Sun Yue

Infobox NBA Player
name = Sun Yue
孙悦


caption =
league =
height_ft = 6
height_in = 9
weight_lb = 205
league = NBA
number = 9
team = Los Angeles Lakers
position = Point guard/Shooting guard/Small forward
birth_date = birth date and age|1985|11|6
birth_place = Cangzhou, Hebei, PR China
high_school =
college =
nationality = Chinese
draft = 2nd round, 40th overall
draft_team = Los Angeles Lakers
draft_year = 2007
career_start = 2003
career_end =
former_teams = Beijing Aoshen Olympians (2003–2008)
awards =

Sun Yue (zh-stp|s=孙悦|t=孫悅|p=Sūn Yuè, born November 6, 1985 in Cangzhou, Hebei, China) is a height|ft=6|in=9 Chinese professional basketball player with the Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA.cite web |url= http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-lakers9-2008aug09,0,7995232.story Lakers agree to terms with guard Sun Yue, 2007 second-round pick |title= Lakers agree to terms with guard Sun Yue, 2007 second-round pick |accessdate=2008-09-13 |work= |publisher= Los Angeles Times |date= ] 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 height|ft=6|in=9 and 205 lbs. (93 kg), Sun has played for both the Beijing Olympians and the Chinese national basketball team. 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 Liu Wei 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 (ranking in the top 3 times at the camp) 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. [http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=Aic0G5paOHfP46KH8HwrMNi8vLYF?slug=ap-lakers-sun&prov=ap&type=lgns]

Pro career

Beijing Aoshen controversy

Sun was at the center of a controversy between the former professional Chinese league team, the Beijing Aoshen Olympians, and the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). Sun was ordered to report for China national basketball team 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 American Basketball Association (ABA), 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 2005 Asian Championship in Qatar, and in the 2006 FIBA World Championships, hosted by Japan. Sun was also selected to the Chinese national team for the 2008 Olympic Basketball Tournament.

ABA

In the 2005-06 ABA 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 (a 1.56 to 1 assist to turnover ratio), 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 (a 2.76 to 1 assist to turnover ratio), 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 NBA Summer Pro League (Held from July 6–13 at Las Vegas, Nevada) with the Chinese national team 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 2008 Olympic Basketball Tournament, which Sun would also compete in.

Sun also participated in the 2007 Stanković Continental Champions' Cup Championship and played vital roles in the wins against the Venezuelan national basketball team 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.

References

External links

*NBA-profile
* [http://youtube.com/watch?v=l8NXJ8jW8JE Youtube Highlights of Sun Yue]
* [http://youtube.com/watch?v=MPuR474hn8w Sun Yue @ Yao/Nash Charity Game]