In the late evening of August 29, Chinese basketball player Yi Jianlian posted on social media, announcing the end of his 21-year basketball career and his official retirement. After taking off his jersey, the former representative of the Chinese men's basketball team will open a new chapter in his life.
In the long article, Yi Jianlian wrote: "Farewell is not the end, but a new beginning. I will miss it very much, and I will continue to move forward to welcome a new chapter. ”
Although he will not continue to play on the court, it is certain that Yi Jianlian's "new chapter" will not lack his beloved basketball, and he will contribute to Chinese basketball in another way.
Old teammate Zhu Fangyu also said: "I don't think he will be a coach in the future, but he is definitely inseparable from basketball." ”
As early as 2011, Yi Jianlian began to help the development of youth basketball, hoping to build a platform for children to grow up happily in basketball experience.
He co-founded the "Fire Camp" training camp with Nike. In the past 13 years, the "Fire Camp" has become a platform built by Yi Jianlian for young people who love basketball and are interested in developing in the direction of professional basketball.
Nationwide auditions, inviting youth coaches with NBA experience to coach, and putting campers on professional training equipment... So far, more than 40,000 Chinese youth players have been trained in the "fire camp".
Yi Jianlian once talked about the reason for establishing the training camp in an interview with the media. "I think when you are young, if you have more opportunities to participate in different training camps, it is a very important platform and opportunity."
At the same time, Yi Jianlian's value in business also gives him another direction for his future. In the athlete period, Yi Jianlian, who has excellent results on the field and is approachable off the field, has won the favor of many brands. According to statistics, at the beginning of 2023, Yi Jianlian still has Nike, Chinese Life, China Guangfa Bank, Deppon Express, Junlebao milk powder, Pearl River Beer, Zhongti Card Industry, SAIC-GM Buick Century, OPPO Watch3, IM-BODY fitness mirror and Instant Electric Vehicle, a total of 11 endorsements.
In June this year, Nike Group announced the official opening of the office building named after Yi Jianlian in the Greater China headquarters campus. Yi Jianlian became the third Chinese athlete since Li Na and Liu Xiang to have his name printed on the Nike building. It is worth mentioning that this is also the first office building named after a Chinese basketball player.
In addition to endorsements, Yi Jianlian also has its own brand. In 2014, Yi Jianlian founded the sports trend brand US17. US17 stands for his shoe size (American shoe size), and then another layer means "we're in this together." US17 has a number of product lines such as clothing, backpacks, accessories, etc., and at present, there are 4 offline physical stores in Shenzhen, Xiamen, Changsha and Shenyang, and online stores are also operating.
According to the Qichacha APP, there are a total of 16 enterprises affiliated with Yijian, including Fireworks Camp Cultural and Sports Education (Shenzhen) Group Co., Ltd., Shanghai Oneball Fame Information Technology Co., Ltd., Guangzhou Stove Coffee Trading Co., Ltd., etc. In addition, Yi Jianlian indirectly holds 114 enterprises, which in addition to sports and culture, also involve commerce, trade, science and technology and other fields.
South + Reporter Bloomberg Intern Reporter Xu Yi
【Author】 Bloomberg; Xu Yi
【Source】 Southern Press Media Group South + client