What do you guys think of this Mexican fan's comment ?

its not about being racist or anything. Its just that people had different expectations of different versions of Yao. This fan obviously wanted Yao to join the dunk competition or having 40 inches of vertical. They are clearly unaware of what Yao can do and what he cannot do. What Yao cannot do doesn't necessarily mean we are not going to win any games.

 

i think the comment is right on the mark.

 

I read this comment last night on the Chronicle blog and it stood out to me as well. I am glad somebody else noticed it too.

To sum it up, I think his comments are ridiculous. He has some issues and I if I was the Chronicle, I wouldn't publish unfounded hypothetical comments like that which are inflammatory without any factual basis.

The NBA loves milking Yao. It's the general public that hasn't gravitated towards him yet. The race argument against Yao could be better made for the fans than the NBA.

 

I think it may have something to do with expectations and pre-conceived notions.. but not because of his race. I think people think he should have always been able to do _______ if he was "good" because of his height. And then people also expect him to act a certain way, but his personality is different, and people aren't used to that. His personality may be like that b/c of where he was brought up, but that's not b/c his race is making him be like that..

 

A fairly accurate observation. It could be used to explain Kenny and Sir Charles and their very demeaning attitude towards Yao Ming and the Houston Rockets,
which one would not expect from exrockets players.

 

Nah, saying you "don't like it" when you see " a white american playing soccer" has nothing to do with pride. It is racism...

This guy has to deal with his own problems before he starts criticizing others.

 

I think there were many inflated expectations for Yao when he first came to the NBA. Like it or not there was a huge amount of hype around him the first year and even before he came to the court. Like any big trend there is going to be a fair amount of counter reaction to hype and the fact that Yao stumbled in his first few games only added to that negative hype.

Looking back in hind sight its obvious that Yao's development would be longterm but our culture and media is too often focussed on the short term. On top of that the multiple sports media formats, blogs and other forums means that hyperbole and snap decisions are way more likely as analysts try to outdo each other in definative opinions. The sports media these days isn't geared towards patience.

I'm leery of the racism angle but I think there might be some level of it there. I would be very hesitant to consider that a big motivator of negative coverage of Yao. Less than racism though nationalism might play a bigger factor. Politicians on both the PRC and the US side have for years been fostering a rivalry between the two nations. Unfortunately for Yao he has in many ways become a symbol of national pride for the PRC and conversely a threat to many Americans.

 

I don't believe race has anything to do with the bias Yao gets. Maybe because he is not an American. I remember when Dream was around Robinson and Ewing were the centers more likely to be great back in those days. Olajuwon's name was not mentioned as much till his game started kicking ass day in and day out.

 

Race certainly is an issue when talking about Yao.......this guy was 100% right on the money.

DD

 

IMO, race is definitely a big factor in the bias towards Yao, and yet nobody is going to admit it because of the sensitivity of the issue.

 

I think in our society, as in most in the world, race is always an issue. I am not sure how significant of an issue it is when applied to how Yao is perceived by the general public, but it would be foolish to say that it plays no role at all.

 

I think it was a very well thought out post and the author makes some very good points.

When Magic and Larry played you never heard anyone say that the only reason Magic received so much attention was because he was black. But some people...Isiah Thomas for example did claim that Larry Byrd was no big deal and the only reason people thought he was so great was because he was white.

The Mavericks of the Dirk, Nash, MF4 era was consistantly called soft and people like CB4 were always saying that they could never make it to the championship because they were so soft. Was it because so few on those Mavs teams were black? That is what it seemed they were implying. We never heard that about teams like the Kings or Trailblazers and yet they did not accomplish anymore than the Mavs if they accomplished as much.

Now we hear from CB4 and the TNT crew how 26 pts and 10 rebounds can be averaged and yet not be dominate. Yao Ming has been a better defensive player than Amare since he entered the league. With the exception of 2 years ago Yao's yearly averages have either been on par or better than Amare's averages. Dwight Howard's PPG has yet to even come close to Yao and yet both of those players are seen as better in the eyes of guys like CB4 and Kenny Smith. Even when Yao out scores, out rebounds and all around out plays the Deisil when no one else has ever spanked him like Yao...and yet it still was not a dominate performance according to the TNT guys.

I think it's clear that Yao does in fact suffer from some of the same stereotypical comments that Larry Byrd had to put up with when he played. I truely beleive there will always be a group that will refuse to acknowledge his greatness because of his skin color and nationality.

 

Ming has still not been fully accepted into the exclusive "fraterity" called the NBA. Come on people, the All Star game is like a "hip hop" festival. What are the dress codes, no head band rules about? Downplay of the "gangsta" image? Mean ole Jewish commisioner! Do you think many PGA player are just tickled "white" about Tiger? Black hockey players anyone? Race and sports, they go together like socks and feet.

 

Yeah, those black people, they're such racists.

Next.

 

I couldn't disagree more.

Yes there was a ton of hype surounding Yao when he was first drafted but almost all of the so called media experts including CB4 said Yao would be a bust. He was consistantly compared to Shawn Bradley and his ceiling as a player was said to be Rik Smits at best. CB 4 once said Yao would never score 20pts in a game which is why he kissed the Donkey on the ass.

If anything Yao has over acheived if you are going by the origanal media expert predictions which are the same group that are now acting like Yao 26 and 10 are not dominate enough.

 

This fan supports the idea that people who see racism under every rock are usually racists themselves.

 

Dream kicked ass day in and day out from day one. He as seen as the next great center by his second year. Ewing was rated higher than Dream because he was a better college player and played his pro career in New York. I think only people in SA rated Robinson better than Dream. All in all I don't think anyone ever accused Dream of not being dominate.

 

lol..you have to be joking. this is the most twisted view of sports I have ever read.