How long will Yao have to go to China to train and play on their natonal team? Are they gonna make him do all this rigorous activity every off season? thanks
Yes... Every offseason, Yao will have two five-hour practices seven days per week until the day before training camp...and that's just in the morning and afternoon. At nights, the Chinese government will force him to work until midnight assembling happy meal toys to make certain he doesn't "go soft" due to the pathetic American training regimen... Don't think for a second that the hard work is over when his basketball career is over, though. After he retires, he'll have to work in the rice fields because the Chinese goverment is currently taking 90% of his salary, not allowing him to retire wealthy like other NBA players... life sucks for Yao...
A-train - think people are overreacting all you want but the fact is all throughout last season the coaches and Yao both made statements saying Yao was tired and needed a rest because of his playing basketball year round.
This is just a guess, I have never met Yao, talked to his family, or even read an article by Colin Pine. But my guess is that if Yao had to choose between the NBA and the Chinese national team, he would choose the Chinese National Team every time. Just a guess.
It's an insult to Yao saying he's a slave. He's just carrying out his obligation agreed in a commercial sense to perform labor as payback for his release. It's not a favorable situation for Yao and his fans, but as least there's no need to disrespect the basis of his labor. Yao is an honorable man for keeping his words, not a slave to anyone.
