Yao Ming
Yao Ming
Yao Mingis a Chinese retired professional basketball player who played for the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Associationand the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association. He was selected to start for the Western Conference in the NBA All-Star Game eight times, and was named to the All-NBA Team five times. At the time of his final season, he was the tallest active player in the NBA, at 2.29 m. He is also the only player outside of the US...
NationalityChinese
ProfessionBasketball Player
Date of Birth12 September 1980
CityShanghai, China
CountryChina
We?re all basketball players, and were all out there on the court, ... We all live together on this earth.
I just started playing basketball and I feel pretty healthy. I feel by the time I return to Houston I will be completely healthy.
I really can?t describe it. It completely surpasses what I imagined, ... Basketball is my job. It?s something I do and can adjust to quickly. The media, I?m a little bit of a stranger to. So it?s a little difficult to adjust.
I don't really have anything to say. Basketball is not a game that you can play with your mouth. It needs action to prove yourself.
Kobe's heart is as strong as his muscles.
Moving to the US was quite a transition for me, to say the least! There were, and still are so many new things to get used to: the language, food, culture, even the style of basketball is different here!
All of the Chinese people, the Asian people say, "Oh Yao Ming, you are all the Chinese, all of Asia's hopes." That's a lot of pressure. I'm just a basketball player.
To miss one year is a long time. I've never been in this situation before, and I'm getting as much information as I can about my foot, to see what's the best for me and best for the Rockets.
I'm just one of the 1.3 billion Chinese.
When I was young, we were taught not to dunk. We were taght not to stand out from the rest of the team. It's different now.
Westerners respect privacy, and they are very competitive in terms of work and personalities. My teammates in China and I can talk about everything. But with my Houston Rockets teammates, even though we're friends, we cannot ask each other about everything.
The Olympic Games is holy. Athletes from around the world, including myself, of course, dream to participate.
Others are improving very fast, and I'm not improving as fast, and that bothers me.
I am a basketball player, and I would like to focus my energy on basketball. The other things, I would rather not do. It is not something I am greatly interested in, but I know it is my responsibility.