Yi Jianlian will join fellow rookies in New Orleans for the 2008 Rookie/Sophomore Challenge. (Getty)

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February 14, 2008

MILWAUKEE -- There was a time when being chosen for – and participating in -- an all-star game was a really big deal for a professional athlete.

Jon McGlocklin will never forget what he experienced as the Milwaukee Bucks’ very first National Basketball Association All-Star back in 1969. All but one of his All-Star teammates have since been enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Over the last decade or two, more and more premier professional football, baseball and basketball players are taking a dramatically different perspective when it comes to these showcases.

Many of them would rather use their sports’ all-star breaks to take a vacation, allow their injuries to heal or simply rest up.

By most accounts, Yi Jianlian seems to be going with the flow of his first National Basketball Association season quite smoothly, but he has to be feeling some pain, too.

And like his veteran contemporaries, the Milwaukee Bucks rookie forward probably could have used some R & R this weekend, so it would have been easy for him to fall in line with the growing trend.

But when Yi received his invitation to participate in the 2008 T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam on Friday, Feb. 15, in New Orleans as part of NBA All-Star Weekend, he responded with a positive RSVP.

Yi was one of 18 players selected to play in the game, and will be joined on the Rookie squad by Kevin Durant and Jeff Green of the Seattle Super Sonics, Al Horford of the Atlanta Hawks, Luis Scola of the Houston Rockets, Mike Conley and Juan Carlos Navarro of the Memphis Grizzlies, Sean Williams of the New Jersey Nets and Jamario Moon of the Toronto Raptors.

Through games of Feb. 11, Yi was averaging 9.6 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. He ranked among the rookie leaders in scoring (third), rebounds (third), field-goal percentage (second, 43.3), free-throw percentage (second, 83.8%), minutes (fourth, 27.3), blocks (fifth, 1.02), steals (fifth, 0.67) and assists (eighth, 0.9).

The T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam participants were selected by NBA assistant coaches, with each team submitting one ballot. The head coaches for the Rookie and Sophomore teams will be the lead assistants from the 2008 NBA All-Star Game coaching staffs.

As Yi reached the midway point of his rookie campaign, he was asked if any particular highlight stood above the rest.

His answer was typically succinct, but it said a lot.

“This,” he replied with an almost sheepish grin and a chuckle, pointing to the shelf adjacent to his locker holding the trophy trophy recognizing him as the NBA’s Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month for December.

On back-to-back Saturdays in the final month of 2007, Yi established career highs in points and achieved his first career double-double.

He shot 9-of-14 from the field and totaled 22 points and seven rebounds in a Dec. 15 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

He followed up that performance by hitting 14 of 17 field-goal tries and collecting 10 rebounds, three assists, three steals and a blocked shot Dec. 22 on December 15, Yi was 9-14 from the field on in the Bucks’ 103-99 triumph over the Charlotte Bobcats.

As his rookie season reached early February, Yi encountered one of his most formidable hurdles when he sustained a shoulder injury.

He missed two games altogether and was replaced in the starting lineup by Charlie Villanueva, but when Villanueva injured an ankle during the team’s Feb. 11 game against the Los Angeles Clippers, Yi delivered a 13-point, five-rebound performance in a 27-minute, 6-second reserve role – his most productive outing in several weeks.

Bucks Head Coach Larry Krystkowiak was pleased to see Yi answer the call, but not surprised.

“He’s beat-up a little bit, and he’s kind of in uncharted territory for the amount of things we’ve been asking him to do,” Krystkowiak said. “He’s becoming stronger mentally.

“We know he can shoot the ball. I think he’s rebounded pretty well. He’s made strides defensively. He plays to his strengths, and size and strength are not strong parts of his game right now.”

Krystkowiak isn’t the only onlooker who has been perceptive in his observations of Yi.

