When Los Angeles Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak announced the signing of China star Yi Jianlian last month, a small wave of surprise crashed over Laker land. With the exception of the Olympics, most NBA fans hadn’t heard too much about Yi since he parted ways with the NBA in 2012, returning to China and his former team, the Guangdong Southern Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association.
After the rumors started swirling in, fans began to pay attention to his recent Olympic play in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, where he averaged 20.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.4 steals, and 1.