Leslie Alexander: Rockets will retire Yao Ming's number

Great call Alexander!

Like other have said, the man was a global icon, he was the face of the franchise for the better part of a decade. He made us relevant in the eyes of everyone in the NBA and the rest of the world. His impact on the franchise and the rest of the NBA was immense.

So congrats big fellah, I think it's well deserved!

 

That's ridiculous. Yao Ming played longer and better than Ralph Sampson. He's by far a superior Rocket. Peak to peak Yao Ming was better and career to career the discrepancy was even greater.

Sampson's best season - 20.1 PER on .551 TS%
Yao's best season - 26.5 PER on .601 TS%

Sampson's win shares with Rockets - 20.6
Yao's win shares with Rockets - 65.9

This kind of over-glorification of old school players is disgusting. Not every player from the 80's and 90's are better than current players. To mention Ralph Sampson in the same sentence as Yao Ming as a Rocket great is downright r****ded.

 

Was Yao ever an announcer, coach, or front office executive? If he doesn't deserve it as a PLAYER then what the hell else does he deserve it for?

He was a great player. He did a heck of a lot for the Rockets' franchise. He deserves it.

 

He said high IQ, Mobley and Francis weren't exactly high IQ lol

 

Saw it coming, well deserved Yao.

 

The one problem I have is that the Rockets retire different jerseys in the rafters, just looks tacky to me. Yao and Carrol Dawson will have different uniforms up there

 

Well deserved, happy about this.

 

Because we aren't the Lakers. We don't have a bunch of the greatest players of all-time, at least not for extended periods.

 

YAO MING! YOU BIG BEAUTIFUL SAINT!

I MISS YOU!

=(

 

Clearly, as seen by his NBA 1st team selections...

Oh, he doesn't have any.

Well he did get 2nd team twice.

And 3rd team 3 times.

When he could have been the best, he couldn't stay healthy.

 

what interest is related to get yao a place on the wall near legends for houston has to have the same answer with many other things.

 

if he would have been a rocket lifer, i would have been for it.. heart, hustle, & dedication..

 

He's done so much for this organization as well as giving it his all as a player. Well deserved.

 

Voters don't really actually vote these things based on games played. When Yao averaged 23.5/10.7 in 57 games, and Shaq averaged 20/9.2 in 59 games, one got 1st team, and the other 3rd team.

 

Best news I've heard all week.

And this point needs to be stated again as apparently some haters don't know what they're talking about.

 

Yao presents some of the best qualities of a human being:
gentleness
work ethic
team work
humor

and it is undeniable his contribution to the Rockets organization is great.

This is the same but opposite argument with Rodman in HoF, great player, controversial as a person. But I think they both should be recognized as a great basketball player of their era.

 

Not the Lakers, but the Rockets have some of the greatest players of all-time too. Houston's big men are legendary and Yao can hold his head high knowing he deserves to be part of that pantheon. Know your history.

Hakeem Olajuwon
Moses Malone
Charles Barkley
Elvin Hayes
Rudy Tomjanovich

And some great non-bigs as well:

Clyde Drexler, Tracy McGrady, Rodney McCray, Shane Battier, Ron Artest

The Rockets best 5 versus the Lakers best 5 of all time ... I may be a homer, but I take the Rockets.

 

Well deserved.

You could say he helped elevate the Rockets on the world/China map. He opened up a new market, a new fan base, a new era for international players. Not only for the Rockets, but for the NBA as a league.

Having your jersey retired recognizes the positive impact you had on the team. Which is a function of you as a player, but also you as an individual. In Yao's case, it is a level combination of both merits that qualifies him. So, it is pointless to harp on about his lack of championships and his talent/stats ranking among his peers.

 

Sampson was a different type of player than Yao Ming.

Yao can't do this:
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/8Gjk_d85sLg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

and stop hating on the 80s and 90s, the NBA and hip hop was vastly superior in those decades.

And stop hating on the MVPs cause your favorite player never was one.

 

I think teams go overboard with retiring jersey's these days.

Winning a championship should be an automatic prereq, imo. If you can't win a championship then you at least have to dominate the league and win multiple MVP's, 1st team selections, DMVP, all-defense team, etc. Your body of work should be extraordinary to get a retired jersey.