Chinese center Yi Jianlian on Wedensday signed a multiple-year contract with the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association, which was a happy ending of the dramatic long procedure.
June 29, 2007
The Bucks picked Yi on the No. 6 at the 2007 NBA Draft. Hours after the conference, Yi told Asian media through a tele-conference that he "knows nothing about the team and has never been to Milwaukee before the pick". He said the Bucks had not contacted him or his agent, Dan Fegan, which raised the question that Yi might not want to join the Bucks.
June 30, 2007
Yi's agent Fegan said "everything is uncertain" when he was talking about the chance that Yi signed the contract with the Bucks. Yi went to join the Chinese national team for a training trip in the NBA summer camp one day after the Draft when most of the rookies responded to the picks.
July 1, 2007
The Bucks called a news conference to welcome Yi. The Bucks announced they would not trade Yi and confirmed Yi's future and even a starting position in the team.
July 7, 2007
Yi had the first personal meeting with the Bucks top personnels in Las Vegas where the Chinese national team camped.
July - August
No furthur contact was announced after the meeting. Rumors said Yi doesn't like Milwaukee where there are less Chinese residents. His former club Guangdong Hongyuan and his agent feared that the small Chinese community in Milwaukee would downgrade Yi's marketing value. Local media in the U.S. began to slam Yi's agent, the Hongyuan club and even Yi himself.
August 29, 2007
Yi and the Bucks signed the contract in Hong Kong, China, which ended the marathon transfer.
Source: Xinhua
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