Yao, who was born inShanghai, started playing for the Sharks as a teenager, and played on their senior team for five years in the CBA, winning a championship in his final year. After negotiating with the CBA and the Sharks to secure his release, Yao was selected by the Rockets as the first overall pick in the2002 NBA draft. He reached theNBA playoffs four times, and the Rockets won the first-round series in the2009 postseason, their first playoff series victory since 1997. In July 2011, Yao announced his retirement from professional basketball because of a series of foot and ankle injuries which forced him to miss 250 games in his last six seasons.[2] In eight seasons with the Rockets, Yao ranks sixth among franchise leaders in total points and total rebounds, and second in total blocks.[3]
Yao is one of China's best-known athletes internationally, with sponsorships with several major companies. His rookie year in the NBA was the subject of a documentary film,The Year of the Yao, and he co-wrote, along with NBA analystRic Bucher, an autobiography titledYao: A Life in Two Worlds. Known in China as the "Yao Ming Phenomenon" and in the United States as the "Ming Dynasty", Yao's success in the NBA, and his popularity among fans, made him a symbol of a new China that was both more modern and more confident.[4] Yao is also an entrepreneur and owner of Yao Family Wines inNapa Valley, California.[5]
In April 2016, Yao was elected into theNaismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, alongsideShaquille O'Neal andAllen Iverson, becoming the first Chinese national to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.[6][7] In February 2017, Yao was unanimously elected as chairman of theChinese Basketball Association.[8] Yao had a storied career as a member of the Chinese national team.[9] With the national team, Yao won the FIBA Asia Cup in 2001, 2003, and 2005, winning MVP of the tournament all three times.[10] He also made the All-Tournament Team at the FIBA World Cup in 2002. Yao retired from the Chinese national team after the2008 Beijing Olympics.[11][12]
Early life
Yao Ming was born on September 12, 1980, inShanghai, China.[13] He is the only child of 6-foot-7-inch (2.01 m) Yao Zhiyuan and 6-foot-3-inch (1.91 m) Fang Fengdi,[14] both of whom were former professional basketball players.[15] At birth, Yao weighed 11 pounds (5.0 kg), more than twice the average weight of a Chinese newborn.[16] When Yao was nine years old, he began playing basketball and attended a junior sports school.[17] The following year, Yao measured 5 feet 5 inches (1.65 m)[18] and was examined by sports doctors, who predicted he would grow to 7 feet 3 inches (2.21 m).[18]
Professional career
Shanghai Sharks (1997–2002)
Yao first tried out for theShanghai Sharks' junior team of theChinese Basketball Association (CBA) when he was 13 years old, and practiced ten hours a day for his acceptance.[19] After playing with the junior team for four years, Yao joined the Sharks' senior team, where he averaged 10 points and 8 rebounds a game in hisrookie season. His next season was cut short when he broke his foot for the second time in his career, which Yao said decreased his jumping ability by four to six inches (10 to 15 cm).[20] The Sharks made the finals of the CBA in Yao'sthird season and again thenext year, but lost both times to theBayi Rockets. WhenWang Zhizhi left the Bayi Rockets to become the first NBA player from China thefollowing year, the Sharks finally won their first CBA championship. During the playoffs in his final year with Shanghai, Yao averaged 38.9 points and 20.2 rebounds a game, while shooting 76.6% from the field,[21] and made all 21 of his shots during one game in the finals.[22]
Houston Rockets (2002–2011)
Yao was pressured to enter theNBA draft in 1999 by Li Yaomin, the deputy general manager of the Shanghai Sharks.[16] Li also influenced Yao to sign a contract for Evergreen Sports Inc. to serve as his agent. The agreement entitled Evergreen to 33% of Yao's earnings,[16] but the contract was later determined to be invalid.[23]
As American attention on Yao grew, Chinese authorities also took interest. In 2002, the Chinese government released new regulations that would require him and other Chinese players to turn over half of any NBA earnings to the government and China's national basketball association, including endorsements as well as salaries.[24]
When Yao decided to enter the2002 NBA draft, a group of advisers was formed that came to be known as "Team Yao". The team consisted of Yao's negotiator, Erik Zhang; his NBA agent, Bill Duffy; his Chinese agent, Lu Hao;University of Chicago economics professor John Huizinga;[25] and the vice president for marketing at BDA Sports Management, Bill Sanders.[26] Yao was widely predicted to be picked number one overall.[27][28][29] However, some teams were concerned about Yao's NBA eligibility because of uncertainty over whether the CBA would let Yao play in the United States.[30]
