KRIV/CHRON: Ming's People Meet Rockets - Mayor in China

Yao's people meet Rockets' people

Via the Chronicle...

Yao's representatives meet with Rockets
Associated Press

THE POLL
What should the Rockets do with the No. 1 draft pick?


Select 7-foot-5 center Yao Ming
Select Duke's Jay Williams to use as trade bait
Trade in order to move down to select a forward
Trade draft pick for a veteran player
Delay making a move to get a better deal






Houston Rockets general manager Carroll Dawson met with representatives of possible No. 1 draft pick Yao Ming of China today.

The Rockets won the NBA lottery on Sunday, earning the top draft pick, and their attention immediately turned to 7-foot-5-inch Ming -- the most intriguing prospect available in the June 26 draft.

Dawson invited Yao's representatives, John Huizinga and Erik Zhang, a distant cousin of Yao, to visit Houston and get acquainted.

"We had a very good day of getting to know each other," Dawson said.

Dawson showed Huizinga and Zhang some of the Houston's amenities, and gave Zhang a videotape describing the city's positive aspects to take with him to China for talks with Yao and Chinese government officials about Yao's move to the NBA.

"We wanted the opportunity to show off our great city," Rockets chief operating officer George Postolos said. "One of the best things that we heard is that Yao Ming is a fan of Houston and his idol growing up was Hakeem Olajuwon.

"He likes the idea of playing in Houston. It was music to our ears."

Postolos told television station KRIV that Houston mayor Lee Brown was in China on a trade mission and planned to speak with Chinese officials about Yao.

"It's quite important, because in China protocol matters very much," Postolos said.

"The idea that a foreign dignitary, the mayor of Houston, is visiting and expressing how much excitement there is in Houston about the possibility that Yao Ming may come to play for the Rockets, and could be an ambassador for China, and improve U.S. and Chinese relations, could be very important."

Olajuwon was the Rockets' No. 1 pick in the 1984 draft and led them to championships in 1994 and 1995. The Rockets traded Olajuwon to Toronto before last season.

Dawson took the pair on a tour of the Rockets practice facilities at Westside Tennis Club and the team's new downtown arena, which is under construction.

"Our goal and the goal of the Chinese Basketball Association is to do what is best for Yao Ming, and in turn what is best for the Houston Rockets," Zhang said.

The Rockets and Yao's representatives didn't get into the heavy issues of what it will take to get the Chinese hero into the NBA. It was just a preliminary, get-acquainted visit.

"We aren't doing anything different from what we normally do, it's just who you are representing that makes it a little different," Dawson said.

Huizinga is deputy dean of the University of Chicago business school and a professor of economics. Yao and his family asked Zhang to handle negotiations with the Chinese authorities.

Huizinga will handle talks with the NBA and its teams.

"It's not important at this point that we reach an agreement, what's important now is just to know who we are dealing with," Huizinga said.