Li Qun, the head coach of the Guangdong Tigers and assistant coach of the Chinese National Team, is probably more familiar with Yi’s game than anyone. He watched Yi develop into a Chinese Basketball Association superstar while playing for his Tigers. And he has been here in the United States monitoring his prized pupil’s progress as an NBA rookie.

So Li’s report card on Yi carries more background than anyone’s.

“ Yi has improved dramatically in terms of his defensive strength,” Li said. “Also, he is learning more inside post moves.

“He is learning more footwork and technique and mastering a more diverse skill set of techniques.”

Coach Li was certainly aware of Yi’s picture-perfect technique and proficiency as a shooter. So he hasn’t been surprised to see Yi knocking down perimeter jump shots and shooting 84 percent from the free-throw line.

He has been most impressed with Yi’s development in other areas.

“His defensive game has made a lot of progress,” Li said. “ In addition, although he needs to build on this, strength and conditioning training have added to Yi's upper-body strength -- something all Chinese players need to have to adjust to the strong opponents in the NBA.”

Li realizes that Yi will not become Charles Atlas overnight.

“It takes a lot of work in the off-season,” Li said. “Building upper-body strength will be crucial for Yi to hold his own against strong NBA opponents inside.

“This includes enhancing abdominal strength as well, so he can box out and maneuver opponents on offense and defense in the post.”

The Bucks anticipated that Yi’s adjustment to life in the NBA and its environment – and to the United States in a wider scope -- might be an even greater challenge than his transition to competing against the world’s best players on a regular basis.

He has had a gallery of Chinese media following his every move, and the throng only grows when the Bucks visit such cities as New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Bucks center Andrew Bogut, who experienced similar trials and scrutiny after Milwaukee made the Austalian native the No. 1 choice in the 2006 NBA Draft, can relate. And he puts that big picture in perspective.

“Well, Yi comes from a country with billions of people,” Bogut said. “Once you’ve experienced going to China, people just swamp you -- even me. I’m not all that big over there, but just being a tall basketball player, they love you. They swamp you and grab you and want to be around you.

“So I can just imagine what it was like for Yi when he lived and played over there. I guess having six or seven people following him around here is nothing compared to the billion he’d see over there.”

Bogut admires Yi’s work ethic, his relentlessness, his even keel and his humility, too.

“He’s continuing to work hard every day,” Bogut said. “Some games he gets minutes and some games he doesn’t, but he still brings the same attitude to practice, where he’s working hard. He doesn’t take nights or days off.”

“He takes things as they come. And he’s very humble, too. He’s doing just fine. He still has a lot to learn, but he just needs time.”

Coach Li is not surprised to see Yi making a successful transition from China to the U.S., and from the CBA to the NBA.

“Yi is well-adjusted to life in Milwaukee and with the Bucks organization, and because of his vast experience in international competition is more ready for NBA life than players without this,” Li said. “His five years of experience as a CBA player have given him a solid foundation to build on for the rest of this season and future years to come.

“As long as he keeps working hard, takes care of himself and is determined, everything will fall into place.”

That mission will only get more difficult as the season enters its stretch drive.

During the Houston Rockets’ Feb. 2 visit to Milwaukee, Yi’s countryman, Rockets All-Star center Yao Ming, pointed out that Yi’s rookie wall might be more imposing than most.

“He played 30 or 40 games last summer for the national team,” Yao said. “I think his energy will drop a little. But he will handle it.

“Yi is a simple guy, but he’s very focused, particularly on what he is doing right now. And that’s good.”

Yi and the rest of the 2008 T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam participants and the All-Stars will join over 2,500 members of the NBA Family for the NBA Cares All-Star Day of Service on Friday, Feb. 15.

The volunteers will participate in a variety of service projects at 10 sites throughout New Orleans.

For the fourth consecutive year, NBA.com will provide basketball fans with the opportunity to have their vote count toward selecting the MVP of the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam, as part of the site's exclusive NBA All-Star 2008 coverage.