,8 | 0,6 | 0,9 | 8,6 |
2008/09 | New Jersey | 61 | 52 | 23,3 | 38,2% | 34,3 | 77,2% | 5,3 | 1,0 | 0,5 | 0,6 | 8,6 |
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.