http://sports.sina.com.cn/k/2004-05-23/2333900291.shtml According to this report, Yao said 1. He likes to play with steve most though kobe and T-Mac are great players. Whatever people say, he has a good chemistry with steve. 2. Steve sacreficed a lot for the new system, many of his stats number dropped. He is great to do this for the team. 2. When asked who is best player in NBA right now, he said "kobe".
I wonder what the YOF’s would say if the Rockets had a legitimate shot at getting Mcgrady or Kobe but decided not to make the move because of Yao’s preference to play with Steve.
like yao is gonna say he wants to play with mcgrady or kobe. That would just be disrespectful if he did.
I take his words more as a diplomatic saying. If management really wants to make a deal, I don't think Yao will voice against it.
Yao Ming, king of diplomacy. It's tough to disagree with him with the way Kobe's been playing. It could just be the 4 HOF's. I doubt well ever know because I don't see him playing for a bad team.
im thinking the only way the lakers lose now is if there is a bad injury. if not its #4 in 5 years. and karl malone gets a darn ring.
it's not worth it. the key points have been summarized already. Yao says that before him, Francis's style had been selfish, but after Yao arrived, Francis changed to adapt to the team, thus hurting his own stats. Yao called that very admirable. Says that one advantage to playing with Francis is that they know each other better, whereas a new player would need another getting to know period. There's no verbatim, it's only a summary of what he might have said. Meanwhile... Yao was all "Spurs are better than the Lakers"... singing a different tune now! I mean I'm sure Yao is just trying not to pull a Kevin Millar. If he could get TMac to play alongside... I'm not sure he'd be happy, but I'm sure he won't complain about it.
i remeber steve said he would rather play with Shaq if he had a choice, iam sure Yao would rather play with Kobe but the guy is to nice.
this article is a fake report. the original interview in the follow linkhttp://sports.sohu.com/2004/05/23/59/news220225906.shtml
now this is a good interview. i will translate the two Q&A's in question. word for word. This is kind of like a Web chat that NBA.com sometimes has. Q: Lots of people say Francis is very selfish, and won't give you the ball, resulting in losing, how do you see this question? A: We feel like his a very admirable player, everyone think's he's selfish, previously maybe he was a little selfish, when I first got to the NBA I thought he was a little selfish (whether by reputation or from practice, not specified). Before he can get 20 points and still grab 7, 8 rebounds and get 7, 8 assists; a type of player like that, having changed his style of play upon my arrival, first of all from an attitude standpoint that's very admirable. For adapting to a new player, he sacraficed lots of things. His playoff performance was very outstanding, I think there's no point in continuing to ask whether he is selfish or not. On the court he is very selfless, he has sacraficed a lot for the team already, that's very valuable. Q: I hear that there will be lots of personnel changes with the rockets, is that for real? Will Francis really leave? Will T-Mac really come? Kobe? A: Personnel moves will come every season. For me at least the player movement between my first and second seasons was a shock, because here (in China) I've never dealt with that much player movement. Players whom, a year ago you were pretty close with, the next year all of a sudden you lose touch, that's a shock for me. But that's the enviroment over there (in America), the competition is fierce. Francis I feel, I like to playing basketball with him very much, no matter what happens, my feeling is that our cooperation is getting better. The question of whether Kobe and TMac will come, that's a question that needs to be decided by the team. That's all that was dealt with by the summary. He talks also about the sky hook, Ha Seung Jin, and some other stuff. If anyone cares about that, I guess I could translate it later.
Please translate this portion, would love to know how he feels about the sky hook or picking up some other "money" shot in the paint. Thanks
Here you go, Q. Will you get Jabbar to teach you? What do you need the most in the NBA? A. Need everything, skyhook, I think my height is enough, not too difficult, it is not that all good stuff must be learned, as long as I have enough skills it is okay, I myself think it is not too much a problem for me to learn his hookshot. Note: This is a verbatim. But I suggest don't take things literally.