http://www.msnbc.com/news/767758.asp Yao Ming’s Near Miss? The Chinese native is looking like he will go first in the NBA draft NEWSWEEK June 24 issue — Wang Zhizhi, the first Chinese basketball player in the NBA, couldn’t have picked a worse time to go missing. For the past few weeks, neither his NBA team nor the Chinese government knew exactly where he was. Wang, 24, skipped a Dallas Mavericks team meeting and, more alarmingly, failed to show up in Beijing for obligatory practices with the national team. The questions quickly followed: Had he defected? And more important, would his disappearing act hurt China’s biggest star, Yao Ming, in next week’s NBA draft? AFTER YEARS OF delays and disappointments, Chinese authorities are finally giving the 7-foot-5 shot blocker his chance in America; he’s considered a virtual lock as the top pick. The Houston Rockets, who own the No. 1 draw, sent executives to China last week to ease the way for Yao’s release. “Everything went very smoothly,” says one person privy to the discussions. “The Wang situation never even came up.” Wang, it turned out, was in Los Angeles preparing for the NBA summer league—an embarrassment for China but a smart business decision, since he’s looking for a lucrative contract after he becomes a free agent on June 30. Although Yao’s NBA future doesn’t appear in jeopardy, basketball insiders worry that Beijing’s loss of face in the Wang affair may prompt the regime to be tougher on Yao—and his new team. — Brook Larmer
All very, very strange. I don't see how Beijing lost face in the Wang affair, except for the self-perpetuating rumor that he's in Los Angeles without Beijing approval. Other than a few articles out of the Dallas Morning News that insisted Wang had missed CBA-set deadlines (despite the fact Dallas hadn't spoken to Wang since the end of their playoff series)... what other reason do we have to believe that Beijing didn't know where to find Wang? Ugggh, so infuriating. A rumor starts in one paper, and the rest of these journalists happily pile on.
Well, as we've seen, the issue of "face" is very big to the Chinese. The Sharks' coach (manager?) was all bent out of shape because of Stern's offhand remarks to the media. (sigh) Part of the process.
