Monday, October 13, 2008

Sun Yue

Sun Yue is a Chinese professional basketball player with the Los Angeles Lakers of the . He mainly plays the point guard position, but he can also play at the shooting guard and small forward positions. He is the fifth player from China to enter the NBA, after Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian, Mengke Bateer and Wang Zhizhi.

Player profile


Sun attracted attention from the NBA mainly because of his height and his passing skills. Despite being and 205 lbs. , Sun has played for both the Beijing Olympians and the . However, during the 2006 FIBA World Championship, Sun Yue was benched by China's head coach Jonas Kazlauskas in favor of the young point guard prospect and fellow Chinese national teammate, Chen Jianghua.

This year, at the 2008 Olympics with the Chinese national basketball team, Sun has started alongside the teams starting point guard at the shooting guard position.

At the Orlando Pre-Draft camp, his measurements were a 34" vertical leap, a 6'9" wingspan, a 8'9" standing reach, a 5.1% body fat ratio, and a time of 10.68 seconds in lane agility. During the 2007 NBA Draft, Sun was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers during the second round of the draft, as the 40th overall pick.
He said he would like to be called Monkey King instead of "China's Magic Johnson".

Personal Life



He is currently dating one of China's top models, Gu Chen. It was not the Chinese media who disclosed their close affair, but sports writers from foreign media. Although Sun Yue and Gu Chen were initially quite secretive about their love affair, as Gu Chen did not want to be famous as a result of Sun Yue, their relationship is more public now as Gu Chen herself is becoming increasingly well-known. And recently it has been uncovered that Sun is suffering from a case of Mononucleosis.

Pro career


Beijing Aoshen controversy


Sun was at the center of a controversy between the former professional Chinese league team, the , and the Chinese Basketball Association . Sun was ordered to report for duty, but when Beijing refused to release him, the CBA banned Beijing from playing in the men's league. The owner of Aoshen subsequently moved the team to the , where they have played for three years.

Sun has continued to play with the Olympians, and was eventually allowed to play internationally with the Chinese national team, along with another Beijing player, Zhang Songtao. He has since played in the in Qatar, and in the 2006 FIBA World Championships, hosted by Japan. Sun was also selected to the Chinese national team for the .

ABA


In the 2005-06 season, Sun Yue started off the year as a struggling player. However, he turned his play around drastically during the season and ended up making the All-ABA 2nd team. His final numbers included 9.5 points per game, 7 rebounds per game, 6.7 assists per game, 1.9 steals per game, 2.5 blocks per game, 4.3 turnovers per game , and a field goal shooting percentage of 39%. In the 2006-07 ABA season, Yue made dramatic improvements, making the All-ABA First Team with averages of 13.5 points per game, 6 rebounds per game, 10.5 assists per game, 1.9 steals per game, 2 blocks per game, and 3.8 turnovers per game , and hitting 46% of his field goal attempts.

NBA


Sun was drafted as the 40th overall pick by the NBA club the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2007 NBA Draft. On August 26, 2008, the Los Angeles Lakers and Yue signed a two-year deal. Yue will miss some of training camp due to a mono attack.

Chinese national basketball team


Sun Yue competed in the with the in the summer of 2007. Team China was the only international team in the competition and was competing against 16 other NBA teams. This was seen as a chance for the Chinese national team to gain further experience against international competition in preparation for the , which Sun would also compete in.

Sun also participated in the 2007 Stankovi? Continental Champions' Cup Championship and played vital roles in the wins against the and the New Zealand national basketball team. He also competed in the NBA China Games with the Chinese national team against the Orlando Magic. Sun Yue ended up with 8 points, 4 assists, and 1 block in 24 minutes in the game against the Magic.

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