Sun Yue
The fact that the United States is starting to notice Chinese players after Yao Ming's success (compared to Wang Zhizhi and Mengke Bateer), and young CBA players such as Yi Jianlian and Sun Yue entering the NBA are a testament to basketball's increasing popularity. In 2008, Sun Yue became the latest Chinese to join the NBA by signing with the Los Angeles Lakers to a two-year contract.