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Yao Ming
姚明

No. 11 – Houston Rockets
Position	Center
League	NBA
Personal information
Born	(1980-09-12) September 12, 1980 (age 44) Shanghai, China
Nationality	Chinese
Listed height	7 ft 6 in (2.29 m)
Listed weight	310 lb (141 kg)
Career information
NBA draft	2002: 1st overall
Selected by the Houston Rockets
Playing career	1997–present
Career highlights and awards
6-time NBA All-Star 3-time All-NBA Selection 2002–03 NBA All-Rookie First Team
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball Reference

Template:Chinese name

Yao Ming's life story is very much a complicated one. The truth about Yaos secret life was reveled 2 years ago when we was seen chasing a cheetah on foot. The site was at a small town in Indiana. He claims he was just trying to get his money back from the cheetah. However, he was spotted 1 week later riding on the back of an invisible panda from Mars. AS soon as Yao saw the press spying on him, he quickly leaped off the crack Panda, and into a one hundred thousand mile space ship. As Yao was traveling through time, the U.S governments secret UFO chased them and discoverd that the space ship belongs to Gavin Kowalewski from South Bend Indiana. That is the quick and short summary of the odd and bizzare story of the Yao Ship. Yao Ming (Chinese: 姚明; pinyin: Yáo Míng) (born September 12 1980) is a professional basketball player who plays for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). 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.

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.

International career

Early years and 2004 Olympics

During the 2004 Athens Olympics, Yao carried the Chinese flag during the opening ceremony, which he said was a “long dream come true”. He then vowed to abstain from shaving his beard for half a year unless the Chinese national basketball team made it into the quarter-finals. After Yao scored 39 points in a win against New Zealand, China lost 58–83, 57–82, and 52–89 against Spain, Argentina and Italy respectively. In the final group game, however, a 67–66 win over reigning world champions Serbia 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. He was selected to the All-Olympics team with his performance, averaging 20.7 points and 9.3 rebounds per game while shooting 55.9% from the field.

2006 World Championships

Yao’s injury at the end of the 2005–06 NBA season required a full six months of rest, threatening his participation in the 2006 FIBA World Championship. 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 against Slovenia to lead China into the Round of 16. In the first knockout round, however, China was defeated by eventual finalist Greece. Yao's final averages were 25.3 points, the most in the tournament, and 9.0 rebounds a game, which was fourth overall.

Off the court

Personal life

In early 2007, an Internet hoax reported that Yao was dating American actress Nia Long, but Yao rejected the allegations. He is married to Ye Li, a Chinese women's basketball player whom he met when he was 17. Ye was not fond of Yao at first, but finally accepted him after he gave her the team pins he had collected during the 2000 Summer Olympics. Their romance was first made public when they appeared together during the 2004 Olympics closing ceremony, and on August 6, 2007, Yao married Ye in a ceremony attended by close friends and family that was closed to the media.

In 2004, Yao co-wrote an autobiography with Ric Bucher, entitled Yao: A Life in Two Worlds. 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. The film is narrated by his friend and former interpreter Colin Pine, who stayed with Yao during Yao's rookie year, and interpreted for him for three years. In 2005, former Newsweek writer Brook Larmer published a book entitled Operation 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.

Public life

Yao is one of China's most recognizable athletes, along with Liu Xiang. He has led Forbes' Chinese celebrities list in income and popularity for five straight years, earning 54.6 million U.S. dollars (387.8 million yuan) in 2007. A major part of his income comes from his sponsorship deals, as he is under contract with several major companies to endorse their products. He was signed by Nike until the end of the his rookie season; when they decided not to renew his contract, he signed with Reebok. He also had a deal with Pepsi, and he successfully sued Coca-Cola in 2003 when they used his image on their bottles while promoting the national team. However, he has since signed with Coca-Cola for the 2008 Olympics. His other deals include partnerships with Visa, Apple, Garmin, and McDonald’s (his favorite restaurant when he was young).

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.