Shortly after Wang Zhizhi refused to return to China to play for thenational team and was subsequently banned from playing for China,[31] the CBA stipulated that Yao would have to return to play for the national team.[32] They also said they would not let him go to the United States unless theHouston Rockets would take him first overall.[33] After assurances from Team Yao that the Rockets would draft Yao with their number one pick, the CBA gave permission on the morning of the draft for Yao to play in the U.S.[34] When the Rockets selected Yao with the first pick of the draft, he became the first international player ever to be selected first overall without having previously played U.S.college basketball.[35]
Beginning years (2002–2005)
Yao did not participate in the Rockets' pre-season training camp, instead playing for China in the2002 FIBA World Championships.[36] Before the season, several commentators, includingBill Simmons andDick Vitale, predicted that Yao would fail in the NBA,[37][38] andCharles Barkley said he would "kissKenny Smith's ass" if Yao scored more than 19 points in one of his rookie-season games.[39] Yao played his first NBA game against theIndiana Pacers, scoring no points and grabbing two rebounds,[40][41] and scored his first NBA basket against theDenver Nuggets.[42] In his first seven games, he averaged only 14 minutes and 4 points, but on November 17, he scored 20 points on a perfect 9-of-9 from the field and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line against the Lakers.[43] Barkley made good on his bet by kissing the buttock of a donkey purchased by Smith for the occasion (Smith's "ass").[39]
In Yao's first game in Miami on December 16, 2002, theHeat passed out 8,000fortune cookies, anEast Asian cultural stereotype.[44][45] Yao was not angry with the promotion because he was not familiar with American stereotypes of Chinese.[46] In an earlier interview in 2000, Yao said he had never seen a fortune cookie in China and guessed it must have been an American invention.[47]
Before Yao's first meeting withShaquille O'Neal on January 17, 2003, O'Neal said, "Tell Yao Ming,ching chong-yang-wah-ah-soh", prompting accusations of racism.[46] O'Neal denied that his comments were racist, and said he was only joking.[48] Yao also said he believed O'Neal was joking, but he said a lot ofAsians would not see the humor.[48][49] In the game, Yao scored the Rockets' first six points of the game and blocked O'Neal twice in the opening minutes as well as altering two other shots by O'Neal, all 4 of those attempts coming right at the rim, and made a game-sealing dunk with 10 seconds left in overtime.[50] Yao finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 blocks; O'Neal recorded 31 points, 13 rebounds, and 0 blocks.[51] O'Neal later expressed regret for the way he treated Yao early in his career.[52]
The NBA began offeringAll-Star ballots in three languages—English, Spanish and Chinese—for fan voting of the starters for the2003 NBA All-Star Game.[53] Yao was voted to start for the West over O'Neal, who was coming off three consecutiveNBA Finals MVP Awards.[54] Yao received nearly a quarter million more votes than O'Neal, and he became the first rookie to start in the All-Star Game sinceGrant Hill in1995.[55]
Yao prepares to shoot a free throw withJohn Stockton in the background
Yao (fourth from left) standing with the Sophomores team during the2004Rookie Challenge game.
Before the start of Yao's sophomore season, Rockets' head coachRudy Tomjanovich resigned because of health issues,[61] and long-timeNew York Knicks head coachJeff Van Gundy was brought in. After Van Gundy began focusing the offense on Yao,[62] 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 theAtlanta Hawks in February 2004.[63] He was also voted to be the starting center for theWestern Conference in the2004 NBA All-Star Game for the second straight year.[64] Yao finished the season averaging 17.5 points and 9.0 rebounds a game.[56] 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, theLos Angeles Lakers eliminated Houston in five games.[65] Yao averaged 15.0 points and 7.4 rebounds in his first playoff series.[56]
In the summer of 2004, the Rockets acquiredTracy McGrady from theOrlando Magic in a seven-player trade that also sentSteve Francis andCuttino Mobley to Orlando.[66] Although Yao said that Francis and Mobley had "helped [him] in every way [his] first two seasons", he added, "I'm excited about playing with Tracy McGrady. He can do some amazing things."[67] After the trade, it was predicted that the Rockets would be title contenders.[66][68] Both McGrady and Yao were voted to start in the2005 NBA All-Star Game, and Yao broke the record previously held byMichael Jordan for most All-Star votes, with 2,558,278 total votes.[69] The Rockets won 51 games and finished fifth in the West, and madethe playoffs for the second consecutive year, where they faced theDallas Mavericks.[70] 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.[71] 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.[72] Yao's final averages for the series were 21.4 points on 65% shooting and 7.7 rebounds.[56]
Career highs and injury-plagued seasons (2005–2011)
In hisfifth season, Yao averaged a career-high 25 points per game.
