19 or 22?
I've been given lots of information that suggest Yi is closer to 22 than 19. The information is not definitive, but I tend to believe it. So does Dixon, Yi's teammate for the last four years.
As I wrote a month ago, the evidence suggests that Yi's birth date has been altered on official documents.
This is thought to be a common practice outside of the U.S. and Western Europe. Questions about age have dogged African and Russian players for years. Dikembe Mutombo's real age has been a running joke for the past decade. And even U.S.-born LeBron James and Greg Oden have had their age questioned.
"I'd say he's 21 or 22," Dixon said regarding Yi during a phone interview from his home in Denver. "He's been with the team for four years. I don't think he started with the club when he was 15. It's pretty common over [in China] to change ages."
It would certainly raise the ire of international fans who have watched Yi dominate in Under-18 and Under-20 competitions to find that it was because he was older.
But do NBA teams care? I couldn't find a GM who thought, even if Yi is really 22, that it should affect his draft status.
"I don't see what the big deal is," Celtics vice president Danny Ainge told me. "In some ways, it helps him. It means he's more mature and more ready to handle the pressure of the NBA."
Ainge's opinion was echoed by almost everyone in the NBA that I spoke with.