Career statistics

CBA statistics

NBA statistics

References

1. "NBA Players". NBA.com. Retrieved 2008-04-17.
2. "Yao Ming realizes his Olympic dream". chinadaily.com.cn. August 13, 2004. Retrieved 2007-05-08. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
3. "Yao bets his beard on China's top eight finish". People's Daily. August 12, 2004. Retrieved 2007-05-08. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
4. "Yao lifts China into Olympic quarter-finals". chinadaily.com.cn. August 24, 2004. Retrieved 2007-05-08. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
5. "NBA.com: Statistics: NBA Players on International Teams". NBA.com. Retrieved 2007-05-08.
6. "China sweats over Yao Ming's foot". redorbit.com. April 13, 2006. Retrieved 2007-05-08. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
7. ^ "Game Report, China vs Slovenia 78-77, GROUP D". FIBA.com. August 24, 2006. Retrieved 2007-05-08. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
8. "Game report, Greece v China 95-64, EIGHT-FINALS". FIBA.com. Retrieved 2008-03-15.
9. "The Weirdest Couple Ever; Yao Ming Dating Nia Long". mediatakeout.com. Retrieved 2008-03-16.
10. "Yao dismisses love interest as tall story". chinadaily.com.cn. January 15, 2007. Retrieved 2008-03-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
11. ^ Zhou, Jing (August 30, 2007). "Groomsman Fondly Recounts Yao Ming's Marriage". www.china.org.cn. Retrieved 2008-03-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
12. Zen, TC Cheng (August 7, 2007). "Yao's wedding unites East, West cultures". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2008-03-15. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
13. Westbrook, Bruce. "Yao's Life in Two Worlds". NBA.com. Retrieved 2008-04-17.
14. Westbrook, Bruce. "The Year of the Yao". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2008-03-16.
15. Zhu, Junwei (June 2, 2005). "小巨人告别"拐杖" 潘克伦：我的电话为姚明而开 "Yao Ming says goodbye to Colin Pine"". tom.com. Retrieved 2008-04-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)Template:Zh icon
16. Larmer, Brook. "The Creation of Yao Ming". Time Magazine. Retrieved 2008-04-29.
17. Patrick, Dick (May 24, 2006). "Yao Ming's Injury Could Send Reebok Reeling". USA Today. Retrieved 2008-03-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Text "USA Today" ignored (help)
18. "Yao Ming leads Forbes' Chinese celebrity list for fifth year". Xinhau. March 11, 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
19. ^ Pells, Eddie (March 11, 2008). "Injury doesn't diminish Yao's ability to sell products". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2008-03-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
20. Rovell, Darren (September 14, 2007). "Yao Ming's Injury Could Send Reebok Reeling". cnbc.com. Retrieved 2008-03-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
21. "Yao Ming, Coke's China subsidiary settle lawsuit". ESPN.com. October 17, 2003. Retrieved 2008-03-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
22. Walker, Rob (February 10, 2003). "A Brand Called Yao". Slate.com. Retrieved 2007-05-08. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
23. "Yao Ming stars in Apple commercial". basketball365.co.uk. February 17, 2003. Retrieved 2007-05-08. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help),
24. "Garmin Nets Partnership with NBA Superstar Yao Ming". Garmin.com. April 12, 2005. Retrieved 2007-05-08. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
25. Hoffman, Ken (March 11, 2008). "Yao stands tall for McDonald's". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2008-03-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
26. "Basketball without Borders — Asia". NBA.com. Retrieved 2008-03-16.
27. "Yao implores everyone to join in battling SARS". ESPN.com. May 8, 2003. Retrieved 2008-04-17. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
28. "Basketball stars raise 7 million yuan at charity auction". Xinhau. September 14, 2007. Retrieved 2008-03-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
29. "Yao scores 21 points in charity game". Xinhau. September 14, 2007. Retrieved 2008-03-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

External links

• NBA.com Official Yao Ming Player Profile
• Club Yao – Official Yao Ming Fan Club

Template:China Squad 2006 FIBA World Championship

• Chinese basketball players
• Shanghai Sharks
• Houston Rockets players
• Centers (basketball)
• Olympic basketball players of China
• Basketball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics
• Laureus World Sports Awards winners
• Chinese expatriates in the United States
• People from Shanghai
• 1980 births
• Living people