Yao Ming
Yao Ming entered the world on the 12th of September 1980 in Shanghai. He weighed more than twice the average weight of a Chinese newborn at birth. His parents were both former professional basketball players named Yao Zhiyuan and Fang Fengdi. This genetic background set him apart from other children immediately. At nine years old he began playing basketball and attended a junior sports school. Doctors examined his height the following year and predicted he would grow to seven feet six inches. The prediction proved accurate as he joined the Shanghai Sharks' junior team when he was thirteen. He practiced ten hours a day just to gain acceptance into that program.
Yao played for the senior team of the Shanghai Sharks for five seasons in the Chinese Basketball Association. His rookie season saw him averaging ten points and eight rebounds per game. A broken foot cut short his second season and decreased his jumping ability by four to six inches. The team reached the finals in his third and fourth seasons but lost both times to the Bayi Rockets. Wang Zhizhi left the Bayi Rockets to become the first NBA player from China the next year. That departure allowed the Sharks to finally win their first CBA championship. During the playoffs in his final year with Shanghai Yao averaged thirty-eight point nine points and twenty point two rebounds per game. He made all twenty-one of his shots during one specific game in those finals.
Chinese authorities required Yao to turn over half of any NBA earnings to the government and national association before 2002. The Houston Rockets selected him as the first overall pick in the 2002 NBA draft. This made him the first international player ever chosen number one without playing U.S. college basketball. Charles Barkley bet he would kiss Kenny Smith's ass if Yao scored more than nineteen points in a single game. Yao scored no points in his first game against the Indiana Pacers but hit his first basket against the Denver Nuggets. On November 17 he scored twenty points on a perfect nine-of-nine shooting performance against the Lakers. Barkley fulfilled his wager by kissing the buttock of a donkey purchased for the occasion. Yao finished his rookie season averaging thirteen point five points and eight point two rebounds per game.
Yao missed 250 games in his last six seasons due to foot and ankle injuries. He developed osteomyelitis in his big toe on the 18th of December 2005 requiring surgery. A broken bone in his left foot appeared during a game against the Utah Jazz on the 10th of April 2006. He broke his right knee on the 23rd of December 2006 while attempting to block a shot. Yao suffered another stress fracture in his left ankle on the 26th of February 2008. The Rockets won their first playoff series since 1997 in the 2009 postseason after advancing past the Portland Trail Blazers. They lost that series to the Los Angeles Lakers in seven games despite Yao scoring twenty-eight points. He underwent surgery to repair a broken bone in his left foot in July 2009.
On the 20th of July 2011 Yao announced his retirement from basketball in a press conference held in Shanghai. He cited injuries including a third fracture to his left foot sustained near the end of 2010. His retirement sparked over one point two million comments on the Chinese social-networking site Sina Weibo. Shaquille O'Neal stated Yao could have been among the top five centers ever if not for those injuries. Yao was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on the 9th of September 2016 alongside Shaquille O'Neal and Allen Iverson. This made him the first Chinese national to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. On the 3rd of February 2017 the Houston Rockets retired his number eleven jersey.
On the 16th of July 2009 Yao bought his former club team the Shanghai Sharks which were facing financial troubles. He opened a winery called Yao Family Wines in Napa Valley, California in 2016. American wine critic Robert M. Parker Jr. gave Yao's wine a ranking of ninety-six points. Yao served as chair of the Chinese Basketball Association from 2017 until his resignation in 2024 due to personal issues. He created the Yao Ming Foundation to help rebuild schools destroyed in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. He donated two million dollars to relief work following that disaster. Yao partnered with WildAid to appear in commercials educating citizens on shark fin soup consumption. Consumption of shark fin soup dropped by seventy percent in China between 2011 and 2018.
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Common questions
When and where was Yao Ming born?
Yao Ming entered the world on the 12th of September 1980 in Shanghai. He weighed more than twice the average weight of a Chinese newborn at birth.
What injuries ended Yao Ming's basketball career?
Yao Ming suffered multiple foot and ankle injuries including osteomyelitis, stress fractures, and broken bones between 2005 and 2010. These injuries forced him to miss 250 games in his last six seasons before he announced retirement on the 20th of July 2011.
How did Yao Ming perform during his rookie season with the Houston Rockets?
Yao finished his rookie season averaging thirteen point five points and eight point two rebounds per game. He scored no points in his first game against the Indiana Pacers but hit his first basket against the Denver Nuggets.
Why is Yao Ming significant for international players in the NBA draft?
The Houston Rockets selected him as the first overall pick in the 2002 NBA draft making him the first international player ever chosen number one without playing U.S. college basketball. This selection made him the first Chinese national to be inducted into the Hall of Fame later in 2016.
What business ventures has Yao Ming pursued after retiring from professional sports?
On the 16th of July 2009 Yao bought his former club team the Shanghai Sharks which were facing financial troubles. He opened a winery called Yao Family Wines in Napa Valley, California in 2016 and served as chair of the Chinese Basketball Association from 2017 until his resignation in 2024 due to personal issues.