After missing only two games out of 246 in his first three years of NBA play,[14] Yao was rewarded with a five-year, $75 million extension during the 2005 offseason.[73] However, he endured an extended period on the inactive list in his fourth season after developingosteomyelitis in the big toe on his left foot, and surgery was performed on the toe on December 18, 2005.[74] Despite missing 21 games while recovering,[14] Yao again had the most fan votes to start the2006 NBA All-Star Game.[75]
In 25 games after the All-Star break, Yao averaged 25.7 points and 11.6 rebounds per game, while shooting 53.7% from the field and 87.8% at the free-throw line.[76] His final averages in 57 games were 22.3 points and 10.2 rebounds per game.[56] It was the first time that he ended the season with a so-called "20/10" average. However, Tracy McGrady played only 47 games in the season, missing time because of back spasms.[77] Yao and McGrady played only 31 games together,[78] and the Rockets did not make the playoffs, winning only 34 games.[79] With only four games left in the season, Yao suffered another injury in a game against theUtah Jazz on April 10, 2006, which left him with a broken bone in his left foot. The injury required six months of rest.[80]
Early into his fifth season, Yao was injured again, this time breaking his right knee on December 23, 2006, while attempting to block a shot.[81] Up to that point he had been averaging 26.8 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game, and had been mentioned as anMVP candidate.[82][83] Yao was unable to play in what would have been his fifth All-Star game;[84] he was medically cleared to play on March 4, 2007, after missing 32 games.[85]
Despite Yao's absence, the Rockets made the playoffs with the home court advantage against the Utah Jazz in the first round.[86] The Rockets won the first two games, but then lost four of five games[87] and were eliminated in Game 7 at home; Yao scored 29 points—15 in the fourth quarter.[88] Although he averaged 25.1 points and 10.3 rebounds for the series, Yao said afterwards "I didn't do my job".[89] At the end of the season, Yao was selected to theAll-NBA Second Team for the first time in his career, after being selected to the All-NBA Third Team twice.[90]
On May 18, 2007, only weeks after the Rockets were eliminated from the playoffs, Jeff Van Gundy was dismissed as head coach.[91] Three days later, the Rockets signed formerSacramento Kings coachRick Adelman,[92] who was thought to focus more on offense than the defensive-minded Van Gundy.[93][94]
Yao advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the only time in his career in 2009.Yao playing againstGilbert Arenas
On November 9, 2007, Yao played against fellow Chinese NBA andMilwaukee Bucks playerYi 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.[95] In the2008 NBA All-Star Game, Yao was once again voted to start at center for the Western Conference.[96] 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 astress fracture in his left foot. He missed the2008 NBA playoffs, but he did not miss the2008 Summer Olympics at Beijing, China in August.[97] After Yao's injury, the Rockets stretched their winning streak to 22 games, at the time the second-longest such streak in NBA history.[98] Yao underwent a successful operation on March 3, which placed screws in his foot to strengthen the bone, and recovery time was estimated at four months.[99] Yao's final averages in 55 games were 22.0 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks a game.[56]
Thenext season, Yao played 77 games, his first full season since the2004–05 season, and averaged 19.7 points and 9.9 rebounds, while shooting 54.8% from the field, and a career-high 86.6% from the free throw line.[56] Despite McGrady suffering a season-ending injury in February,[100] the Rockets finished with 53 wins and the fifth seed in the Western Conference.[101] Facing thePortland Trail Blazers in the first round, Yao finished with 24 points on 9-of-9 shooting in the first game, and the Rockets won 108–81, in Portland.[102] The Rockets won all their games in Houston,[103] and advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 1997, and the first time in Yao's career.[104]
The Rockets faced the Lakers in the second round, and Yao scored 28 points, with 8 points in the final four minutes, to lead the Rockets to a 100–92 win in Los Angeles.[105] However, the Rockets lost their next two games,[106][107] and Yao was diagnosed with a sprained ankle after Game 3.[108] A follow-up test revealed ahairline fracture in his left foot, and he was ruled out for the remainder of the playoffs.[109] In reaction, Yao said the injury, which did not require surgery, was "better than last year".[110] However, follow-up analysis indicated that the injury could be career threatening.[111] The Yao-less Rockets went on to win Game 4 against the Lakers to even the series 2–2.[112] The Rockets eventually lost the series in seven games.
