(yahoo) Yao’s absence looms as giant loss for league

Not sure I agree with everything he said, but nevertheless that was a nice read. Thanks.

 

i agree with everything except the rockets playing him too many minutes. after he had foot problems at the very beginning he should have never played for the chinese team in the offseason again except for the olympics. from the very first couple of seasons people b****ed and moaned on here saying that they were going to wear him out, and what do you know it happened.

do the chinese people think he would have best been served making the most out of his nba time, or being on a very mediocre chinese national team and losing? im pretty sure it would be the former. if he could have made it to be one of say top 10 centers ever he would inspired even more kids in china to pick up the sport and would have helped in that way tremendously. i suppose he still has but he could have been so much more

 

I agree. I think the summers playing for the national team was ultimately his downfall.

 

I want to sympathize, but I'd expect most citizens of PRC to actually prefer the latter. Even Yao probably thought the latter was ultimately more important.

 

Written like an obituary. Yao ain't dead, he might even come back with this dramatic surgery like Z. I think microfracture knee injuries are more career threatening than the foot injuries Yao has.

 

I don't think Yao is the reason for basketball's popularity in China. Basketball was China's second most popular sport behind soccer even before Yao was drafted. It was only in America where China's love of basketball was recognized after Yao came to the NBA. It's a case of misplaced perspective by Adrian Wojasakjlsdfl;kasjdfaslkdf.

My hypothesis on basketball's popularity in China? Its predominantly urban setting and the truly transformative, heroic icon named Michael Jordan.

 

Good point.

Isn't it also fairly common knowledge that Allen Iverson is/was immensely popular in China before Yao was drafted?

 

I agree Yao didn't play too many minutes. He didn't play very many minutes over the season, because he missed so many games. Shaq and Mutombo played more minutes than Yao. They are also 7'2-7'3" centers. Shaq even came into the season out of shape with 350-400 lbs on his frame.

 

While you do make good points, I do feel that Yao is a humongous reason for basketball's popularity in China. Sure, MJ put basketball on the map in China, but when Yao came, it was like he awoke a sleeping giant that was the NBA's popularity in China. Yao, may not be the sole reason for the NBA's popularity in China, but he was a very huge catalyst. After Yao's arrival, basketball became more popular than soccer. Propelling from #2 to #1 is something that cannot be understated.

 

you don't know what you have, until what you have is kaput. right comissar stern?
Now they care. =/

 

the league will miss yao. he's one of the faces for the NBA globally and one of few players who can be recognized by just their first name.

get well yao

 

second that but he recruited a great deal of Chinese rocks fans and made chinese proud

 

otherwise there will be whole lot more kobe homers
OMG

 

I agree with this 100 percent. The Rockets could do nothing about Yao playing during the Summer, but they sure didn't need to play him over 30 minutes a game for the last 4 seasons. Inexcusable.

 

David Stern and michael jordan are more responsible for the NBA's popularity in China. Stern allowed China to broadcast NBA games for FREE beginning in the early 1980's, unlike how he did with the rest of the world with the advent of satellite and cable tv. It was genius foresight on Stern's part, as he knew China and their 234203948 billion people would be THE market to tap as advances in communications and technology allowed for economic globalization and the cultural exchanges that would ensue. He knew with the global economy, China would eventually have to open its markets to the rest of the world, and he was right.
Jordan was/is of course the ultimate global athlete, but it was his athletic excellence and commercial appeal along with stern's foresight to get the NBA to thrive in a growing global marketplace that made the nba popular in china. The NBA was huge in china with Jordan years before anyone knew of Yao Ming. Yao no doubt had a huge influence on basketball's popularity in China, but he's not "the reason the world’s most populated country grew smitten with the NBA" as the article says.

 

one of your best players should not play over 30 minutes a game?

 

i enjoyed reading this. i think i agree with him on almost every point other than that yao ming's career is possibly over.

there is NO WAY.

yao has heart.

 

Sigh....

After so many years, you still don't know Yao, not to mention Chinese basketball fans in genreal....

Besides, Yao has played very few games in summer the past three years, and those games are not even comparable to the NBA games in terms of physical damage.

American....

 

Very sobering story. Damnit yao