"Although Yi is officially listed as being born in 1987,[24] there have been several allegations that his date of birth was intentionally falsified so that he would be able to play longer in junior competitions. However, Yi has refused to comment on his age.[26][27] Yi is not the first Chinese player to come under scrutiny, as former NBA player Wang Zhizhi has been listed as being born in both 1977 and 1979.[28][29] In 2004, Yi was listed as being born in 1984 in China's Four Nation Tournament,[30] although Chinese officials said that it was probably a typographical error.[31] Two years later, Fran Blinebury of The Houston Chronicle reported that Yi told Shane Battier he was 24 in an exhibition game before the 2006 FIBA World Championship,[32] although the story was refuted by both Yi and Battier.[33][34] However, in November 2006, a senior CBA official admitted that past youth squads had indeed included players above the permitted age.[35] In 2007, a Chinese government registration site was made public by hackers, and Yi's date of birth was shown as being in 1984.[36] American center Jason Dixon, who had been Yi's teammate during Yi's entire career in Guangdong, said to Chad Ford in June of 2007 that Yi was "21 or 22...It's pretty common over [in China] to change ages".[37] A report tracing Yi's earlier history noted that Yi had been a middle school student when he joined Shenzhen Youth Sports School in May of 1999.[38]"
The real answer is, nobody knows. From everything I've seen, he's either 20, or 23 (will turn 21 or 24 in October). This is not a Miguel Tejada situation, where he says one thing, and then a reporter digs up his birth certificate and it says something different. All of Yi's documentation (birth certificate, passport) says he was born in 1987. At this point, it's a worthless argument, we as fans may never know the answer. His value will be decided on the court. Many NBA players have had their age questioned. If Yi has a long and productive career like Dikembe Mutombo (whose age is questioned to this day) then no one will care. If he's a bust, or develops arthritis in 4 years, then the age question will become relevant. Just my two cents.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (cLokwerk @ Jun 28 2008, 03:24 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>The real answer is, nobody knows. From everything I've seen, he's either 20, or 23 (will turn 21 or 24 in October). This is not a Miguel Tejada situation, where he says one thing, and then a reporter digs up his birth certificate and it says something different. All of Yi's documentation (birth certificate, passport) says he was born in 1987. At this point, it's a worthless argument, we as fans may never know the answer. His value will be decided on the court. Many NBA players have had their age questioned. If Yi has a long and productive career like Dikembe Mutombo (whose age is questioned to this day) then no one will care. If he's a bust, or develops arthritis in 4 years, then the age question will become relevant. Just my two cents.</div> Agreed that no one will probably ever really know, but it's still sort of important to know so you can assess how much room he has to grow as a player. Most players' games seem to stop growing some time in their early 30's or late 20's. If Yi's actually a few years earlier than he claims to be, he'll likely stop growing as a player a few years earlier too. This situation seems a little bit merkier than the whole Ersan Illyasova situation though, where it was unclear if his real age was really hidden. These reports have always seemed to be more legitimate.
Yi's said many times he was 20 or the age that he officially claims when they asked him. The reports just refuse to accept this and puts this "However, Yi has refused to comment on his age." BS... If you were constantly asked if you were a big fat liar, i'd think you'd be pretty pissed off too and ignore them after a while. That shane battier shit was a joke btw... It was in Fran's BLOG... If both players refuted it then why even include it? To add the mirage of truth thats why. It's a shameless and disgusting tactic to cast doubt and fabricate evidence that was never there.
is this important?he had said sooooo many times that he is 20 and there are ppl just refuse to believe that. anyway knowing his "real" age serves any purpose??
I would like to know what disgusting trash views this as journalism and who wrote it? For the record i want to add that Yi requires a visa to be in America... Guess what a visa is? An offical government document. Guess what's included in the visa? His age. Guess what happens if one lies on his/her visa? Perjury.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (cLokwerk @ Jun 28 2008, 04:24 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>The real answer is, nobody knows. From everything I've seen, he's either 20, or 23 (will turn 21 or 24 in October). This is not a Miguel Tejada situation, where he says one thing, and then a reporter digs up his birth certificate and it says something different. All of Yi's documentation (birth certificate, passport) says he was born in 1987. At this point, it's a worthless argument, we as fans may never know the answer. His value will be decided on the court. Many NBA players have had their age questioned. If Yi has a long and productive career like Dikembe Mutombo (whose age is questioned to this day) then no one will care. If he's a bust, or develops arthritis in 4 years, then the age question will become relevant. Just my two cents.</div> <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Faye @ Jun 28 2008, 09:38 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>is this important?he had said sooooo many times that he is 20 and there are ppl just refuse to believe that. anyway knowing his "real" age serves any purpose??</div> Welcome to S2, clockwerk and Faye! Great to see more Yi fans If you have any questions, PM me! <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (ffz @ Jun 28 2008, 09:40 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I would like to know what disgusting trash views this as journalism and who wrote it? For the record i want to add that Yi requires a visa to be in America... Guess what a visa is? An offical government document. Guess what's included in the visa? His age. Guess what happens if one lies on his/her visa? Perjury.</div> Um...well, from the looks of it, this piece of "journalism" is from Wikipedia.
According to wiki Karl Malone's real name is actually Carla and he enjoys mating with squirrels his cousins in his ranch... Discuss.
The fact he will be constantly pushed to improve his game during his entire career... by the Chinese government!!... means I think he'll always improve a little regardless of how old he is and how little upside he may have left. In the next 2 years we will see how much improvement he makes, just like most young guys.
