Isn't Drazen Petrovic's jersey retired? If so, I see no reason why Yao's shouldn't be. He's had just as great an impact internationally and has several All-Star and All-NBA honors.
The rockets should retire Yao's jersey just because they did this for CD. I also agree that Rockets would retire TMac's jersey had he not antagonized the front office. Retiring of a player's jersey is not big deal for me, but selection for HOF is.
"perfecting communism through capitalism" -Deng Xiaoping As for OP yeah retire Yao's number. He was the face of the franchise in the 2000s and made the Rockets known not only in China but made the franchise relevant in the US. Who else's jersey are you going to retire? Steve Francis? Tmac? No one at all from the 2000s like the franchise didn't even exist from 2001-2011? You retire jerseys for what someone has done for the franchise, no one did more in the last decade than Yao.
Bringing in a billion fans is what he did for the Rockets. Also, this does not include the fact that in his short career he was an elite player, and for a short bit, the best center in the NBA. Compare him to the centers that played when he did, and he was elite. Further, what someone does off the court is figured in. Look at Calvin Murphy and Rudy T.
Les has gone through a divorce, and his stocks have gone up and down. However, those numbers are not accurate. Les has invested greatly in the Chinese market, and is doing well.
Are you kidding? He was on one team that won a playoff series. You don't retire numbers without a significant contribution to what your team is about: winning.
So you don't believe that Barkley's jersey should be retired? Or Karl Malone? Stockton? Mutombo? Iverson? Reggie Miller?
http://www.insidehoops.com/nba-retired-numbers.shtml take a look at that list, im certain you can find players less deserving then yao... retired numbers arent all about winning, theyre about those players making an impact on a franchise that the fans dont want to see anybody else wear that number.. again i say we retire the chuckwagons number..
Daryl Kyle, line one. Kyle was becoming dominant when his untimely death occured. As a memento to a career seemingly headed for greatness, but cut short due to a tragic occurence, his number was retired. IOW, what he had accomplished on the field was not enough - at that time - to justify his number being raised to the rafters. Life (or death, as it was) stepped in and changed all of that. Otoh, Yao was exhibiting greatness but outside of a three year stretch, could not stay healthy. His contributions off the court are felt mostly in Les' pocketbook, and in increased Chinese viewers. In and of itself, that is NOT enough for me to commemorative his era with a jersey retirement. Since when did lining Les' wallet become a criteria for induction into BASKETBALL jersey lore? Name the Rockets' international marketing department after Yao if you want, but don't retire the jersey. Being in the second round once and being a nice, honorable guy isn't enough for that. I respect wins...and I remember when the majority of "Rocket basketball fans" felt the same.
Do you remember the "Energizer Bunny"? He was a huge fan favorite and closed out the majority of fourth quarters for the Rockets. He closed out the crucial quarter over a CHAMPION POINT GUARD. When is his jersey retirement ceremony? The day Chuck Hayes' jersey is retired is the official day we become a second or third rate organization.
All the guys you mentioned went to the NBA Finals, or took their teams deep in the playoffs for years and years. And they were not injury-prone. All of them are remembered for being great players. 20 years from now, would any general NBA fan claim Yao was a "great" NBA player? I doubt it b/c injuries will be his legacy.
Our status as an NBA destination - as of now - is second rate. As such we have to draft smart and build smart. In that sense we are incredibly fortunate to have Morey, for he is an above average evaluator of talent. I also credit Les for recognizing this situation and hiring him, for the days of guys coming to Houston to play with Dream or because we were the NBA offseason mecca (Fonde) are gone for now. Accepting and glorifying second rate accomplishments like being popular in China or, during the Francis era, being popular with the Crossover Kids, will only serve to perpetuate that mediocrity mentality. The rafters should be reserved for the truly great (Murphy, Dream, Rudy), the truly dedicated (CD and again, Rudy), or the tragically stricken (not Yao, for his were injuries that arguably could've been prevented). Seriously, why not retire Francis as well? If his following were Chinese would it make a difference? There was legion of fans that swore by Francis as the best point guard in the league. But those were kids HERE ... in the US. Those same kids may have followed AI or Starbury had Francis not been a Rocket, but he was and they are fans now...some to this day. Is he somehow less deserving because Les didn't invest in the ghetto ridden College Park, Maryland? Do you think Les wouldn't have, if it were an economically burgeoning area? Of course he would have. As is, it's a moot point. Les lined his wallet and we got the hopes if Yao maybe being healthy and maybe Tracy being healthy. The end result? No WCF appearances. No finals appearances. Zero titles. Zero contributions to future rings. The next number 11 is waiting...
Like I said to other dissenters....see if you can find someone in NBA history who had comparable accolades with 1 team and a good relationship w/ management who didn't have his jersey retired.
1. The team's been looking for the next number 11 and hasn't found one yet. Apparently, it's not so easy to find the next number 11. You are talking as if Yao Ming is some sort of Yi Jianlian or Wang Zhizhi-type sideshow instead of a real star player that has proven very difficult to replace. Sure, the Rockets never made it to the conference finals, but it's not for a lack of effort on Yao's part but often due to a confluence of bad breaks. Yao spent his career during era when the Western Conference was very tough. The number of wins required to just make the playoffs in the West each year since 2003 was as follows: 44 43, 45, 42, 50 48, 50, 46. He also never simultaneously had good health and a good supporting cast. We want the team to do more than they did during Yao's time-- 5 playoff appearances, 4 50-win seasons, and only playoff series win-- but what they did accomplish was not easy. Guess how many times Rudy T's Rockets won 50 games in a season? Zero. It's different era-- less teams, easier to make playoffs, they even had first round byes. 2. As for Francis: He's a level below Yao in almost every single way. a. Team accomplishment: Yao's teams won 50+ games 4 times and made the playoffs 5 times. Francis' team made the playoffs once and never won more than 45 games. b. Personal Stats: Yao's career PER was 23.0. Francis' PER was 18.6 and never had a season with PER higher than 21.6. Yao's career personal ORtg and DRtg are 112 and 99. For Francis, they are 106 and 105. c. Time spent as a Rocket: Yao was a Rocket for 9 seasons (7 if you don't count the last 2) and never played for another team. Francis was a Rocket for 5 full seasons and part of one (10 appearances before he was traded). And this is not even talking about the subjective opinion of coaches and front office people. 3. Bottomline, Yao Ming played very good basketball for the team and gave it his all as a Rockets lifer. His teams fell short but it was not for a lack of effort on yao's part and frankly, even their limited accomplishments is not easy to replicate (just ask Morey how easy it is to get this team to win 50 games again). Ultimately it's Les Alexander's choice whether to retire anyone's jersey, but objectively you can't complaint about whether the guy did everything to deserve being honored. 4. Let's not pretend having "elite criteria" for retiring player jerseys have anything to do with how good an organization is. Retiring Tim Hardaway's jersey (who played parts of 5 years for the Heat toward the end of his career) didn't prevent the Heat from winning a title or attracting 3 stars this past year. Retiring Mitch Richmond's jersey didn't curse the Kings when they had the talent. It's silly to act like the guardians of jersey retirement virtues.
yes, and some of the guys were MVPs and greatest players in NBA history too. I don't know how Yao fell into that list of hall of famers.
Calvin Murphy and Rudy T helped the Rockets make the Finals. Again, Calvin is a hall of fame player. You realize the Bulls didn't retire Jordan's number cause he brought in billions of fans right?
