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Chinese forward Yi arrives in Los Angeles for his return to NBA

Xinhua, September 3, 2016 Adjust font size:

Chinese forward Yi Jianlian, the Lakers' new signing, arrived in Los Angeles for his second campaign in NBA on Friday.

With a few luggages, he left Beijing alone and had some friends only waiting outside the terminal building of the LA international airport.

There was no crowd waiting since Yi did not publicly announce his flight information. Still, many people at the airport recognized him and took pictures with him.

As the 2016-2017 NBA preseason will kick off in early October, Yi will start his training and practice with the Lakers soon.

"I will try my best. I hope I will have a good season, good performance, and help Lakers win more games," Yi said.

Following an impressive individual performance at the Rio Olympics, the former NBA player inked a deal with the Lakers in August.

"We're excited to have a player of his worldwide accomplishments," said Lakers' General Manager Mitch Kupchak. "We look forward to bringing him to training camp and hopefully having him make an impact on our team."

Yi, who was drafted in the sixth place by Milwaukee Bucks in 2007, had played for the New Jersey Nets, the Washington Wizards and the Dallas Mavericks before he came back to Guangdong Hongyuan in 2012.

In the Rio Olympics, Yi led the Chinese team with 20.4 points and 6.6 rebounds. Endit