NEW YORK: While media and fans repeatedly call him the "next Yao Ming", Chinese NBA prospect Yi Jianlian says he is desperate to step out of his national teammate's giant shadow.

"I am not going to be the next anyone, I am who I am," Yi told China Daily in New York yesterday. "It's like how a coin has two sides, I look at Yao both ways. With him playing really well in the NBA, the league as well as the people outside of China will have a better understanding of how we play and how we think, and it paves the way for me to enter the NBA and brings me a lot of motivation.

"But on the other hand, he puts pressure on me. I don't like to be compared with him by media - there is no comparison because we play different positions and we are totally different players. I have my own way of dealing with challenges and I just want to be myself."

Western media has linked Yi with his NBA predecessor Yao since he received the green light to join the 2007 NBA Draft from Chinese Basketball Association last year.

"The NBA and China hope they've found the next Yao," the New York Times reported on Tuesday, while Hoopsworld.com said that "little Yao shows he's ready to make splash in the NBA".

The duo have yet to face each other on the court. Yao led his Shanghai Sharks to the CBA title and left for United States in 2002 while Yi fought his way into the first team at Guangdong Tigers. They play different positions in the national team and don't really need to fight for minutes on the international stage as most of the time Yi is competing with former Dallas Mavericks' forward Wang Zhizhi.

However, the 19-year-old said he is looking forward to playing against Yao.

"Sooner or later it's going to happen," Yi said. "To me it's an expectation as well. For two Chinese players to play on the same court in an NBA game will mean a lot to us."

Basketball experts say Yi is stronger than Yao when he first made the NBA five years ago.

"Yi will end up being the best player in the NBA from China, and I know that is saying a lot," Hall of Fame coach Pete Newell told USA Today this week.

"He has much more body control than Yao, and he's a much better jumper. I'm real high on him, and I think I'm right."

Off the court, Yi is better suited to the American lifestyle than Yao, who struggled to get used to overseas living in his first season.

"He is more charming than Yao was in his first season," said Cheong Sau Ching, senior director of NBA China, who accompanied Yi to an NBA Cares basketball clinic for local Special Olympics athletes in New York yesterday. "I see him getting along so well with those kids and encouraging them in good English, he performs like a real role model, better than we expected. He is ready to shoulder the responsibilities of being a star in the league."

Yi has spent the last two months in the United States training and working out for various NBA teams to demonstrate his skills. He shot an average 24.9 points last season in the CBA, but his international performances have been inconsistent.

The lanky forward is set to join forces with Yao next year at the 2008 Olympic basketball competition. He will meet up with the national team right after the Draft in Dallas to play the team's matches against a series of NBA teams in the Summer League.

"The national team competitions are very important as the Olympics is the No 1 task for me. I will find a good way to work with Yao in the team," said Yi.

(China Daily 06/29/2007 page22)