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Sun unhappy with bit-part role in NBA

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-11-18 22:45

BEIJING - Former Los Angeles Lakers guard Sun Yue, now back in China with his old Beijing team, has complained about his lack of playing time in the NBA.

Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant sits with teammate Sun Yue, of China, during practice for the NBA Finals basketball series in Los Angeles, June 3, 2009. [Agencies]

The 24-year-old won a championship ring last season but was released by the Lakers at the end of July before again being waived by the New York Knicks on Oct. 7.

"I wasn't happy being in a high-level basketball league but not having a chance to play," he told Wednesday's Titan Sports newspaper in an interview.

"If I could play 48 minutes in a game, I would feel my basketball career was very fulfilling."

Sun was the fifth Chinese to play in the NBA after being picked by the Lakers in the second round (40th overall) of the draft. Although he did not start in his rookie season, he featured in 10 games.

"Of course I developed in the NBA in the past year by playing and training with the best players in the world," he added.

"But as a professional player, the experience was flawed because if I was not on the court playing, nobody could see the progress I was making."

With both Houston Rockets center Yao Ming and New Jersey Nets forward Yi Jianlian sidelined with injury, there are currently no home-grown talents for China's legion of basketball fanatics to cheer on.