Why is Yi Jianlian not achieving results in the NBA? Yao Ming has the highest draft pick after

On May 19, Yi Jianlian, as one of the most talented players in Chinese basketball history, failed to realize his full potential in the NBA. The power forward, who was selected by the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round six in 2007, was highly expected to become another Chinese star who gained a foothold in the NBA after Yao Ming, but eventually left sadly for only five seasons. The reason is that there are both constraints of the times and the misalignment between personal characteristics and NBA needs, which further reflects the profound impact of the differences in basketball culture between China and the United States on player development.

From the perspective of talent conditions, Yi Jianlian has a complete hardware foundation for success in the NBA. At 2.13 meters tall, he has the rare athletic ability of Asian players, with a vertical bounce of 90 cm. With excellent mid- and long-distance shooting feel, he is praised by scouts as "Kevin Garnett who can shoot three-pointers". During his CBA career at Guangdong Hongyuan, he averaged 24.9 points and 11.5 rebounds per game, helping the team achieve three consecutive championships. In the 2006-07 season finals, he won the MVP with an average of 25.3 points per game. This performance of offense and defense makes him the Chinese player with the highest draft pick after Yao Ming, even higher than Wang Zhizhi's 36th pick in the second round and Bater's 57th pick in the second round. David Stern, then-NBA president, shook hands with him on draft night, and the league obviously hoped that he could continue the Chinese market boom brought by Yao Ming.

However, Yi Jianlian's NBA career has never been able to break through the shackles of "role players". In five seasons, he has been in the Bucks, Nets, Wizards and Mavericks, averaging only 7.9 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. His best result is only 12 points and 7.2 rebounds in the Nets in the 2009-10 season. Compared with Yao Ming's eight seasons, he averaged 19 points, 9.2 rebounds and eight All-Stars. This gap is first due to the misalignment between technical characteristics and NBA needs - although it has excellent offensive ability in the face frame, its back-to-back singles skills and under-the-basketball footsteps have never met the requirements of the NBA's fourth position. Lawrence Frank, then head coach of the Nets, once pointed out: "He needs to hit the basket more firmly, rather than relying on jump shots. "The highlight of his 29 points and 10 rebounds in a single game against the Bobcats in 2009 came from his rare 7 dunks to finish the offense.

Acculture issues have become an invisible barrier to development. Unlike Yao Ming's active integration into American culture, Yi Jianlian, who is introverted, has always been difficult to break through the language and cultural barriers. The Milwaukee Sentinel reported that he had dinner alone in the locker room due to poor English communication and rarely interacted with his teammates during training. This isolation directly affects performance on the court - when the team needs him to show more aggressiveness, the team-first concept advocated by Oriental Culture becomes a burden. In the critical battle against Germany in the 2008 Olympics, the scene of his roar after hitting the mid-range shot who locked the victory was exactly the externalization of this contradiction: at that moment he broke free from cultural constraints, but such an outbreak was too rare in the NBA arena.

Injury curse completely shattered the possibility of breakthrough. He missed 16 games in his rookie season due to a right knee injury. He lost 16 games in 2010 due to a torn ligament of the left ankle in 2010, and suffered a strain on the medial collateral ligament of the right knee in 2011... Frequent injuries not only interrupted the continuity of his state, but also forced him to change his playing style. The three-point shooting potential that was originally possessed (37.8% of the three-point shooting percentage in the CBA) has never been developed in the NBA, and the three-point shooting percentage in his career is only 33.3%. The Mavericks once pointed out: "His muscle type is closer to that of a sprinter, and this explosive advantage has become a burden in the 82 marathon schedule. "In the 2012 London Olympics, he averaged 14.8 points and 10.2 rebounds per game with injuries. This contrast between the performance of the national team and the club has increasingly highlighted the consumption of the NBA system on him.

horizontal comparison of international players during the same period can better illustrate the problem. Marc Gasol (48th pick in the second round) who was in the same class as Yi Jianlian eventually grew into the championship center, and Al Horford (Tanhua Show) was selected as the All-Star five times. Even second-round pick Paul Millsap became a stable starter by polishing low-post skills. These cases contrasted the mistakes of Yi Jianlian's team in development planning - they did not transform into the No. 5 position with targeted weight gain like Yao Ming, nor did they fail to maximize the shooting advantage like Nowitzki. Larry Harris, then general manager of the Bucks, admitted: "We initially used him as a template for Dirk (Nowitzki), but ignored the fact that European players usually have a more systematic youth training base. "

History cannot be assumed, but looking back at the opportunity of the Nets' attempt to rebuild with him as the core in 2009, it could have been a turning point. After the team traded Vince Carter, Yi Jianlian averaged 20.3 points per game in the next 10 games, including 31 points against the Pistons. Unfortunately, ankle injury interrupted the momentum, and management then introduced Brooke Lopez, whose tactical status dropped sharply. This kind of "bad luck" is not uncommon in professional sports, but for Chinese basketball, losing a benchmark that may change the NBA's bias against Asian players is far beyond the regret of a personal career.

From a more macro perspective, Yi Jianlian's NBA history reflects the systematic shortcomings in the cultivation of Chinese basketball talent. Unlike Yao Ming who received professional team training since childhood, Yi Jianlian received formal training at the age of 15. Although he had outstanding physical talent, there were inherent shortcomings in technical details and basketball IQ. When he needs to face NBA-level defensive reading and tactical response, the lack of basic training as a teenager becomes an insurmountable gap. This may explain why he can still dominate the league (three MVPs) after returning to the CBA, but he is struggling in the NBA - there are essential differences in the requirements for the comprehensive quality of players in the two leagues.