Yao Ming was a dominant center who played for the Houston Rockets in the 2000s. Unfortunately, as skilled as he was, his career didn’t end the way he envisioned.
In 2002, a giant from China was drafted into the NBA.
He was selected with the very first pick by the Houston Rockets.
This player was Yao Ming.
Yao Ming’s Rookie Season
I was a high school student during his rookie season and didn’t pay much attention to him. It was cool that he was Asian and all, but he was inconsistent.
In some games he recorded big double-doubles and then the next he would fail to hit double digits in any stat category.
I just didn’t think he was that great.
In addition to that, he was pitted as a rival to Shaquille O’Neal, who was on my then-favourite team, the Los Angeles Lakers.
However, that’s not to say that Yao didn’t have a good rookie campaign.
He was voted in to be an NBA All-Star, was a runner-up for the Rookie of the Year award, and was an All-Rookie First Team player.
Yao Ming’s Basketball Development
As Yao matured in the NBA, I started to pay more attention to him because he was working hard and getting better every year.
Every off-season he worked on something to improve his game and it showed when he played on the big stage.
He became more and more skilled and more and more dominant every season. He developed a style -one that resembles the European style- that suited his size and lack of athleticism.
He worked on his fundamental post-game and was able to bully any defender down low.
He was able to slap you with the hook shot, fade-away, or poster dunk after aggressively backing you down.
And according to his former teammate, Tracy McGrady, who spoke to Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes on the All the Smoke podcast, Yao was also a high-I.Q. passer.
Via Space City Scoop:
“[He was] highly skilled, I’m talking about, could dribble the ball, could make the right passes, not just you know, making a pass anywhere, passing on target for where you could get in your shot. He sees the floor well. Left hand, right hand, he shot 80-plus percent from the da– foul line. He had it, bro, he had it. He was highly skilled. One of the, probably the most skilled big men I could remember.”
As Yao got more mature in the league, he developed a nice little elbow jumper as well that just made him a little more dangerous.
Could you imagine if he had also developed a 3-point shot like the centers in today’s game?
He would have been one scary 7-foot-6 player! He would’ve been able to shoot over everyone.
Anyway, Yao was an efficient player with all these new skills he acquired. He continued to be an NBA All-Star year after year and his team continued to improve.
But things started to take a turn for the worst in his fourth season.
How Injuries Plagued Yao Ming’s Career
Injuries started to creep up on him and he wasn’t able to play full seasons (the only exception to this was in 2008-09 when he played 77 games).
However, when he did play, he was phenomenal (much like Brandon Roy).
In 2006-07, his fifth NBA season, Yao averaged a career-high 25 points per game. He also recorded 9 rebounds and 2 blocks per game.
But, he only played 48 games that season. His team did manage to make the playoffs, however, where he continued to put up great numbers.
Yao remained in the league for another 4 seasons before calling it quits and retiring in 2011.
He suffered a major career-ending foot injury 2 seasons prior -in 2009- during Game 3 of the second round against the Lakers.
He had to sit out for the entirety of the following season (2009-10) to recover.
He tried to come back for the 2010-11 season but was only able to play 5 games before announcing his decision to end his career.
Via ESPN:
“My past six months were an agonizing wait. I had been thinking (about my future) over and over,” the 30-year-old Yao said in comments translated into English. “Today I am announcing a personal decision: ending my career as a basketball player and officially retire. But one door is closing and another one is opening.”
Yao’s Legacy
Yao Ming’s legacy, like Wat Misaka’s, far surpasses the basketball court.
He was a talented and skilled player who achieved a lot in the NBA. But his influence spread much further.
He was an inspiration and represented Asian kids all over the world. Because of Yao Ming, kids who thought it wasn’t possible to be good at basketball started to believe in their abilities.
Because of him, more kids of Asian descent worldwide started to play basketball.
Yao Ming’s 11 Best Quotes
- “I understand basketball is not my entire life. It’s only a part of my life. And there are a lot of other things that interest me a great deal.”
- “Basketball, in America, is like a culture. It is like a foreigner learning a new language. It is difficult to learn foreign languages and it will also be difficult for me to learn the culture for basketball here.”
- “If you’re going to learn a new language, you can’t try to be perfect. You’ll stop yourself from talking. You just have to let go.”
- “A good leader must be fair.”
- “I think I’ll stick to what I’m used to, my principles, and that is team Number 1 and individual Number 2.”
- “As I got better and better, there were a lot of double teams, and I drew a lot of defenders, so I had to learn how to pass the ball, and get it off to my teammates, because the more people that came to defend me, that means there are more openings for other players.”
- “No matter whether you are new or an old team member, you need time to adjust to one another.”
- “When I was young, we were taught not to dunk. We were taught not to stand out from the rest of the team. It’s different now.”
- “Sports teach you how to be quick. Injuries teach you how to slow down.”
- “Sport is the best means of communication between people from different religions and countries.”
- “Every sound in the gym is so fantastic. The screams of the fans, the whistle of the ref, the teammates calling to each other, the sounds of the ball touching the wooden floor, the sneakers touching the floor, and the sounds of the fight, the muscle, and the sweat. Oh, and the last one—when the ball goes through the net. Don’t laugh at my sensitivity and romanticism – those sounds really attract me.”
Final Thoughts
Yao Ming had a spectacular career.
He was an 8-time NBA All-Star, a Hall of Famer, and his no. 11 jersey is retired by the Houston Rockets.
It’s unfortunate that his career was derailed by injuries, but it was glorious nonetheless.
His achievements will forever have a positive effect.
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