YAO MISUNDERSTANDING

I think a lot of the "YAO needs rest" "YAO needs to stop playing for NT" talk comes from not understanding chinese culture. In America there is no tradition of international competition, either from geographical isolation, since USA pretty much dwarves all its neighbours and also because most of the popular team sports do not have international competition such as football, baseball.

In most european, asian and african countries, where sport and usually soccer is the dominant way of showing national pride in ones country, playing for one's country is the most important achievement in one's career. Let me say this again, in non-american team sporting circles, playing for one's country is the most important achievement in one's career.

If you read anything Yao says regarding this, it is clear that playing for CHINA is more important than playing for the Rockets. I think slowly this is also going to infect US basketball because already if the US did not lose int he world championships, we would not have the plethora of superstars asking to be on the olympic squad. So these superstars volunteered to give up there summers to play for america. I think you can easily imagine a situation where America was constantly finishing 2nd or 3rd behind yugoslavia and argentina in international competition, where playing for one's country takes much more importance than now, since america easily wins against any opponent.

So anyone that thinks Yao ming will someone how "rest" by not playing for the national team will be severely disappointed, in soccer it is de rigeur for players to miss club matches to attend international matches, country before club, even though it is the club that is paying the wages.