In July 2009, Yao discussed the injury with his doctors, and the Rockets applied for a disabled player exception, an exception to theNBA salary cap which grants the injured player's team money to sign a free agent.[113] The Rockets were granted the exception, and used approximately $5.7 million on free agentTrevor Ariza. After weeks of consulting, it was decided that Yao would undergo surgery in order to repair the broken bone in his left foot.[114] He did not play the entire2009–10 season.[115]
For the2010–11 season, the Rockets said they would limit Yao to 24 minutes a game, with no plan to play him on back-to-back nights. Their goal was to keep Yao healthy in the long term.[115] On December 16, 2010, it was announced that Yao had developed a stress fracture in his left ankle, related to an older injury, and would miss the rest of the season.[116] In January 2011, he was voted as the Western Conference starting center for the2011 All-Star Game for the eighth time in nine seasons. Injured All-Stars are usually required to attend the All-Star functions and to be introduced at the game, but Yao was not in Los Angeles because of his rehabilitation schedule after his surgery.[117] Yao's contract with the Rockets expired at the end of the season, and he became a free agent.[118]
Retirement
On July 20, 2011, Yao announced his retirement from basketball in a press conference in Shanghai.[119][120] He cited injuries to his foot and ankle, including the third fracture to his left foot sustained near the end of 2010.[121] His retirement sparked over 1.2 million comments on the Chinese social-networking siteSina Weibo.[122] Reacting to Yao's retirement, NBA commissionerDavid Stern said Yao was a "bridge between Chinese and American fans" and that he had "a wonderful mixture of talent, dedication, humanitarian aspirations and a sense of humor."[121] Shaquille O'Neal said Yao "was very agile. He could play inside, he could play outside, and if he didn't have those injuries he could've been up there in the top five centers to ever play the game."[123]
Yao was nominated by a member of the Chinese media for theNaismith Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor to the game. He would have been eligible for induction as early as 2012, but Yao felt it was too soon and requested that the Hall of Fame delay consideration of the nomination. The Hall granted Yao's request, and said it was Yao's decision when the process would be restarted.[124]
On September 9, 2016, Yao was inducted into the Hall of Fame along with 4-time NBA championShaquille O'Neal andAllen Iverson.[125] Continuing with the honors, on February 3, 2017, Yao's Number 11 jersey was retired by the Houston Rockets.[126]
Yao first played for China in the2000 Summer Olympics, and he was dubbed, together with 7 ft (2.1 m) teammatesWang Zhizhi andMengke Bateer, "the Walking Great Wall".[127] During the2004 Athens Olympics, Yao carried theChinese flag during theopening ceremony, which he said was a "long dream come true".[128] He then vowed to abstain from shaving his beard for half a year unless theChinese national team made it into the quarter-finals of the2004 Olympics.[129] After Yao scored 39 points in a win againstNew Zealand, China lost 58–83, 57–82, and 52–89 againstSpain,Argentina andItaly respectively. In the final group game, however, a 67–66 win over the reigning2002 FIBA World ChampionsSerbia and Montenegro moved them into the quarterfinals. Yao scored 27 points and had 13 rebounds, and he hit two free throws with 28 seconds left that proved to be the winning margin.[130] He averaged 20.7 points and 9.3 rebounds per game while shooting 55.9% from the field.[131]
Yao's injury at the end of the 2005–06 NBA season required a full six months of rest, threatening his participation in the2006 FIBA World Championship.[132] However, he recovered before the start of the tournament, and in the last game of the preliminary round, he had 36 points and 10 rebounds in a win againstSlovenia to lead China into theRound of 16.[133] In the first knockout round, however, China was defeated by eventual finalistGreece.[133] Yao's final averages were 25.3 points, themost in the tournament, and 9.0 rebounds a game, which was fourth overall.[134]
"I was just really happy to make that shot", Yao said after the Americans' 101–70 victory. "It was the first score in our Olympic campaign here at home and I'll always remember it. It represents that we can keep our heads up in the face of really tough odds."[139]
