Chinese basketball superstar Yi Jianlian has reportedly asked the front office of the NBA ballclub LA Lakers for his release after failing to get the team role he had aspired for.

According to the league sources of the veteran sports writer Marc Stein of the ESPN, the four-time Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) Domestic MVP reportedly requested the Luke Walton-headed NBA team on Sunday to let him go. The report also suggested that Yi will be formally waived by the Lakers on Monday.

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The Lakers still needs to trim down its current roster to a maximum of 15 players and beat the deadline set by the league until 5 p.m. of Monday. With the latest media reports coming out, it appears that Yi has made the Jerry Buss-owned basketball club a lot easier.

In August, Yi reportedly inked a one-year, $8 million deal to play for the Lakers, who is in a massive team-rebuilding following the retirement of the 18-time NBA All-Star Kobe Bryant from the competitive sport, after a stellar individual game performance during the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.

According to Rappler, the 28-year-old Yi, who has won the FIBA Asia Championship MVP honors in 2011 and 2015, has appeared in six NBA preseason games.

In the said game, he registered averages of 3.0 points and 2.5 rebounds in a limited 10.7 minutes of playing time.

The seven-footer Chinese player has only made 35 percent of his shots during the preseason, way far from his 20.4 points and 6.6 boards per game averages during the Olympics.

Yi is a first-rounder pick in the year 2007 NBA Draft. He was selected sixth overall by the Milwaukee Bucks and spent five seasons in the league playing for four different ballclubs.

Prior to signing with LA Lakers, the native of Heshan, Yi Jianlin, had played for the Guangdong Southern Tigers in the CBA, and led the Chinese national team in conquering the 2015 FIBA Asia championship by  beating Philippine national squad.

TagsNBA, Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant, Yi Jianlian, Luke Walton, Rio Olympics 2016, nba draft, chinese basketball association