Yi Jianlian (simplified Chinese: Yi Jian Lian ; traditional Chinese: Yi Jian Lian ; pinyin: Yi Jianlian, pronounced [i tcjenljen], EE JEN lee-EN; born October 27, 1987) is a Chinese professional basketball player for the Guangdong Southern Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He has also played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Milwaukee Bucks, New Jersey Nets, Washington Wizards and Dallas Mavericks. Yi joined the Guangdong Southern Tigers for the 2002-03 CBA season, and subsequently won the CBA Rookie of the Year award. In his first five years with Guangdong, the team won three CBA titles.

As a child, Yi's parents did not allow him to join a sports school, which is designed for children predicted to be future professional athletes. However, a sports school's basketball coach who noticed Yi's potential in playing street basketball persuaded Yi's family to allow him to train professionally. Hoping to sign Yi to an endorsement deal, Adidas invited him to attend the company's ABCD camp in New Jersey in 2002, where he competed against all-American high school players. After returning to China later that year, he signed a professional contract with Chinese Basketball Association side Guangdong Southern Tigers and averaged 3.5 points and 1.9 rebounds per game in his first season. He also averaged 7.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game in four games during the playoffs, and won the Rookie of the Year award. Yi was featured in TIME's August 2003 article titled "The Next Yao Ming". In each of his next three seasons, Yi led Guangdong to the CBA championship and he was awarded the CBA finals' most valuable player honor in 2006. In Yi's final season in the Chinese Basketball Association before he entered the 2007 NBA draft, he averaged a career-high 24.9 points and 11.5 rebounds per game, but his team lost to the Bayi Rockets in the playoff finals. During the 2011 NBA lockout, Yi signed a one-year contract to return to the Guangdong Southern Tigers. Unlike most NBA players who went to the Chinese Basketball Association during that time, he received an option to return to the NBA once the lockout had been resolved. After the lockout ended, he signed with the Dallas Mavericks for the remainder of the 2011-12 season. Yi re-joined the Guangdong Southern Tigers for the 2012-13 CBA season and went on to win a fourth championship that season. In October 2016, Yi returned to Guangdong after spending training camp with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Using a quote from the above article, answer the following question: what was the CBA career?
Chinese Basketball Association