Yi Jianlian, Chinese basketball player
Yi Jianlian (simplified Chinese: 易建联; traditional Chinese: 易建聯; pinyin: Yì Jiànlián [î tɕjɛ̂nljɛ̌n]; born October 27, 1987) is a Chinese professional basketball player for the Guangdong Southern Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He has also played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Milwaukee Bucks, New Jersey Nets, Washington Wizards and Dallas Mavericks.
Yi joined the Guangdong Southern Tigers for the 2002–03 CBA season, and subsequently won the CBA Rookie of the Year award. In his first five years with Guangdong, the team won three CBA titles. In the 2007 NBA draft, he was selected by the Milwaukee Bucks with the sixth overall pick. Initially, Yi declined to sign with Milwaukee for several months before agreeing to a contract with them on 29 August 2007. He later played for three other NBA teams until returning to the Guangdong Southern Tigers in 2012.
Yi also plays for the Chinese national team, having represented his country at the Olympics in 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016, as well as the 2006 and 2010 FIBA World Championships. Yi played in the 2004 Olympics at age 19.