By Chris Mannix, SI.com

	With a fluid game and love of American culture, many scouts think it's a slam dunk that Yi will have success in the NBA. Osports/WireImage.com

By the end of that year, Yi had shown enough promise that he was given a spot with Guangdong Hongyuan, the top professional team in the Chinese Basketball Association. In five seasons in the CBA, Yi stepped out of the oversized shadows cast by China's "Great Wall of Centers," which includes Yao and former NBA backups Wang Zhizhi (who isn't really a center) and Mengke Bateer (who isn't really great). He quickly became a bona fide superstar in China, to the point where he is mobbed outside of hotels and stalked by rabid fans. In 2005, Yi led Guangdong to its third straight title, averaging 20.5 points and 9.6 rebounds. The team fell short of a fourth straight championship this season, losing in the title game, but Yi continued to distinguish himself, averaging 24 points (on 57 percent shooting) and 11 rebounds for the season.

China finally approved him for the draft last year after shooting down the idea in '06 citing a lack of preparation and "basketball skills, experience and physical stamina" that do not meet requirements to compete at an NBA level. In fact, the CBA is closely monitoring this year's NBA draft and may decide to pull Yi back if they believe the team that selects him is not a suitable one. Immediately Yi eagerly jumped into NBA training. Abunassar and his staff flew to China and spent an hour a day working with Yi on individual skills. "We had to be careful with him," says Abunassar. "He would practice with the national team two hours a day, twice a day. We didn't want to wear him out."

Abunassar also started Yi on a nutritional program that in the last six months has added 12 pounds of muscle to Yi's lanky frame. Abunassar made frequent trips back and forth to China and stayed in touch with Yi through phone calls and email. "This needed to be a long-term process," says Abunassar. "It wasn't just about gaining weight quickly. We wanted him to put it on and keep it on."

"I need to work on my upper body strength," admits Yi. "I need to be stronger to be able to deal with the physical play."

As the NBA draft approaches, Yi's potential success could signal the opening of an Asian pipeline to the NBA that has been growing in talent in recent years and eventually could becomes as fruitful as Europe and South America. Should he succeed, NBA teams may be more inclined to draft players out of the Pacific Rim.

"With the emphasis that is being put on basketball in China," says NBA commissioner David Stern. "I think it is fair to assume that there will be additional basketball talent in the Chinese population where 300 million people are playing basketball and as a matter of government policy the game is being promoted."

That kind of pressure would appear to be a lot of weight to be placed on one young man's narrow shoulders. In recent weeks Yi has placed two calls to Yao ("He talked to me about the playoffs and told me to work hard to prepare for the draft," Yi says) and has had dinner with Wang in Los Angeles. For the moment, however, the eyes of 1.3 billion Chinese -- as well as millions of Americans -- will be upon him.

At least until the next big thing comes along.