We feel it only fair to warn you about the salaciousness of the story we are about to relate to you. It is both tawdry and unbecoming. If you have young children near the computer, please ask them to turn away from the screen as we share this titillating tale with you.

It has just come to our attention that an NBA player (and Olympic athlete) has been spotted in a nightclub at a very late hour with his Chinese celebrity girlfriend.

Yi has been at the centre of a tabloid sensation since being seen in the early hours drinking at the top-end night club last week and photographed embracing his pop singer girl friend Shi Yanfei.

Clearly, his commitment to basketball and his country must fall into question because of this major distraction. We could not be more disappointed.

(Yi and she)

Welcome to the new China, Yi Jianlian. Looks an awful lot like the old one sometimes, no?

Of course, Chinese has a little different view on its athletes than Americans. Their athletes serve at the pleasure of the state and require its support. Yi Jianlian (due at least $15.5m over the next four years plus Nike’s love and admiration in American dollars) comes from a newer mold: one of the nouveau riche Chinese. He truly stands out for that reason.

(Well, that and he’s over seven feet tall.)

The team that should truly worry, though, is the New Jersey Nets. They just acquired him in a salary dump with Milwaukee that brought the young man to the large urban center with many Chinese residents that he wanted during last year’s draft. He was forced to be a good boy in Wisconsin; will he stay that way in New York City?