I don't see how it's debatable. Yes. Whether he should or not have his jersey retired here is debatable.
I just dont see it Juan The only people who care about jersey retirements are fans of the team and fans of the player. I just dont see a huge benefit to be had by retiring Yaos jersey. Nice guy, good player, but will always be remembered as "what if" and I dont see how that enhances the Rockets marketability or likability among the general sports fans.
It's insane to me that there is ANYONE who doesn't think Yao deserves to have his jersey retired. Hakeem Olajuwon is not the bar, guys. If he was, nobody would ever get their jersey retired in Houston again. The bar is Rudy and Calvin (and don't forget Rudy had his jersey retired strictly for his accomplishments as a player). Are you guys really going to tell me that Yao had a less impressive career than those guys?
The same reasons I think Yao's jersey retirement is debatable are the very same reasons you think it isn't. Yao's 'accomplishments' as a a player. Where exactly did he lead the team? We had what, a 1-5 playoff series record with him on the roster? Yao deserves greatly to be admitted to the Hall of Fame as a 'contributor'. To have his jersey retired IS absolutely debatable.
IMO, Les would do it to keep his business interests alive in China, it is a matter of respect etc. I doubt most fans will care one way or the other, Drexler's jersey was retired, and he only played a few seasons. Retiring a jersey is more a marketing thing than anything else, and Yao will certainly keep the newly found Chinese market in line. IMO. DD
You don't have to lead a team to great success to get your jersey retired. That isn't the standard in any arena in the league. Rudy didn't lead us to a championship as a player. Calvin didn't. Moses didn't. Sure, they probably had more success than Yao - but that isn't all on Yao. It isn't his fault that he spent his prime healthy years on a HORRIBLE roster. Nor is it his fault he spent his latter years suffering through injury after injury. Yao gave the Rockets everything he had to give. He was a player that the organization, the fans, and the city could be proud of both on and off the court. And he happened to be one of the best players in the league when he was healthy. I don't think it's debatable at all.
What career number and accomplishments are you talking about? As a Rocket, Yao is: #10 in games played. # 5 in win share. # 6 in total point. #6 in total rebounds. #2 in total blocks. #4 in FG%. #8 in FT%. #2 in all-star selection. #2 in all-nba team selection. Those numbers are way better than Drexler as a Rocket. That's top 5 all time Rocket material.
Or until he is replaced in the starting lineup by a better player and decides to tell fans and the team to go screw themselves.
Im not going to repeat something that is not grounded in fact, not once, not twice, not thrice. You are one of the ones here that seems to think that the whole money thing is not debatable, but have never shown any facts to back it up.... show me the money or quit repeating it over and over, and I dont mean that stupid Forbes report....it only shows team worth, which is NOT tied into ONLY Yao's impact. Juan, thank god I have zero interest in marketing.....agree to disagree in this case sir, have a good evening.
Think of it this way. We're not filling up championship or division banners. Might as well hang up a retired jersey. Haha. Honestly though, it'd be a disrespect to Mad Max. No offense to Yao, but the Rockets were NEVER close to winning a title with him.
always had attitude tinny, you know that personally just have found myself with a little extra time to post instead of lurk.
Okay. Let's assume you are 100% correct on the money issue, despite several of us disagreeing with you. Let's assume that retiring Yao's jersey doesn't get Les any extra good will with Yao and China, extra publicity in China where he has much investment in, creating a piece of history for all future Rockets fans, etc. Now look on the flip side. What does the Rocket have to lose here? Will the Rockets lose any money, credibility, fandom for this? You can refer to choujie's post for Yao's credentials. You can look at players with their jerseys retired from around the league, players with no extra business value. And see Yao has a legit case on basketball merit alone. Not Hakeem-esque case, but certainly legit case. So the worst case scenario is that the Rockets get the same benefit from retiring his jersey as they did with any of his predecessors. At least make it a feel-good story with some free publicity for that particular game. So no matter what, this is a no-risk/some-reward situation. One may dispute the extent of the reward. But it's indisputable that some reward for a no-risk investment is still a plus no matter what.
