Boston Globe: People in China is more reserved on Yao

Good stuff.

 

''They all wish Yao Ming well,'' said Nina Wang, a reporter for the Shanghai Times, through an interpreter. ''But they do not expect him to take over the NBA. He must wait his turn to shine in America. After all, he has so much to learn.''


That is so refreshing to read...compared to over here where we make superstars out of high school athletes like Labron.

 

interesting article....i like dawson's quote at the end, "We don't want to Americanize you. We like you just the way you are.''

 

Kind of interesting to hear that Chinese fans are not going overboard on Yao despite his quick success. Reminds me of Canada/Canadian culture which is known for being down to earth and not giving hype to its native stars even after they become huge in the US (maybe with the exception of Wayne Gretzky). I guess it is a cultural and marketing issue where stars, especially young athletes with promise, get blown up to ridiculous proportions in the US. The worst thing is when the stars actually start believing in their press and start acting out the role they are given by the media. (Ex. - Shaq has to live up to being Superman, The Great Aristotle, Big Shaq Daddy, etc. and as a result, feel he must must assume this persona in public no matter how bad the results ) I hope Yao's humility will remain a constant and in turn, influence some KEY members of the Rocket's lineup over the rest of the season.

 

My favorite part: "He's doing quite well [...] Yet whenever he is interviewed about his sudden and convincing imprint on the NBA, he discusses his lack of upper body strength, his wish to improve his rebounding skills, and his hope that he will learn to react more quickly on defense."

I can think of quite a few veterans who should take such a realistic look at themselves...

 

Yao will adapt to american life. But I think Yao won't be "americanized" much. He's born and raised in China. What a great job his parents did. Yao's basketball attitude may change, like being more aggressive, but I believe Yao's personality won't change much 15 years later. He still be the same old Yao that we all know to love.

 

What more can I say about Yao. Like AI said, he is a gift from God. When Rox drafted him, I was really pissed off and in less than one third of a season, he has proven me wrong in more than one way. WTG, Yao.

 

It's just the Chinese culture, be humble, respect your opponents.

I traveled to China last couple weeks. Every conversation I had involves Yao was like ‘He is doing well, better than I thought. Let’s hope he’ll do better in the future”. Nothing similar to some of the high expectations we have seen on this board. May be the hometown fans here should take a page out of their book.

 

It should be Yao chineseize people here

 

Where do some of the Yao fanatics on this board come from then....

 

... Mexico, I guess

 

In the US, the land of media, hype, and ratings, it's no wonder everything is taken to the extreme here.

Bottomline is, there really is no reason for the chinese to hype yao. They just want him to proudly represent the PROC in basketball.

 

I am a Shanghainese and I still remember when somebody made a comparison between Yao and Shaq at the beginning of the season on chinese website, almost every one said oh, it's too early to talk about that although we really hope so, and then things turn out to be incredible. He's so great that we ask for more. The newspaper, Shanghai Television even CCTV ask the basketball fans to vote for him. But frankly speaking, most of Chinese won't say he's the best center in the western, which results from the difference of culture,in other words, your surprise in our eyes are so natural while our surprise in your eyes are so strange( my poor English make you confused?hehe, sorry)

The existence of difference make the world colourful