Guangdong Leaders Sending Mixed Messages On Yi's Future

Guangdong Execs Sending Mixed Messages On Yi

MEDIA REAX: In Milwaukee, Michael Hunt writes, “This poor kid.  All he wants to do is play in the NBA, he’s got parasitic American agents, handlers and hangers-on, and now his team owner telling him what to do.”  He is “not going back to the CBA, because China wants him ready for the Olympics through NBA competition.  Meanwhile, the Bucks retain the upper hand” (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 7/18).  Dallas Morning News columnist Tim Cowlishaw: "What the Bucks need to do … is sit tight.  This guy has no leverage."  Chicago Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti: “The Chinese need him to play over here, get a year of experience in the NBA and get a year of exposure there to help their ... country and basketball program in the Beijing Games” (“Around The Horn,” ESPN, 7/17).  Detroit Free Press columnist Drew Sharp said, "I don’t buy this line that the fact they don’t him want to play there is not an indictment against the city of Milwaukee.  Of course it is!  They do not want him in some desolate Midwestern outpost. … They want him in a strong media market” (“Jim Rome Is Burning,” ESPN, 7/17).  ESPN’s Michael Wilbon said Chinese officials want Yi “in a place where there is more viable commercial opportunity” (“PTI,” ESPN, 7/17). 

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