The agreement entitled Evergreen to 33% of Yao's earnings,[10] but the contract was later determined to be invalid. He drew large crowds wherever the Rockets played, and Houston games were broadcast to huge audiences in China and other Asian countries. 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. [151] He took a tailored degree program with mostly one-on-one lectures to avoid being a distraction on campus. The promise that came with his size and talent was never fulfilled, and now he leaves the game as a once-prized asset that could never contend with numerous injuries. [95] The Rockets won all their games in Houston,[96] and advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 1997, and the first time in Yao's career.[97]. [1] He is the only player from outside of the United States to lead the NBA in All-Star votes. [20] Yao was widely predicted to be picked number one overall. [166] In September 2007, he held an auction that raised US$965,000 (CN¥6.75 million),[167] and competed in a charity basketball match to raise money for underprivileged children in China. [72] With only four games left in the season, Yao suffered another injury in a game against the Utah Jazz on April 10, 2006, which left him with a broken bone in his left foot. In just eight seasons, Yao missed 180 games. [160] He eventually signed with Coca-Cola for the 2008 Olympics. A great player very well could have been legendary if his body would have allowed. The injury-plagued Yao retired from professional basketball in July 2011. He serves as Global Ambassador and member of the International Board of Directors. [60] 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. By the time he was 12 years old, he was attending a local sports academy and practicing basketball several hours a day. His entrance into the league was less of a draft selection joining a team, and more of an invasion. Yao played his entire NBA career with Houston. 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 analyst Ric Bucher, an autobiography titled Yao: A Life in Two Worlds. 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. While the news of his injury has been out there, the specifics of the injury itself are not as easy to come by. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of … [108], For the 2010–11 season, the Rockets said they would limit Yao to 24 minutes a game, with no plan to play him on back-to-back nights. [9] At 11 pounds (5.0 kg), Yao weighed more than twice as much as the average Chinese newborn. The Rockets' Yao Ming grabs his left ankle after injuring it in the second quarter of a November 2005 game against the Chicago Bulls. [21][22][23] 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. “I’m probably a little bit away from game shape,” admitted Yao. That will be the stat that always sticks with me. Those worries seem to be off-base after the Houston Rockets have cleared their Chinese center to resume basketball-related activities. So imagine if you were to straighten that arch out, the force pushing against that upper-most brick in the arch as the rest of the bricks start to fall to the middle as the arch collapses. [2], Yao, who was born in Shanghai, 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. Use a Facebook account to add a comment, subject to Facebook's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Friday brings an end to a beautiful stay that could have been so much more. [121] He then vowed to abstain from shaving his beard for half a year unless the Chinese national team made it into the quarter-finals of the 2004 Olympics. Omissions? [91] 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. In July 2009, Yao discussed the injury with his doctors, and the Rockets applied for a disabled player exception, an exception to the NBA salary cap which grants the injured player's team money to sign a free agent. The one thing we cannot deny is his stamp on the game from a global standpoint. It makes you wince a little to think of just how great the missing pieces could have been. There are plenty of players that left the NBA unfulfilled from what their talents promised, all for different reasons. [63] 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. [131] Yao scored the first basket of the game, a three-pointer, in China's opening 2008 Olympics Basketball Tournament game against the eventual gold medal-winning United States. Yao returned for five games at the start of the 2010–11 season before suffering a stress fracture in his ankle, and he was sidelined for the remainder of the season. “The good news is we still have one month until training camp, and two months to the season.”, Yao Ming can put down the sport coat (Image: Zuma Press), Notify me of follow-up comments via e-mail. [3] In eight seasons with the Rockets, Yao ranks sixth among franchise leaders in total points and total rebounds, and second in total blocks. On July 20, 2011, Yao Ming announced his retirement from basketball. That's the baseline issue for him, which is why people are so negative with his prognosis or likelihood that he could come back and play for any length of time.". [120] During the 2004 Athens Olympics, Yao carried the Chinese flag during the opening ceremony, which he said was a "long dream come true". (Culture)", "APA Community Should Tell Shaquille O'Neal to 'Come down to Chinatown", "Sports of The Times; Fans in Shanghai Are Voting in the Mainstream", "Shaq says Yao comments were said in jest", "Los Angeles Lakers at Houston Rockets Box Score, January 17, 2003", "Fans in Shanghai Are Voting in the Mainstream", "Sizing up Yao Ming's NBA career, impact", "Stoudemire Wins 2002–03 'got milk?' At the time of his final season, he was the tallest active player in the NBA, at 2.29 m (7 ft 6 in). This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Yao-Ming. After Van Gundy began focusing the offense on Yao,[56] 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. The following year he became the president of the CBA, having served as president and owner of the CBA’s Shanghai Sharks franchise since 2009. The kind of surgery he had usually requires a considerable amount of time to mend. This was not just another athlete entering the league, this was a promise. [16], Yao was pressured to enter the NBA draft in 1999 by Li Yaomin, the deputy general manager of the Shanghai Sharks. The lingering issues started in 2005 with osteomyelitis being diagnosed in his left big toe. [59] Yao averaged 15.0 points and 7.4 rebounds in his first playoff series. [148] 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. 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. [172], In August 2012, Yao started filming a documentary about the northern white rhinoceros. We were instantly taken with the masterful center that lacked a command of the English language. "[155] American wine critic Robert M. Parker Jr. of The 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 the reserve bottling ranks alongside just about anything made in Napa. 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. Yao Ming, the pioneer of Chinese basketball, is retiring from the NBA after eight seasons. [65] 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. [132], "I was just really happy to make that shot", Yao said after the Americans' 101–70 victory. I think they're very prudent to treat the foot, try to get it to heal, but you almost have to say - like it was with Bill Walton's injury - it is what it is. Corrections? [157] A major part of his income comes from his sponsorship deals,[158] as he is under contract with several major companies to endorse their products. [130] He also carried the Chinese flag and led his country's delegation during the opening ceremony. [142] Their relationship became public when they appeared together during the 2004 Olympics closing ceremony. Yao Ming’s Hall of Fame NBA career saw him net $93,390,336 in NBA money, per Spotrac. [4], Yao is one of China's best-known athletes, with sponsorships with several major companies. Updates? He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016. [109] In January 2011, he was voted as the Western Conference starting center for the 2011 All-Star Game for the eighth time in nine seasons. [45] O'Neal later admitted that he regretted how he treated Yao early in his career. Once again, the greatest villain in sports rears its ugly head. [78], Despite Yao's absence, the Rockets made the playoffs with the home court advantage against the Utah Jazz in the first round. [140], Yao met Chinese female basketball player Ye Li when he was 17 years old. He may have been slow moving, but he still averaged two blocks per game during four seasons. However, China lost to Lithuania in the quarterfinals by 26 points,[136] eliminating them from the tournament. NBA Commissioner David Stern announces Yao Ming of China as the first pick of the 2002 NBA draft by the Houston Rockets. [149] In 2009, Yao provided the voice for a character of a Chinese animated film, The Magic Aster, released on June 19. [73], 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. © 2020 ESPN Internet Ventures. [24], Shortly after Wang Zhizhi refused to return to China to play for the national team and was subsequently banned from playing for China,[25] the CBA stipulated that Yao would have to return to play for the national team. He was signed by Nike until the end of his rookie season. [10] Li also influenced Yao to sign a contract for Evergreen Sports Inc. to serve as his agent. AMA. With his soft shooting touch and deft passing ability, Yao earned all-star honours in each of the following six seasons and helped the Rockets to play-off appearances in five of those years (2004, 2005, and 2007–09).