Yi's Trade From Bucks Could Hurt Relations With China Companies
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Will Bucks Lose Chinese Sponsors
Following Trade Of Yi To Nets? |
The Bucks traded F Yi Jianlian to the Nets Thursday, but Bucks VP/Business Operations John Steinmiller said that the team "didn't think the connection between the Bucks and China and its fans had been cut," according to Don Walker of the MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL. Steinmiller said, "We were interested in China before this. We remain involved in China. We will keep cultivating our relationship with China." The Bucks during the season had signed a deal with China-based footwear and sports apparel manufacturer Peak, which "could not have happened without Yi's spot on the roster." Steinmiller said of whether the Peak deal would be terminated with Yi's departure, "That remains to be seen. It's too early." Walker reports there was "disappointment that Yi ... was gone" among some local business leaders and Milwaukee's Asian-American community. Beyond basketball, Yi "represented something more: a talented Chinese national who would be the gateway between the Bucks, the Milwaukee business community and the vast economic promise of China and its millions of basketball fans." Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce China Council co-Chair Ulice Payne Jr. said that losing Yi "was a loss to businessmen and women in Milwaukee who saw Yi as a link to China." Payne: "We worked hard to use basketball to link Milwaukee with China. This is a blow to that effort, although him being here was a positive. We would have preferred to keep Yi" (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 6/27).
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