Warriors treat Yao Carl Steward Oakland Tribune OAKLAND -- Yao Ming will be getting a basketball lesson every time he steps on an NBA court this year, and based on the early returns he's definitely a quick study. Off the floor as well, Yao seems to be assimilating at a rapid rate. But on that count how could he not, considering the crash course he's getting in good old American media hype, massive mass marketing and frenetic free-world capitalism? "It seems like I've been magnified to much larger than I actually am," said the 7-foot-5 Chinese rookie center during a press conference Wednesday night prior to the Houston Rockets' 91-84 victory over the Golden State Warriors, of which he contributed 14 points in an all-too-brief 16 minutes. Perceptive kid. Without much question, Yao Ming is already becoming more like Yao Kong as America's newest larger-than-life sports celebrity. We can't get enough of him. He even nearly filled the Arena on Wednesday night with the largest crowd to see a Warriors game this year -- 18,401. By the time he hits New York in February, the big guy could be as blown up as the Empire State Building. Part of that fascination, of course, is the literal largeness of the man. He's huge, and as Adonal Foyle noted, "He isn't just long, he has a little meat to him." And now that everyone's convinced that He's Got Game, too, he's not only spurred America's curiosity, but its uniquely promotional pushiness. Face it, the foldout People magazines and the Leno guest spots are not a matter of if, but when. The Warriors surely went wow over Yao on Wednesday night. Goodness, you would have thought he played for them the way they rolled out the, er, red carpet. During the first half, he gave a special happy-to-be-here statement over the scoreboard video screens -- the Warriors actually wrote it for him -- that lasted just long enough to prompt booing from the actual home-team partisans in attendance. Virtually all of the public-address announcements on this night were provided in both English and Chinese, most notably five-game ticket plans involving future Rockets games in Oakland. There was some business about a Yao autographed jersey, too, and they even translated a promotion about Al Attles bobblehead dolls into Chinese. But hey, the Warriors aren't the only ones guilty of Ming Mania. Rather suddenly, Yao has become the NBA's most marketable commodity in every league port. Being charming and clever as the NBA's latest exotic ambassador is another good way to win over America ... and sell tickets. It definitely helps that he's fairly adept at one-liners. He mused that the most important English word he's learned so far is "traffic." Funny ... except that he said the same thing during a conference call Tuesday. It must be one of the stock jokes on the opening stump of NBA cities. Yao offered some other cultural tidbits -- he gave the new Harry Potter movie a five-star rating simply by flashing his giant paw -- and when someone asked him what his plans were for Thanksgiving, he retorted, "Maybe I'm different than other people, but what I'm most interested in doing is eating some turkey." Ba-dum-bump. Perhaps the most startling revelation on this night -- at least beyond the first-quarter baseline spin move he put on Erick Dampier for a sweet, no-look, throwdown dunk -- was a protracted demonstration of his English skills when someone asked him if he'd say something we all might be able to understand. "I'm a student, all right?" he began, and you immediately thought OK, here we go, here comes the halting, barely intelligible "Big Mac and fries, please." Instead, Yao launched into a long answer about his time constraints ... with better fluency and diction than a lot of natives. "I have only a one-day stay at Oakland," he uttered softly but with crystal clarity. "I'd like to go Chinatown in San Francisco, and I'd really like to have some Chinese food and go shopping at the fish market (Fisherman's Wharf). But I have only 24 hours. And it's rush hour." Can't forget that closing quip. This is where Yao is as about naive as a Cheshire cat. Carl Steward can be reached at (510) 293-2451 or by e-mail at csteward@angnewspapers.com .
Here's a copy of an email I just sent Mr. Steward: Mr. Steward, Thank you very much for the insightful article on Yao Ming. As Rockets fans, we have been subjected to many articles pre-judging Yao Ming before the writers have had a chance to talk to him or see him play. We know he is going to struggle at times this season but also know that there might be something special about this kid. Hopefully he will continue progressing as the season goes on.
I hope all this paise that Golden State is giving him will not make him go play for the Warriors once his contract ih over.
Yao will be in the upcoming issue of People Magazine. Alot of good pictures of him at home. And he will be on the Letterman show in January.
You read my mind. I'm sure the GS warrriors are thinking the same, along with LA (Shaq is not getting any younger). The Rockets fans need to start filling the seats. That would help. ~kountzer~
I don't think Yao will change team either. From what we have seen of him so far, he seem to be a very loyal person. How many players do you see wearing a bracelet that their girlfriend give them on the court? A lot of guy don't even wear their wedding ring. I think if the organizations treat them good and he got along with his teammates, Ming will be a Rocket for life. He seem to appreciate the thing that people do for him. I think he will alway remember that the Rocket players and the organization are the one that stuck with him during his up and down as he tried to adjust to the NBA and this country overall. Those kind of memories will tend to stay with you and when come decision time to sign another contract, I think it will be weigh heavily in his decision. Unless the Chinese government have control over where Ming go after his contract is up with Houston, I think he will be another Rudy T or a Calvin Murphy who play with one team during their career.
Why bother arguing over Leno and Letterman when you can simply say that Conan is better than both of them combined?
I agree with you guys on Yao Ming's stay. Not just that Chinese people are loyal and grateful, but Rockets understands him. Chinese saying - "A man can die for the ones who understand him"
Ming is definately a throw back to an older generation. I mean he plays basketball because he enjoys the game. The money issue is basically left up to his government. The kid just really enjoys the game, the challenge, and the competition. He wants to excel. He's going to want to be here through the ups and downs (hopefully not many) of the organization to see what difference he can make. He truly is a testament to a goodwill and class that many players lack today. A lot of today's players are looking for the easy way out, have no loyalty, and want championships the easy way with no real effort (just being filler on an already established team)--the ones who only playing BIG in a contract year. Ming is the anti-modern player who is all buisness first, and then somewhere at the end of qualities comes heart. It is refreshing to see that the love of the game hasn't died, and that some players don't just play for stats and money, rather they play to be a part of something great. This is why I for one am gratefull that he is a Houstonian now.
