China still searching for next Yao Ming, 20 years after NBA debut
Basketball Hall of Famer, business magnate, cultural ambassador -- no Chinese athlete carries a richer legacy than Yao Ming, whose towering 7-foot-6 frame stormed into the NBA 20 years ago.
The center was drafted by the Houston Rockets on June 26, 2002, kickstarting a glittering career that won him a succession of personal accolades and transformed the Shanghai-born Yao into a household name in both China and the United States.
A languid but deceptively agile player, Yao’s gentle personality and wry humor off the court cemented him as a fan favourite and boosted the NBA’s popularity in his home nation.
Since his emergence, no Chinese player has come close to matching his achievements, and the prospect appears even less likely as the league has become mired in simmering tensions between Beijing and Washington.
In 2002, Yao was a face of an increasingly confident and open China, one whose economic rise was being matched by global sporting prowess.
“He brought the NBA into China, but he also took China into the NBA,” said fan Gao Dabao, 30, outside a basketball court in Beijing.”It was the time when the NBA had its biggest influence on China, and we all used to watch it on TV,” he added.
The son of two former basketball pros, Yao cut his teeth with Shanghai Sharks before joining the Rockets as their first pick in the 2002 NBA draft.
He averaged 19 points and nine rebounds per game over nearly a decade with the Texas-based team who were dubbed the “Ming Dynasty”.
Yao played in eight All-Star Games and made the All-NBA
Teams on five occasions, but injuries forced him to retire in 2011 at the age of 30.
“Yao Ming is the only Chinese player to have become a real NBA star,” said Chinese basketball writer Wang Meng.
“He grew into one of the best players in that Rockets team, which is something no other Chinese player has managed to do,” he told AFP.