Why China's Yi counts in the NBA draft

The general manager of a team that is drafting in the mid- to late-teens — the New Jersey Nets at No. 17 — expressed his concerns last week on WFAN, a New York sports radio station.

“The Chinese kid,” said Ed Stefanski, referring to Yi. “I went over to see him play.  He’s a real interesting character but how do you equate the talent level in China, which isn’t very good, to playing against the best players in the world.”

He even questioned Yi’s listed height. 

“You take two inches off whatever they list them in the program, so he’s probably 6-feet-10-inches,” but he is a four man (power forward)  not a center.  He can really run the floor. And if you give him one or two steps, his head is literally at the rim.  Now, inside against half-court, grind-it-out basketball, I think he is going to have to learn how to do that, but he is quite an athlete.”

Watching him work out, you can see all his strengths and Stefanski’s concerns, Yi is quick, fundamentally sound and likes to play above the rim. There was very limited contact in practice session, but Yi easily pounded the ball inside for a quick turnaround jumper or baby hook shot (both left and right handed).

His three-point shooting wasn't that consistent but he was very reliable from the top of the key.  He only got frustrated with himself when he missed that shot badly, cursing in English. Overall though, Yi does have a sweet stroke. The workouts were high energy, fast paced but pretty quiet. No one except for his trainer, Jarin Akana, said much of anything throughout the workouts.   

Wherever he goes Thursday night, Yi will still be a rookie.  He may be a burgeoning global brand but he will have to carry veterans’ bags.   However, they should be nice to him.  He could make some of them even richer than they already are.  Yao Ming helped make Shane Battier richer last fall.

Battier was traded from small market Memphis to big market Houston, but more significantly for his visibility.  He was suddenly the teammate of Yao Ming.   It wasn’t long before his agent, Jim Tanner of Williams & Connolly, saw an opportunity.

“The timing couldn’t have been better,” said Tanner.  “His shoe contract with Adidas had expired.  We knew his trade would give him tremendous exposure there.  PEAK, the big Chinese apparel company, wanted to sign an NBA star and expand their profile.”

The result was a three-year, seven-figure deal and a signature clothing line, the Battier Line, all promoted by Battier—and an $8 million annual budget.  Battier learned some Chinese, and flew off to the Far East to do commercials, make appearances and sign a lot of autographs. 

Asked if the new deal was more lucrative than the deal with Addidas, Tanner would only say yes.  

The NBA is obviously a willing partner in all of this.  There are some months, says commissioner David Stern, where revenues from China outstrip those from North America and a fact sheet circulated by the league gushes with numbers that easily translate to dollar signs: the billion viewers every year, the 51 TV stations that carry the games, up from 32 a year ago, the launch of a third Chinese language variant of NBA.com. 

And the NBA is only too happy to let you know that its success in China is not dependent on Yao or Yi.  Yao, in spite of his huge popularity, is not the most popular NBA player, at least measured by uniform jersey sales.  He ranks No. 6.  Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, Allen Iverson and others rank above him.

“NBA popularity is increasing rapidly.  One single player isn’t going to make a big difference.  It will help...Yao has been a great ambassador to us,” says Yang.  “If Yi becomes an all star or reserve, we are not dependent on one player.”

But they do acknowledge that for the first time, there will 30 Chinese media in attendance at the draft Thursday night and that two Chinese networks, CCTV, the national network and GTV, the Southern China network, will be taking live feeds and that most important of all, there will be official delegations from the China Basketball Association on hand.   Why is that so important?  Because the NBA is about to set up something called “NBA China” which will foster links between the league and its Chinese counterpart.  That could be a billion dollar deal. 

Yi is also important to Nike, the sneaker company he represents for “a pittance” according to Fegan, his agent.   On Tuesday, Nike reported strong numbers out of China for the second quarter.  One reason for the company’s surge in China is the growing interest there in basketball.

“We’re jumping at opportunities to lead change,” Nike Chief Executive Mark Parker said. “We’re building and tapping into online communities based on the passion of sport … we’re going to use our digital brand tools to do what we did with traditional advertising.”

And perhaps coincidentally, perhaps not, Yi’s latest Nike commercial, is out this week. He is portrayed as someone about to make a great transition, from Chinese star to NBA superstar. 

“You can join the professional league when you are 15,” he says over a stylized set of basketball graphics. “You can join the national team.  You can become an MVP.  But that's not enough.  Because you can be the you that's making the next step forward.”

NBC's Alex Bregman contributed to this report.

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