Chron: Yao laps Shaq in All-Star race

Some same info, but with somw really good quotes from Yao and his teammates.



Yao laps Shaq in All-Star race
By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle

We kind of knew Yao Ming was big in China. And he has seemed quite the sensation in the United States.

But Thursday's sudden development was as unexpected as it was unprecedented.

Yao passed Shaquille O'Neal to become the leader among Western Conference centers in the fan voting for the starters in the NBA All-Star Game, to be played Feb. 9 in Atlanta.

But that was not the surprise, because when the previous balloting was announced, Yao was second. It did not require a 7-5 giant step to take first.

And the real stunner was not in Yao's gaining the support of much of China's 1.3 billion countrymen or in collecting 814,393 All-Star votes.

More unexpected was the convincing of one particularly stubborn critic.

Yao's play has been so impressive that he apparently has turned Shaquille O'Neal from threatening and even offensive to the Big Gracious.

"It happens to the best of us," O'Neal said. "When I came in, I beat out Patrick Ewing.

"He (Yao) is making history for his people. His people are proud of him. They should be. One billion people -- that's tough to beat."

There is, however, one other bit of a surprise awaiting O'Neal. While Yao no doubt received Internet support from China, NBA spokesman Tim Frank said Thursday that Yao was also leading in the "paper balloting" available in arenas and retail outlets in the United States.

Only four rookie centers -- Ray Felix, Wilt Chamberlain, Walt Bellamy and O'Neal -- have started an All-Star Game. Though 15 rookies have started All-Star Games, none have broken through that quickly since Grant Hill in 1995.

Still, the Rockets were not terribly surprised Yao had joined Steve Francis in a position to start the All-Star Game.

"I'll never be surprised with the fans voting," Rockets forward Maurice Taylor said. "The fans vote for who they see more, who has the more highlights."

But the other guy is O'Neal, who compared to other players is seemingly seen more often and has more highlights in fast-food hamburger commercials alone.

"But he missed a whole month," Taylor said. "Not to take anything away from Yao, but sometimes fan voting is a little cloudy. Sometimes guys off the bench should be starting. The guys everybody talks about the most get the most votes. It's like when Grant Hill came in. He led everybody. (Yao has the fourth-most votes overall.)

"I doubt if Shaq really cares. He's Shaq. Why should he care about Yao? His talk (about Yao) is just in fun. He doesn't really care. When he opens his mouth, he's having fun. I don't think he's worried. He's secure in himself. I don't think he has animosity toward Yao. He has fun with it. He's won MVP, All-Star Games, (championship) rings. He should be happy for a young guy to be doing something like this."

Balloting will end Jan. 12, five days before O'Neal and Yao are scheduled to meet for the first time at Compaq Center, with All-Star starters to be announced Jan. 23. All-Star ballots are available for the first time in English, Mandarin and Spanish on NBA.com.

But Yao's lead could be secure. Only Ben Wallace's edge over the injured Dikembe Mutombo to start as the Eastern Conference center and Francis' lead over Steve Nash to start with Kobe Bryant at guard for the West are larger than Yao's 158,649-vote margin over O'Neal.

"I'm happy, and I'm very honored," Yao said. "If I do play in the All-Star Game, I hope it won't be like my first NBA game was."

The Rockets said Yao's popularity in the voting is another indication of how rapidly he has improved and how easy it is to appreciate his talents.

"The guy is playing good," Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. "As a fan, he's enjoyable to watch. He does things the fundamental way on his passing and some of the things he does, and he's good for basketball -- not only basketball here in the United States but basketball all over the world."

Still, O'Neal would seem to be easy to notice himself. While Yao is averaging 13.2 points, 7.6 rebounds and two blocked shots per game, O'Neal is averaging 26.4 points, 11.1 rebounds and two blocks. But O'Neal missed the Lakers' first 12 games while rehabilitating from toe surgery Sept. 11.

O'Neal had promised to greet Yao with an elbow to the nose. Lakers coach Phil Jackson said that if they played Nov. 17, when O'Neal was still coming back, O'Neal would have broken Yao in two.

But Yao's Rockets teammates said O'Neal would not be driven to punish Yao for taking the Western Conference's starting position from the nine-time All-Star.

"Shaq has made the All-Star team," Kelvin Cato said. "I don't know if that's going to be a bother to him whether he started or not. Yao is getting a lot of votes because he is the new kid on the block. Shaq has been around.

"I don't think Shaq is mad. I don't think Shaq is worried about Yao Ming. I think Shaq is worried about his teammates and helping them win ballgames."

For all Yao has faced, All-Star Weekend would be a new level of intense scrutiny. Francis had a taste of that last season and was noticeably nervous by the start of the game.

"I went through it last year," Francis said. "He's definitely one of the most highly publicized foreign players to come in the league. I'm pretty sure there will be major media attention. He'll be surprised at how much all the superstars that are All-Stars are down to earth just like he is. That will be a good experience for him."

If Francis and Yao keep their sizable leads in the voting, it would be just the eighth time the Rockets sent more than one representative to the All-Star Game and just the fourth time they had two starters. It happened most recently in 1996, when Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler started.

"It's what we've been saying all along (about Yao). He's special," Tomjanovich said. "He has special vision, special poise, special skills."