2016. After the draft, Milwaukee attempted to convince Yi to sign with the team and on 2 July 2007, the owner of the Bucks franchise, Herb Kohl, wrote a letter to Yi and his representatives, hoping to persuade Yi to sign with the team. Three days later, head coach Larry Krystkowiak and Harris met with Yi, attempting to influence him to play for Milwaukee, however, Yi's representatives requested that the team trade Yi to another team with a city that had a large Chinese presence. Chinese officials also required that any team Yi played for would have to give him sufficient playing time for him to improve for the 2008 Summer Olympics. Kohl made a special trip to Hong Kong to appeal to Yi personally and he assured Chinese officials that Yi would have sufficient playing time. On 29 August 2007, the Milwaukee Bucks and Yi agreed to a standard, multi-year rookie contract. Yi was named to Milwaukee's starting lineup by head coach Larry Krystkowiak in place of Charlie Villanueva to begin the 2007–08 season. He recorded nine points and three rebounds in a debut loss to the Orlando Magic. He played his first home game in Milwaukee three days later and scored 16 points while grabbing eight rebounds in a 78–72 win over the Chicago Bulls. The game was also Yi's first game to be televised nationally in China, where it was watched by an estimated 100 million viewers. Yao Ming praised Yi's play in his first few games, saying, "If you compare us in our third NBA games, you will see that Yi's statistics are far better than mine." On 9 November 2007, Yi played against Yao Ming for the first time when the Houston Rockets hosted Milwaukee in a 104–88 loss. Yi recorded 19 points and nine rebounds, including two three-pointers, while Yao recorded 28 points and nine rebounds. The game between the two was watched by over 200 million people in China, making it one of the most-watched games in NBA history. After the game, Yao called Yi's talent "unbelievable" and Tracy McGrady said that Yi had a "tremendous upside in this league". Del Harris, the former head coach of the Chinese national basketball team, also described Yi as the "most athletic 7-footer in the NBA." Yi was named the NBA Rookie of the Month for December 2007 after averaging 12.1 points and 6.6 rebounds per