Following an overtime defeat toSpain,[140] Yao scored 30 points in a win overAngola,[141] and 25 points in a three-point win againstGermany,[142] which clinched China's place in the quarterfinals. However, China lost toLithuania in the quarterfinals by 26 points,[143] eliminating them from the tournament. Yao's 19 points a game were the second-highest in the Olympics,[144] and his averages of 8.2 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game were third overall.[145][146]
After Yao announced that he would enter the2002 NBA draft, he told one American journalist that he had been studying English for two years, and that he liked the movieStar Wars but dislikedhip hop. He was sometimes accompanied during interviews in Shanghai by one of his parents, whose basketball careers were derailed by the 1966–76Cultural Revolution, and who came to his Shanghai Sharks games on bicycles.[149]
Yao answers questions from reporters, October 2006
Yao met Chinese female basketball playerYe Li when he was 17 years old. Ye was not fond of Yao at first, but finally accepted him after he gave her the team pins he had collected during the2000 Summer Olympics.[150] She is the only woman he has ever dated.[151] Their relationship became public when they appeared together during the 2004 Olympics closing ceremony.[150] On August 6, 2007, Yao and Ye married in a ceremony attended by close friends and family and closed to the media.[152] On May 21, 2010, the couple's daughter Yao Qinlei (Chinese:姚沁蕾; her English name is Amy) was born in Houston, Texas.[120][153][154]
In 2004, Yao co-wrote an autobiography withESPN sportswriterRic Bucher, entitledYao: A Life in Two Worlds.[155] In the same year, he was also the subject of a documentary film,The Year of the Yao, which focuses on his NBA rookie year.[156] The film is narrated by his friend and interpreter, Colin Pine.[157] In 2005, formerNewsweek writer Brook Larmer published a book entitledOperation Yao Ming, in which he said that Yao's parents were convinced to marry each other so that they would produce a dominant athlete, and that during Yao's childhood, he was given special treatment to help him become a great basketball player.[16] In a 2015 AMA post onReddit, Yao stated that this was not true and that he started playing basketball for fun at age 9.[158] In 2009, Yao provided the voice for a character of a Chinese animated film,The Magic Aster, released on June 19.[159]
Yao enrolled at the Antai College of Economics & Management ofShanghai Jiao Tong University in 2011.[160] He took a tailored degree program with mostly one-on-one lectures to avoid being a distraction on campus.[161] Yao completed his studies in July 2018, graduating with a degree in economics after 7 years of study.[162][163][164][165]
In 2016, Yao opened a winery called Yao Family Wines inNapa Valley, California, which servesCabernet Sauvignon blends and "the kind of rich-but-balanced luxury reds he'd come to enjoy in Houston steakhouses."[166] American wine criticRobert M. Parker Jr. ofThe Wine Advocate gave Yao's wine a ranking of 96 points and wrote: "I am aware of all the arguments that major celebrities lending their names to wines is generally a formula for mediocrity, but... the two Cabernets are actually brilliant, and thereserve bottling ranks alongside just about anything made in Napa."[166]
Yao is one of China's most recognizable athletes, along withLiu Xiang.[167] As of 2009, he had ledForbes'Chinese celebrities list in income and popularity for six straight years, earning US$51 million (CN¥357 million) in 2008.[168] A major part of his income comes from his sponsorship deals,[169] as he is under contract with several major companies to endorse their products. He was signed byNike until the end of his rookie season. When Nike decided not to renew his contract, he signed withReebok.[170] He also had a deal withPepsi, and he successfully suedCoca-Cola in 2003 when they used his image on their bottles while promoting the national team.[171] He eventually signed with Coca-Cola for the 2008 Olympics.[169] His other deals include partnerships withVisa,[172]Apple,[173]Garmin,[174] andMcDonald's.[175]
On July 16, 2009, Yao bought his former club team, theShanghai Sharks, which were on the verge of not being able to play the next season of theChinese Basketball Association because of financial troubles.[176]
Philanthropy
