new fan base for yi jianlian

The New York Times has story on China's Yi Jianlian, who is entering his second season in the NBA, now playing with the New Jersey Nets: Counting on a 7-Footer to Reach New Fans.

The Nets are hoping the 7-foot forward from Guangdong will attract a new kind of fan base—the nearly 650,000 Chinese Americans in the New York area and beyond. That's probably quite a bit more than the Asian American fan base Yi could've counted on in Milwaukee.

Of course, the guy doesn't quite carry the same kind of name recognition as Yao Ming... yet. He's going to have to build a relationship with the community, who might just be willing to make the trip over the Hudson River to see their very own tall Chinese dude play some professional basketball.