By continuing you agree to eChinacities's Privacy Policy .
Sign up with Google
Sign up with Facebook
Q: Was Yao Ming really that good?
I am curious about China's obsession with this man. Did his talent really justify the adulation?
I do not know myself because I do not know very much about the game. I did not even know he had retired until I read it somewhere on this forum. His retirement has not seemed to stop the flow of adulation. The United States, among other countries, may also have obsessions with sporting hero's but was Yao Ming in Jordan's league? The States also have many others to choose from (Tiger Woods, Ali, Sampras to mention but a few) in a variety of sports where China seems to have just the one and from just the one sport.
I think you can also compare India to China in the sense that both countries are pretty much obsessed with the one sport. China has basketball (I doubt whether the Chinese youth of today are really inspired by ping pong or badminton) whereas India has cricket. China has Yao Ming whereas India has Sachin Tendulkar. Again where I am baffled here is that Sachin Tendulkar is not only an Indian sporting legend but a legend of the game and has broken just about every cricketing record under the sun. Has Yao Ming done this in basketball? In basketball circles, will Yao Ming truly be remembered as a legend of the game? Or will he simply be remembered by the Chinese as a legend of the game?
To inspire,millions to exercise more,playing basketball is a good thing a great role model.Plus what about Badminton,tennis,diving,swimming,table tennis,gymnastics also to inspire a nation makes you great,in my book even if you were not the No1 player
There was a short period of time when he was one of the best centers in the game. However, he had three problems. First, early in his career he had to make the adjustment from playing international basketball, which is much more about spreading the floor and finding an open jump shot, to playing American basketball, which is more about driving the lane if your in the back court or scoring from the block if you're a center or power forward. When Yao first arrived in the NBA, he needed to toughen up his game, and it took him a while to actually do that. It's understandable because at the time he was playing against the likes of Shaq and Tim Duncan, who were both masters of the low post. Second, he played for a few teams with overrated back courts. At some point a center can only do so much, and you need your guards to pick up some of the slack. That's something that Tracy MacGrady and Steve Francis just weren't able to do, especially in the western conference in the mid 00s. Finally, he became really injury prone late in his career, and that really cut into his productivity.
kchur:
I always reckoned he started out really strong, but fizzled out pretty early. I can remember thinking he really didn't live up to the early hype.
mattsm84:
Here are his stats. His numbers did improve over time did, and for the bulk of his career he averaged over 20 pts per game while pulling in around 10 boards. Those are pretty good numbers for a big man. Had he played for a team in the Eastern Conference that had a solid back court, like Detroit, Indiana, New Jersey, Philly, Cleveland or Maimi, he probably could have won a title or two.
Yes,he was damn good and he's a hero in most chinese people's eyes.
Like Michael Jordan in american people's eyes.
it sucks,he's retired a bit early.
I used to watch NBA a lot because of Yaoming,but not now since he retired.
crimochina:
blame china, for making him continue to play for the chinese team. if you look at guys like hakeem olajawon or david robinson their frames were a natural fit to their size. but for some reason if you grow way beyond 7'0 -7'3 to around 7'6 it seems to create problems. george mureasen and manute bol are 2 other examples. their frames seemed awkard. an 82 + game schedule is tough enough. but having to play in international tourneys on top of that is just too much. Yao in the nba was more than enough to promote basketball in china. having him play for the national team in addition just shortened his career. yao and shaq were the last of the true big men in the nba, i miss them.
mattsm84:
I'm a little more sympathetic to the Chinese national team on this one than you are. For a decade he was the face of Chinese basketball. You have to run him out for the odd national tournament a year as it does a lot to promote the game in China. If he didn't play, the people would think that he was big timing them after having left for the NBA. They shouldn't have rode him as hard as they did, but there was more resting on his shoulders than you've indicated. He didn't play as long as he could have, but a lot of big men are like that. Bill Walton only played a single year in the NBA, but he's still a hardwood legend. At the end of the day Yao's presence in basketball was good for the sport, and its probably what makes him a first ballot hall of famer.
All of the above is probably true but still, still China need an icon in sports at that moment in history and he stepped into the role, knowingly or unknowingly. I wish him well for the future and enjoyed seeing him on TV playing basketball (but I hate basketball). Now, if the country could only field a world-class football (meaning soccer) team, a really world-class team, then I might be happy.
I contend he had some skills but basically he was a novelty act. Right size, right place , right time. 
He was the best Chinese player yes at the time no disputing that. That's evidence by the 2012 Chinese basketball team's performance. And he did fairly well in the NBA he wasn't like Adam Morrison the guy that had a lot of hype and didn't come through at all.
Ha ha ha ha ha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
:) NO, he wasn't!!!!!!!
He was the best Chinese basketball player in the history of China. He deserves his accolades for that alone. For Americans, basketball is a mature sport and they have many players of Yao's caliber, but this was China's breakthrough player. The hype in China is deserved.
