Chron: Stern praises Yao

Yao goes to NBA summit

Stern praises Rocket as part of international plan

By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Having conquered or at least charmed all corners of the NBA, the latest stop in Yao Ming's life as a magazine cover boy, television commercial actor and attention magnet was to the NBA tower itself.

Yao was given an audience with NBA commissioner David Stern and a room full of league brass Tuesday. Or perhaps considering the demands on Yao, the league's most compelling new walking marketing machine, Stern was granted an audience with him.

But it did seem time they got together. Yao has become the face of the globalization of the NBA; Stern loves extending his empire to corners of the planet it had not reached. So they lunched and talked and praised one another's successes.

But before Stern addressed all that, he took his turn gushing about Yao's sense of humor.

"He's wry and good-natured," Stern said. "He's got a gleam in his eye."

So with that in mind, Yao offered another sample.

"Usually when I've seen him, I've seen him behind a podium," Yao said. "I didn't know he was that short."

But Stern knew Yao was that tall, and a great deal more about the league's most scrutinized new star.

"Mostly, I just wanted to tell Yao we're proud of him," Stern said. "He is answering a thousand questions, the same ones heard so many times, with dignity, grace and good humor, and we recognize the burden he is under. He is very much an ambassador both ways. America is learning things about the Peoples' Republic of China, and a lot of people in China are learning about America through him.

"That's the best we can do in sport. That's very important. Of course he's able to do this because he is an extremely gifted and talented basketball player. He also comes to this job with extreme burdens, based on the expectations of the most populous nation. He has a very good sense of it. He has maturity beyond his years."

Stern said he visits with players 12 to 15 times each season. NBA staffers have standing "orders" when players drop by the league's Manhattan office building to introduce him to the talent. Rockets guard Steve Francis set up a visit to see Stern when he was a rookie.

But this meeting could not be confused for a casual chat, if only because of the collection of titles that found time to break bread together in a 15th floor conference room. The Rockets even pushed back their practice Tuesday at the Nets' practice facility.

In addition to Stern, Yao, agents Bill Duffy and Bill Sanders, and interpreter Colin Pine met with deputy commissioner and chief operating officer Russ Granik; senior vice president, basketball operations Stu Jackson; senior vice president, communications Tim Andree; NBA Entertainment president and chief operating officer Adam Silver, executive vice president, global media properties and marketing partnerships Heidi Ueberroth; and vice president, international basketball operations Kim Bohuny.

But Stern said that after introductions, there was time to talk.

Stern said he generally does not share details about his get-togethers with league players that drop by. But after he thanked Yao for his patience in dealing with the media attention that surrounds him, it was not difficult to imagine where the conversation went.

"Put him back into a broader perspective," Stern said. "He's another step in the internationalization of the game. We went from Dirk Nowitzki, to Pau Gasol, to Emanuel Ginobili, for us to see representatives of star level from Eastern and Western Europe, South America and now Asia.

"That's a real exclamation point in our belief that internationalization makes us more interesting, improves our product and helps us to grow. Our fans like to use their sports to learn more things.

"There was a time when I remember NBA games were taken off the air in China because we accidentally bombed the China Embassy in Serbia, to having the No. 1 NBA draft pick in China, at the CNN studio in Beijing to be interviewed by TNT. That was an extraordinarily eye-opening event. And he has game and personality as well."

Yao came away nearly as impressed.

"It's amazing he's been able to build the NBA to what it is today," Yao said. "Since he has been the commissioner, the NBA has grown the most and the fastest. He said he hopes that there is more media interviewing me in the future. He said the problem isn't when there is lot of questions, it's when nobody is asking questions.

"He asked about what I wanted to do in China, like if I wanted to do training camps in China. He said he wants to improve the level of play of basketball in China. But he clearly said he wants China to win the silver medal (in the Beijing Olympics) in basketball in 2008."

Yao was not ready to settle for second place.

"I'm a very greedy person," he said.

But after talking with Stern and his vice presidents for a while, Yao was certain he was not the only ambitious NBA employee in the room.

"I wanted to ask," Yao said, "if he planned to expand NBA basketball to the moon."

But Stern denied that. Considering that a No. 1 pick from Shanghai stopped by for lunch, Stern was happy to have planted a flag at another corner of this planet.

"He was the No. 1 pick," Stern said. "It may be Americas' game, but it is captivating the world."