Yao Ming
May 13th, 2008
Yao Ming was born September 12, 1980 and is a professional basketball player who currently plays for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association. He is currently the tallest player in the NBA, at 7 feet 6 inches (2.29 m).
Yao, who was born in in Shanghai, China, started playing for the Shanghai Sharks as a teenager, and played on their senior team for five years in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA), winning a championship in his final year. He entered the 2002 NBA Draft, and after negotiating with the CBA and the Sharks to secure his release, he was selected by the Houston Rockets as the first overall pick of the draft. He has since been selected to start for the Western Conference in the NBA All-Star Game in all six of his seasons, and has been named to the All-NBA Team team three times. However, the Rockets have not advanced past the first round of the playoffs since he joined the team, and he has missed significant time due to injury in each of the past three seasons. Still, he managed to gain extreme success.
Yao is married to Ye Li, a former player for the China's women's national team. He is one of China's most well-known athletes, with sponsorships with several major companies, and he has been the richest celebrity in China for five straight years. He has also co-written an autobiography of his life with Ric Bucher, and his rookie year in the NBA was the subject of a documentary film.
Yao did not participate in the Rocket's pre-season training camp, instead playing for China in the 2002 FIBA World Championships. He played his first NBA game against the Indiana Pacers, scoring only one point and one rebound, and scored his first NBA basket against the Denver Nuggets. Yao averaged only 14 minutes and 4 points in his first 7 games, and several respected commentators predicted that Yao would fail in the NBA, including Bill Simmons and Dick Vitale. Charles Barkley said he would "kiss [Kenny Smith's] ass" if Yao scored more than 19 points in one of his rookie season games. On November 17, Yao scored 20 points on a perfect 9-of-9 from the field and 2-of-2 from the free throw line against the Lakers, and Barkley made good on his bet by kissing Smith's donkey (his "ass").
Before Yao’s first meeting with Shaquille O'Neal on January 17, 2003, O'Neal said, "Tell Yao Ming, ching-chong-yang-wah-ah-soh", prompting accusations of racism from the Asian American community. O'Neal denied that his comments were racist, and said he was only joking. Yao also said he believed O'Neal was joking, but the comments led to increased media coverage in the buildup to the nationally televised game. In the game, Yao scored six points and blocked O'Neal twice in the opening minutes, as well as making a game-sealing dunk with 10 seconds left in overtime. Yao finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds; O'Neal scored 31 points and 13 rebounds.
Yao finished his rookie season averaging 13.5 points per game and 8.2 rebounds per game, and was second in the NBA Rookie of the Year Award voting to Amare Stoudemire, and a unanimous pick for the NBA All-Rookie First Team selection. He was also voted the Sporting News Rookie of the Year, and won the Laureus Newcomer of the Year award.
Before the start of Yao's sophomore season, the Rockets' head coach Rudy Tomjanovich resigned due to health issues, and long-time New York Knicks head coach Jeff Van Gundy was brought in. After Van Gundy began focusing the offense on Yao, Yao averaged career highs in points and rebounds for the season, and had a career-high 41 points and 7 assists in a triple-overtime win against the Atlanta Hawks in February 2004. He was also voted to be the starting center in the 2004 NBA All-Star Game for the second straight year. Yao finished the season averaging 17.5 points and 9.0 rebounds a game.
The Rockets made the playoffs for the first time in Yao's career, claiming the seventh seed in the Western Conference. In the first round, however, the Los Angeles Lakers eliminated Houston in five games. Yao averaged 15.0 points and 7.4 rebounds in his first playoff series.
In the summer of 2004, the Rockets acquired Tracy McGrady from the Orlando Magic in a seven-player trade that also sent Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley to Orlando. Although Yao said that Francis and Mobley had "helped him in every way in his first two seasons", he added, "I'm excited about playing with Tracy McGrady. He can do some amazing things." After the trade, it was predicted that the Rockets would be title contenders. Both McGrady and Yao were voted to start in the 2005 NBA All-Star Game, and Yao broke the record previously held by Michael Jordan for most All-Star votes, with 2,558,278 total votes. The Rockets won 51 games and finished fifth in the West, and made the playoffs for the second consecutive year, where they faced the Dallas Mavericks. The Rockets won the first two games in Dallas, and Yao made 13 of 14 shots in the second game, the best shooting performance in the playoffs in Rockets history. However the Rockets lost four of their last five games and lost Game 7 by 40 points, the largest Game 7 deficit in NBA history. Yao's final averages for the series were 21.4 points on 65% shooting and 7.7 rebounds.
On November 9, 2007, Yao played against fellow Chinese NBA player Yi Jianlian for the first time. The game, which the Rockets won 104–88, was broadcast on 19 networks in China, and was watched by over 200 million people in China alone, making it one of the most-watched NBA games in history. In the 2008 NBA All-Star Game, Yao was once again voted to start at center for the Western Conference. Before the All-Star weekend, the Rockets had won eight straight games, and after the break, they took their win streak to 12 games. On February 26, 2008, however, it was reported that Yao would miss the rest of the season with a stress fracture in his left foot. He was expected to miss the playoffs, but Daryl Morey said he did not expect him to miss the 2008 Summer Olympics at Beijing, China in August. After Yao's injury, the Rockets went on after to stretch their winning streak to 22 games, the second-longest in NBA history. Yao underwent a successful operation on March 3, which placed screws in his foot to strengthen the bone. Recovery time was estimated at four months. He said if he could not play in the Olympics, "it would be the biggest loss in my career to right now". Yao's final averages in 55 games were 22.0 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks a game.
Yao has also participated in many charity events during his career, including the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders program. In the NBA's offseason in 2003, Yao hosted a telethon, which raised 300,000 U.S. dollars to help stop the spread of SARS. In September 2007, he held an auction that raised 965,000 U.S. dollars (6.75 million yuan), and competed in a charity basketball match to raise money for underprivileged children in China. He was joined by fellow NBA stars Steve Nash, Carmelo Anthony, and Baron Davis, and Hong Kong-born movie star Jackie Chan.
