Yao has also participated in many charity events during his career, including the NBA's Basketball Without Borders program. O'Neal later admitted that he regretted how he treated Yao early in his career. Yao finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 blocks O'Neal recorded 31 points, 13 rebounds, and 0 blocks. In the game, Yao scored the Rockets' first six points of the game and blocked O'Neal twice in the opening minutes as well as altering two other shots by O'Neal, all 4 of those attempts coming right at the rim, and made a game-sealing dunk with 10 seconds left in overtime. Yao also said he believed O'Neal was joking, but he said a lot of Asians would not see the humor. O'Neal denied that his comments were racist, and said he was only joking. In an earlier interview in 2000, Yao said he had never seen a fortune cookie in China and guessed it must have been an American invention.īefore Yao's first meeting with Shaquille O'Neal on January 17, 2003, O'Neal said, "Tell Yao Ming, ching chong-yang-wah-ah-soh", prompting accusations of racism. Yao was not angry with the promotion because he was not familiar with American stereotypes of Chinese. In Yao's first game in Miami on December 16, 2002, the Heat passed out 8,000 fortune cookies, an East Asian cultural stereotype. Barkley made good on his bet by kissing the buttock of a donkey purchased by Smith for the occasion (Smith's "ass"). In his first seven games, he averaged only 14 minutes and 4 points, but on November 17, he scored 20 points on a perfect 9-of-9 from the field and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line against the Lakers. Yao played his first NBA game against the Indiana Pacers, scoring no points and grabbing two rebounds, and scored his first NBA basket against the Denver Nuggets.
Before the season, several commentators, including Bill Simmons and Dick Vitale, predicted that Yao would fail in the NBA, and Charles Barkley said he would "kiss Kenny Smith's ass" if Yao scored more than 19 points in one of his rookie-season games. Yao did not participate in the Rockets' pre-season training camp, instead playing for China in the 2002 FIBA World Championships. In 2002, the Chinese government released new regulations that would require him and other Chinese players to turn over half of any NBA earnings to the government and China's national basketball association, including endorsements as well as salaries. Caught in the middle are two young men – one will become a mega-rich superstar and hero to millions, the other a struggling athlete rejected by his homeland yet lost in America.As American attention on Yao grew, Chinese authorities also took interest. Drawing on years of firsthand reporting, Larmer uncovers the disturbing truth behind China’s drive to produce Olympic champions, while also taking readers behind the scenes of America’s multibillion-dollar sports empire. In suspenseful scenes, journalist Brook Larmer details the backroom maneuverings that brought China’s first players to the NBA.
Rumors of the pair of Chinese giants soon attracted the NBA and American sports companies, all eager to tap a market of 1.3 billion consumers.
By age thirteen, Yao was pulled out of sports school to join the Shanghai Sharks pro team, following in the footsteps of Wang, then the star of the People’s Liberation Army team. Their children would have no more freedom to choose their fates. Operation Yao Ming opens with the story of the two boys’ parents, basketball players brought together by Chinese officials intent on creating a generation of athletes who could bring glory to their resurgent motherland.
But his journey to America–like that of his forgotten foil, 7’1" Wang Zhizhi – began long before he set foot on the world’s brightest athletic stage.
The NBA’s 7’6" All-Star Yao Ming has changed the face of basketball, revitalizing a league desperate for a new hero while becoming a multimillionaire pitchman for Reebok and McDonald’s. The riveting story behind NBA giant Yao Ming, the ruthless Chinese sports machine that created him, and the East-West struggle over China’s most famous son.