Posted by Pharzeone:

There have always been rumors about Yao well before he even entered the league. I don't see how this helps matters. You rely on the Chinese government documents.

Posted by Cosmic:

Posted by Pharzeone:

There have always been rumors about Yao well before he even entered the league. I don't see how this helps matters. You rely on the Chinese government documents.

If the player is older but thought to be 3 years younger and enters the NBA what it does is allow them to possibly squeak in a second long term contract.

Think about it, if the player is really good, he gets his rookie deal, his first "max deal" and then if he's still good and he's "3 years younger" than he really is he can get a second really big deal. If he's "three years older" that team might be less inclined to give him that 2nd huge long term deal - and opt for a shorter cheaper deal.


Another thing is this, you're bound to be a better player at 24 years of age than 21. In the youth leagues you're going to be dominating because you're 18 playing against 15 year olds and you will stand out - thus - getting you attention from the pros.

That is the idea. To play well among the age groups. Yao and Yi were notice on youth teams and then followed on National Basketball team. Imagine if MLB ran an age check on their players.

At 24, you now look at Yi's current ability and now ask what's his actual ceiling. My only question is did the Bucks have knowledge of this before the trade. My guess is yes since it been rumoured since 2006.