Yao has also participated in many charity events during his career, including the NBA'sBasketball Without Borders program.[177] In the NBA's offseason in 2003, Yao hosted a telethon, which raised US$300,000 to help stop the spread ofSARS.[178] In September 2007, he held an auction that raised US$965,000 (CN¥6.75 million),[179] and competed in a charity basketball match to raise money for underprivileged children in China. He was joined by fellow NBA starsSteve Nash,Carmelo Anthony, andBaron Davis, and Hong Kong actorJackie Chan.[180] After the2008 Sichuan earthquake, Yao donated $2 million to relief work and created the Yao Ming Foundation to help rebuild schools destroyed in the earthquake.[181][182]
Conservation work
Yao in Beijing in 2016
Yao partnered withWildAid to appear in commercials and documentaries to educate citizens on the harmful effects ofshark fin soup on shark species. From 2011 to 2018, consumption of shark fin soup dropped by 70% in China.[183] In August 2012, Yao started filming a documentary about thenorthern white rhinoceros.[184] He is also an ambassador forelephant conservation.[185] In 2014, he was also part of the documentaryThe End of the Wild about elephant conservation. Yao has filmed a number of public service announcements for elephant and rhino conservation for the "Say No" campaign with partners African Wildlife Foundation and WildAid.[186]
Politics
On March 3, 2013, Yao attended the First Session of the12th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference as one of its 2,200 members.[187] He was a member of the CPPCC from 2013 to 2018. While he is involved in Chinese politics, he is not a member of theChinese Communist Party, although he has been awarded the Proletarian Award by the party for his spreading of literacy andsocialist ideologies.[188]
^Pomfret, John (2016).The Beautiful Country and the Middle Kingdom: American and China, 1776 to the Present. New York: Picador. p. 582.ISBN978-1-250-16063-8.
^Leonard, David (June 22, 2003)."Yo, Yao! What does the "Ming Dynasty" tell us about race and transnational diplomacy in the NBA? (Culture)".ColorLines Magazine. RetrievedSeptember 7, 2010.It's dubious that Yao's dunking and product promotions will provide Americans a meaningful introduction to China, especially because Yao's popularity and public persona is rooted in old-school stereotypes about Chinese culture and identity. For example, in honor of Yao's debut appearance in Miami, the American Airlines Arena passed out fortune cookies to all 8,000 fans in attendance.
^Ballantini, Brett (March 1, 2003). "Shaquille O'Neil: the ugly American – From Courtside".Basketball Digest. pp. 6–7.For Yao's first game in Miami on December 16, the Heat "honored" Yao by passing out 8,000 fortune Cookies—the quintessential Asian stereotype—to spectators
^abTang, Irwin (January 3, 2003)."APA Community Should Tell Shaquille O'Neal to 'Come down to Chinatown".AsianWeek. Archived fromthe original on June 4, 2011. RetrievedNovember 8, 2010.Yao found the promotion amusing but pointed out that fortune cookies have nothing to do with him. He said that he was not angry because he was not familiar with American stereotypes of Chinese.
^Fussman, Cal (December 25, 2000)."Next Athlete: Yao Ming".ESPN The Magazine. RetrievedJuly 11, 2020.The food in Chinese restaurants there is different than [sic] here. It was strange seeing a fortune cookie for the first time. We don't have them here. Must be an American invention.
^abVecsey, George (January 12, 2003)."Sports of The Times; Fans in Shanghai Are Voting in the Mainstream".The New York Times. Archived fromthe original on November 10, 2007. RetrievedNovember 8, 2010.Yao quickly said: "The world is getting smaller, and I think it's important to have a greater understanding of other cultures. I believe Shaquille O'Neal was joking, but I think that a lot of Asian people don't understand that kind of joke."
^Wilborn, Michael (December 20, 2010)."Can't overestimate Yao Ming's impact". ESPN.Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. RetrievedMarch 13, 2015.Shaquille O'Neal once told me he hated that he hazed Yao a little bit early in his career.
^abSolomon, Jerome (October 25, 2010)."Adelman has role in new season of '24'".Houston Chronicle. RetrievedOctober 27, 2010.But he can come closer to doing it in 24 minutes than he could in zero, which is what he averaged last season.
^Feigen, Jonathan (January 27, 2010)."Yao voted West's starting center for All-Star Game".Houston Chronicle. Archived fromthe original on January 28, 2011. RetrievedJanuary 28, 2010.Yao Ming's stress fracture and ankle surgery ended his season and could end his career, but could not keep him from being voted in as a starting center for the All-Star Game next month in Los Angeles.
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