Milwaukee Bucks vice president Ron Walter and Mike Burr, the team's chief financial officer, walked into Julie Lee's law office at Foley & Lardner the day after the NBA draft.

The Bucks had just drafted Chinese basketball star Yi Jianlian with the No. 6 overall pick and Yi's representatives were not keen on Milwaukee as a place to play.

Walter and Burr came to see Lee because Lee not only spoke Mandarin, but was knowledgeable about China and its business culture. For a franchise looking to make the right moves to land Yi, Lee would prove to be a valuable resource.

"We started to think about different ways to open the communication channels," Lee said.

Behind the scenes, Lee played a key role.

"My role was not limited to translation," Lee said in an interview late last week. "This was a process where a lot of people were involved. There were certain things I brought to the table in terms of understanding Chinese business culture and how to bridge the cultural gap, and to facilitate the communications."

Lee, a native of Changchun City in northeast China, told team officials there are differences between the way the Chinese conduct business, and the way business works in the United States.

"In dealing with the Chinese, a lot of times money is not the only consideration," she said. "Sometimes, money is not even an important consideration."