How do New Jersy fans feel about Yi's commitments to Chinese National Team

What is my bias against China? I said the government is fascist. That's a fact, not a bias. Do you dispute their authoritarian nature?

Regarding the study, if it's so easy to find on google.com -- you'd be able to find it for me. If you're going to refer to a study, cite it.

Where did I take it out on Yi? Once again, you put words in my mouth -- and it's not going to fly.

What am I not honest about? Please provide specific examples.

 

Absolutely untrue. The best international players in the NBA have played multiple times for their homelands...Yao, Gasol, Ginobili, Kirilenko, Nowitzki, Parker for starters. And you can count James, Kidd and Anthony in that group as well. Same was true of Divac til he got up in years. Among younger NBA stars, Bogut has played every chance he got. Krstic played every year but two--once when he was injured, the other time when his contract year was up.

There is an underlying bias against the Chinese here. It is quite evident. You assume he doesn't want to play, that he is forced to play. Why assume that? Why not start with the position that he is a Chinese patriot who wants to represent his country every chance he gets? Why is he different than Gasol, who in spite of suffering a broken foot and almost ruining his career came back to play for Spain again?

Brooklyn Bound assumes that because he sees the Chinese government as fascist, everyone, including Yi, sees it as fascist and demanding. As I pointed out, and which he didn't get, Serbia has a RECORD of intimidation against its players. The one Chinese case, that of Wang Zhi Zhi, didn't approach the threats made against Krstic by the Serbs.

This is utter bullshit. Kids like to play for their country in the Olympics. It's not about politics. It's about representing your country. Some kids who don't live in the country they represent want to play in the Olympics...and I'm not just talking about Chris Kaman. Eight of the 12 players who wore Nigeria's colors in the World Championships two years ago were born in the US.

 

If you have problems with the content with my posts, then feel free to refute them. I don't see the point in taking a general shot without attacking the specifics of my posts.

 

How have I shown a bias against China? You still haven't answered that one.

Assumed the Chinese government is fascist? You think it's up for discussion? Sure, China is all about the civil rights. Got it.

 

It's the price of acquiring Yi.

 

Exactly -- that's all I've ever said. We knew what we were getting into. Of course I don't blame Yi, he can't control where he was born.

 

That's a good point.

 

It's quite obvious...please...it is so obvious it is insulting for you to ask me.

It is up for discussion, maybe not here, but it is up for discussion. You would have a hard time convincing the 1.3 billion people who live in China that it's fascist...whatever that pejorative label means in 2008. The Chinese government may not rule through the consent of the masses. You may not like the Chinese government. I may not like the Chinese government, but tell me this, is lifting 300 million people out of poverty in a single generation fascist, communist, capitalist, or simply one of the great achievements in human history? You may not want to accept that. The majority of Americans might want to accept it, but it is fact. You look at everything through American eyes.

Human rights mean different things to different people...and to a lot of people in China--which has had a LONG history of instability and foreign exploitation as well as horrific leaders, human rights are more likely to mean freedom from hunger and poverty than their right to protest.

Stop trying to ascribe your moralistic political leanings to a kid who just wants to play basketball and loves his country. You remind me of the western missionaries who went to China to convert everyone to Christianity.

 

Does all that mean Yi doesn't have to play for the Chinese National Team in the summer of '09?

 

Again, where? Show me the bias. Don't just refer to it, quote me.

Opening up their economic policies has clearly benefited the people economically. But that's not what I was referring to. I was referring to their civil rights -- you know, the basic natural rights that we were all born with. Freedom of speech, religion. Yeah, all that good stuff.

They are notoriously terrible in this regard. This is not a bias, this is a fact. You may not like it, but it is what it is.

I'm not trying to convert anyone of anything. Nothing about my posts suggest that. I'm simply calling a spade a spade with regards to China's human rights.

Could you try to start small and go one post without putting words in my mouth? Quote what I actually say, not what you want me to say.