simplified chinese traditional chinese pinyin pronounced born october chinese basketball player currently plays played national_basketball_association nba joined beginning season subsequently won rookie year award years team won titles played chinese national basketball team summer olympics basketball world cup nba draft selected sixth overall pick initially declined sign milwaukee months agreeing contract august later played nba teams returning career child allowed parents join sports school designed children predicted future sports stars sports school basketball coach noticed potential playing street basketball persuaded family allow train professionally hoping sign endorsement deal invited attend company camp new_jersey competed american high school players returning china later year signed professional contract averaged points game rebounds game season averaged points game rebounds game games playoffs won rookie year award featured time august article titled seasons championships awarded finals valuable player honor years season entered nba draft averaged career high points game rebounds game team lost rockets playoff finals nba signed year contract return unlike nba players went time received option return national_basketball_association resolved ended signed dallas remainder season rejoined released dallas nba career nba draft expected enter nba draft ruled players allowed leave foreign leagues turned early announced enter nba draft eventually decided withdraw saying good compete nba needed experience year later november announced enter nba draft chose agent represent nba draft flew los_angeles participate pre nba draft camps draft predicted picked twelfth june selected sixth overall pick nba draft despite warning milwaukee pick allowing teams invited pre draft private los_angeles want milwaukee select city milwaukee large asian american community milwaukee general manager said drafted best player available mark time nba draft history chinese born players selected draft feat repeated draft milwaukee attempted convince sign team july owner franchise wrote letter representatives hoping persuade sign team days later head coach harris met attempting influence play milwaukee representatives requested team trade team city large chinese presence chinese officials required team played sufficient playing time improve summer olympics special trip hong_kong appeal personally assured chinese officials sufficient playing time august agreed standard multi year rookie contract milwaukee named milwaukee starting lineup head coach place begin season scored points rebounds loss debut played home game milwaukee days later scored points grabbing boards win game game televised nationally china watched estimated million viewers praised play games saying compare nba games statistics far better november played time houston rockets hosted milwaukee loss scored points rebounds including scoring points rebounds game watched million people china making watched games nba history game called talent unbelievable tracy said tremendous upside league head coach chinese national basketball team described athletic nba named december averaging points game rebounds game month scoring career high points shooting win december january selected rookie team nba star game february faced second time milwaukee played home houston dubbed chinese super bowl players struggled houston victory milwaukee scored points injured shoulder game finishing points scoring field goal attempts april announced miss rest season knee injury having missed games injuries played possible games rookie season averaging points game rebounds game milwaukee assistant coaches later said injuries bothered people realized couldn play june traded milwaukee exchange new_jersey team president said feel strongly going real good player team chief executive said opens truly new fan base stated didn expect traded honor join nets games new_jersey averaged points game rebounds game shooting point line average previous season january broke little finger right hand expected miss weeks called timing playing said time come voting nba star game finished total votes forwards ahead players return injury nba star game loss february averaging points shooting return removed team starting lineup final averages season points game rebounds game shooting percentage field point field goals new_jersey finished season outside playoffs agent suggested new_jersey played better played minutes took shots said begs question sic new_jersey head coach said patient assessed season saying season returned starting lineup new_jersey starting game played suffered injuries season miss games november upper lip december left ankle march final averages season points game rebounds game shooting percentage field point field goals june traded million cash considerations ended season averaging points game rebounds game washington june extend contract decided dallas january signed dallas year contract returned national_basketball_association season immediately assigned dallas affiliate team benefited new collective agreement rules allowed players years nba experience assigned players consent january playing games averaging points game rebounds game recalled dallas team faced playoffs game playoff series played nba playoffs game scored points team minutes international career major international experience came world championship averaged points game rebounds game debut chinese national basketball team summer olympics averaged points game rebounds game world championship performance impressed coaches chinese national team coaches countries selected play chinese national team summer olympics china group stage matches scored points respectively china lost games united_states spain win recorded double double win germany scored points rebounds hit crucial shot seconds left help china advance lithuania ended china run beating scored points nba player member chinese national team played asia championship asia championship named valuable player asia championship averaging points game rebounds game played chinese national team summer olympics ranking rebounds game game ranking second blocks game court personal life fluent native tongue contract chinese dairy company sponsorship endorse products china bidding war signed figure endorsement deal ranked fourth forbes china celebrity income popularity donated support earthquake victims participated summer olympics torch relay carrying torch leg relay age controversy listed born nation tournament chinese officials said probably error years later houston_chronicle reported told shane years old exhibition game world championship story refuted chinese basketball player come scrutiny age nba player listed born senior chinese official admitted past youth squads included players permitted age longtime american teammate said pretty common change ages chinese government registration website public showed date birth october december chinese reporter discovered high school enrollment form listed born october career statistics statistics nba statistics regular season playoffs
Yi Jianlian