I am sure this has been pointed out numerous times! NBA.com or Yahoo.com simply got it wrong when they list him as Y. Ming alongside players like A. Brooks or L. Scola, etc. as if Ming were his last name. Actually in the official NBA website, his last name is listed as Ming, in the M section along with Martin, Mcgrady... But his last name is not Ming!!! His last name is Yao!!! 1.4B Chinese call him Yao Ming, because in Chinese customs, the last name (ancestor name) is put in front of the first name (given name). This might sound weird but maybe ancestors are worshipped more in China?! You would expect respectable organizations like NBA and Yahoo, or Team Yao can get this simple fact straight!!! It shows a lack of respect or basic understanding of cultural backgrounds! In China, there is an old saying "if the name is not correct, the conversation cannot be smooth", and hence the cource cannot be fruitful! Maybe that's why the team has been suffering so many setbacks in the past few years?! Finally, can this site launch a petition to get this corrected?!!!
If people respect the tradition of Chinese names that put family names before first names, they should simply refer him as Yao Ming, not M. Yao, Y. Ming or Yao M. But then again, Americans just don't care.
If you write his nam Yao Ming his first name is Yao his Last name is Ming. because you write it in that order. Ofcourse his family name is Yao. That being said: Who cares?
In conversations or broadcasting, they can call him whatever they prefer: Yao, big Yao, Yao Ming, Ming, Ming Dynasty... All fine. But they should get it right in the official written documentations. His last name is not Ming. That's flat wrong!
The point is that the news media doesn't even know which part of his name is last and which part is first. It's not about cultural differences or "who cares" Most ppl dont care, given. But yahoo news and the NBA site should have that information correct. It's like getting a stat wrong. Even if 99.99% of fans dont give a ****, someone over there should. [insert rant about USA getting stupider and the loss of American professionalism and QQ here]
Well, the NBA and American organizations in general don't really care about offending non-blacks/jews. As long as those two big groups are taken care of, they can afford to slack on keeping the Asians, Latinos and whatever else happy.
Can't wait till he's gone, good guy for all appearances but he's held this team back for years. I hope DM has the balls to move his valuable expiring for a true superstar. This team has real upside if they commit to the style the rest of the team is built for, M,Yao does not fit here.
