http://blogs.chron.com/nba/2007/10/yao_da_man.html (Chron Blog from Jonathan Feigen) October 04, 2007 Yao Da Man Yao Ming felt awful. He had traveled from Shanghai, gotten up before the sunrise, been poked and prodded for hours in physicals that began at 7 a.m., dragged on to close to noon and was followed by a trip to the dentist. As he spoke during the long, mid-afternoon drive from Houston to Austin, every third word was a cough. The plan to have him begin walking through the Rockets' new sets was scotched, surrendered to understanding and common sense. Yao would have none of it. Less than an hour after he arrived in Austin on Thursday, Yao and a cadre of coaches and observers went to the gym to go to work. That's Yao. That's what we've seen for years. But to a new coaching staff, the simple decision to go to work had to be more thrilling than anything he could do on the court. The guy is more dedicated than he is tall. This is why his late arrival at training camp will not be an issue for long. He will have some catching up to do, but he will. And he will have to write a check for arriving a few days, which he said of course he should. Teams cannot have one rule for players they don't mind fining and another rule for the players they really, really like. But even now, even when he is late and a tired and a little sick, Yao is the model pro. He could have waited for Friday's two practices. Instead, he does what he always does. He went to work.
Ya honestly I don't think there is a harder working superstar in the league than Yao (with the possible exception of Kobe).
LOL, you guys really need to chill out. Looks like I should take the advice to put a smiling face after a sarcasm to make it easier for you.
I wouldn't be surprised if Yao had already been studying game tape of Adelman's old teams before he arrived back in the United States. He always puts in the extra effort.
