From a story in the Chicago Sun Times - <b>"....some players privately envy the quick attention Yao is getting and believe the NBA is giving him more than it would give a 7-6 African player in the same situation."</b> http://www.suntimes.com/output/sports/cst-spt-star08.html Same story also has Shaq talking about Amare vs. Shaq - <b>''Right now, I'd still say it's my guy, [Phoenix Suns forward] Amare Stoudemire,'' O'Neal said. ''Don't get me wrong. Yao is good. Damn good. But Stoudemire is already dominating more guys who have been in the league for several years, and he's going to get much better. Yao is dominating, too. But he caught me off guard the first time I played him. I'll know how to play him better from here on out. Other guys will figure him out, too.''</b> So I guess this means Yao has peaked and will never add anything new to his game while Amare will continue to improve and mystify opponents with his power game? WTF? I guess these comments reflected Shaq's mood and how it felt to have a press conference at the same time (and in the same room) as Yao and only attract 1/3rd the press. Can you say Sobering Experience for the Great Aristotle?
You know you've arrived when people are starting to be jealous of you. Yao and we should be happy. And yeah when did Amare become Shaq' guy? Is it a Americans vs foreigners thing?
I can see why NBA players privately resent him- especially established All-Stars. After what happened to Shaq, no one will openly come out against Yao without creating a firestorm of negative publicity. Yao's done 2 commercials and has been in Sports Illustrated, ESPN, Time magazine, gets requests from David Lettermen, etc.... Next year, Yao's "novelty" will start dying down and the LeBron James hype machine will begin. This is probably the best thing that can happen to Yao as he'll start to be just another NBA player.
Shaq has a history of being cozy to those that pay him homage. Amare has publicly stated that Shaq is his idol. Dream was always very gracious and Shaq reciprocated. David Robinson wasn't as complimentary so Shaq ripped him every opportunity he could. Actually if the whole controversy never happened, Shaq would be ripping Yao as much as he did Robinson. Also, Shaq understands that Yao is hugely popular. Shaq has always been very conscience of his public image. He wants to be a superhero not a super villian.
oh definately. players are jealous of him and hope he fails and loses HIS ROY award to stoudamire. therefore, in the second half of the season, he must concentrate on his game and ignore all the hypes and criticisms. then he'll be the ROY. he has to remain his focus on basketball for 3 or 4 years by working hard on improving his game, body and mind so that he can dominate and to silent all the critics.
Yup, I think that's the case to a certain extent. I used to love shaq but the more he's talking this year, the less I respect him. Shaq's immaturity is starting to get on my nerves. He's 30+ and talks and act like a little kid...he needs to grow up and take it like a man.
If that's the case, do you know that Yao not only sent Shaq a Christmas card, but to his stepfather also? I mean Yao shows nothing but respect for Shaq. As far as the jealousy is concerned, some of it I'm sure is legit while most is just pure jealousy. I do agree that had Yao been an African American player, he may not get that much attention. But it's rare you see an Asian in sports, especially one from a Communist country at that. Remember that as recently as two years ago, US and China relationship made headlines. Yao can be the one that warms it a bit.
Since Amare destroyed people like Kevin Garnett and said he grew up admiring Shaq. I don't think it's Americans vs. foreigners as much as "this is my court, this is my game, prove you belong..." That happens on any competitive court in the US when Americans play Americans. If it was just an Americans vs. foreigners thing, you wouldn't see people like Stojakovic, Gasol, and now even Yao being accepted so easily around the league.
they envy the quick attention yao is getting? there's nothing to envy in the attention yao's getting. yao has more pressure on him because of the attention and not only gets dissed when he plays badly, but his ethnicity is also dissed everytime by some doubter. If there weren't so many prejudiced people who thought asian people couldn't play basketball, people wouldn't be shocked everytime he played well. the hype results from people being amazed that a chinese guy can actually play basketball. As the saying used to go, 1.3 billion chinese could care less. as if chinese didn't know **** about basketball. if there was a 7'6 african player from nigeria for example who could do no look passes, shoot a jumper, block shots, dunk over shawn bradley, etc. there would be no stupid fortune cookie nights, dragon dancers, or martial arts exhibitions. But they wouldn't have done tribal dances, played music from the lion king, gave free fried chicken when he came to town either. there wouldn't be shows debating whether he was for real or not after every single 30 pt explosion he had. if there was a 7'6 african player who could do the things yao is doing, there would be no doubters. they wouldn't have even compared him to gheorge muresan or rik smits. they would have called him a hybrid of olajuwon and magic johnson and hyped him up to even larger proportions. i wonder if these players would envy playing under the microscope yao plays under where every single thing he does on and off the court would be judged as if he represented the entire race of a population of 1.3 billion. If ron artest had to represent all african players, people would judge all africans as violent. that's not something to envy. that's a lot of pressure and its not fair. it leaves no room for a person to make a mistake. if yao got angry and got into a fight on the court, they would call him communist yao or some bs like that. how is that something to envy? as for those stupid ming dynasty headlines? if they envy that, how would a african player like it if there were headlines like king of the jungle?
well, I agree that Amare should be ROY over Yao. Pheonix are going to the playoffs, the Rockets are not. That is the difference.
Peja, Dirk, Gasol, Yao etc were accepted after they proved themselves in this league. They would say that these foreingers needed to prove themselves otherwise they are just nothing, they can't play. On the other hand, Americans kids were accepted even before they played a game. They would say that they are good, give them time. See Lebron James. See how Marbury ripped the triangle and defended Jay Williams. Double standard.
It has nothing to do with race. I'll prove it. If a 7-6 African player entered the league and had the passing/shooting skills that Yao had, they would welcome him with open arms. It's just that we've already seen the power game before (Darryl Dawkins/Kemp/Shaq/Amare). The power game, although spectacular, is one dimensional. The press/fans and league want to see something new. This is why both Yao and LeBron James have attracted so much attention. Both of them show skill levels, OTHER THAN SCORING. They show the complete game. Something that has been missing from the NBA's young studs for the last 10 years. We had a bunch of wannabe "Jordan's" whom refused to do the work and dedication that made Jordan what he was on both ends of the court. Yao and LeBron have paid their dues. This is why they are head and shoulders above a lot of NBA "veterans." I'm becoming a big fan of LeBron. Just watched his game on ESPN2. If you ever get a change to listen one of his post-game interviews, you can tell the guys is an professional athlete. He knows the game just from the way he talks. It's like you can actually sit down and talk to him about other greats like Alex English, Connie Hawkings, Bernard King, and George "The Iceman" Gervin. Not just how great a dunker Jordan was. He seems very knowledgeable about the game, even though he's just a kid. How many rookies can say they "caught Shaq off gaurd?" Can Amare say that? One note about Yao. He's a goliath. And as you know, no one roots for the "Goliath." So, in the future, when Yao gets real good and dominates, there will be people that will want to knock him off his perch. We have to be ready for that. The good thing is that Yao is humble off court.
LeBron hasn't been accepted yet. They all say the right things about him, but when he gets on the court they're all going to go after him. Every rookie gets beat up and talked trash to on the court. When Steve Francis came into the league and played Gary Payton for the first time, Gary talked trash to him the entire game saying he was just a rookie and that this was the NBA. He kept calling him "youngblood" throughout the game. He destroyed Francis that game. When Troy Murphy came into the league, opposing players tried to test him by bullying him around. When he came right back at them, they knew the kid was a legit player. When Michael Jordan came into the league everyone said, "yeah he can dunk, but he's not going to bring that stuff to the NBA". He dunked on everyone on every team except for the peanut vendors. He gained respect. This happens to every rookie. Some pass the test, some fail the test. Yao will have to gain respect just like everyone else. They'll all say "____________ is better" or "he's good, but ___________". They'll stop saying it when he commands and earns their respect. Every interview I've heard usually has everyone saying how they were surprised how well he moved and passed and, in general, how good he was. He's earning the respect. If he continues to improve, he'll have it in a couple of years.
