Hi, all, I'm a Chinese living in New York. Though Rockets may not draft Yao Ming and I may not become a Rocket fan, but may I say that you guys are a classy bunch! I'm further impressed when people tried to remind fellow posters WHO SIDED WITH THEM to pay more attention to their choices of words. I also like Mavs' bbs on NBA.com. Go to ESPN and check out some of the boards over there. I myself surely have seen better educated people elsewhere. Anyway, I came here because I have loads of pennies to share with you guys: 1, I'm a businessman so I'll speak from that perspective. IMO, Shanghai Sharks has every right to make ANY requests they see fit. That's their ask price. However, the Rockets has every right to reject ANY or all of those request. The Rockets has their bid price. I believe the two parties will work hard together and reach something that's in the middle--the deal price. 2, The Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) has every right to recall Yao Ming when the Chinese National Team needs him, IF there's such a clause in Yao Ming's prospective contract to protect such a right. And there better be one clause on this matter otherwise loopholes could be exploited by both parties thus causing unnecessary future conflicts. Contrary to beliefs held by some posters here, we Chinese DO honor contractual obligations. Otherwise foreign investment would be flooding out of China instead of rushing in. But I do want to remind the Rockets management that while oral agreement is protected here in America, in China it is not. So everything has to be in black ink. 3, Many Chinese, me included, don't believe that the CBA should have a claim to a proportion of Yao Ming's future earnings. To me that's a rip-off. No, it's not state taxes. It's not a collective bargaining agreement, either. It's just a arbitrary number created by some CBA dignitaries out of the blue. But this is a prevailing practice in China's sports circle, though. IMO proper legislation is in urgend need here as more and more Chinese athletes will follow suit. One more reason China needs more reforms! 4, No conclusion of any sort should be drawn on Yao Ming based on Wang Zhi Zhi's case. Dallas drafted wang out of the blue. Sounds a real compliment to the People's Liberation Army. True Wang was a bball player, but also remember he was a serviceman ranked Colonel for God's sake! But Yao Ming is different. China and the Sharks are pushing him to play in the NBA. Yao Ming is no "Colonel Yao!", either. There will be significantly less obstacles to Yao's coming to NBA because it benefits everyone. 5, Sharks' manager did mention something about getting one player in exchange. But the issue is overhyped. What he said was someone on the benth who seldom plays. Currently there are two ex-NBA players on Sharks' roster. One of them named Ben Hart if I remember correctly. 6, Yao Ming didn't perform very well when facing the Dream Team in Sydney. He carried our team pass Team USA in last year's World University Games, though. Because our guards were way inferior than USA's, I think it's safe to say that Yao was a better center than Team USA's. 7, Stop worrying about Yao Ming getting abused by Shaq, etc. IMO that's a price he has to pay if he wants to become one of the great. His fearsome eyes tell me he'll climb over this one as well. Do tell him, if he ever becomes a Rockets, to stop going to the floor fighting with players two thirds his size for loose balls, will you guys? It's easy to cause injuries that way for a big guy. 8, all my information comes from Chinese media and therefore is second-hand. Go Yao Ming! go Rockets!
Lyle Lovett is the toughest dude in town. He survived a bull attack and saved his uncle's life. axmpo is the funniest Chinese poster, thus far!! welcome. thx for the "pennies." Hope we get Yao, just so you join our bandwagon. I don't mind this bandwagon.
Thanks so much for posting what you know!!! It's quite welcome here!! And Texans may be known for being a bit individualistic and tough...but we're also known for our hospitality. Texas, after all, comes from the word Tejas, meaning "friend!" axmpo, my biggest concern is what you mentioned about the Chinese national team pulling him back and ultimately have the biggest control over his career. I'm sure you can understand why that would bother me. If you're going to spend the first pick in the draft, you want some assurances that, assuming he's healthy, he'll be available to you for development time, in addition to the time he spends during the regular season and playoffs. My concern is that we get to playing in the playoffs with Ming, and all of a sudden the Chinese national team wants him. If that is something the CBA can't budge on, then I don't think the Rockets can afford to risk taking Ming. your thoughts??? thanks again!!!!
Wang's 24. But hold your breath. Wang was not the highest ranked player in his team. His coach, and one player named Yudong Liu, CBA's MVP this year, are brigadiers!
one question: I read an article of last year that he said that it also " could be a non-NBA player that the NBA team has rights to but doesn't use." I presume they thought we could reassign Vinson Hamilton or Tyron Washington from the our CBA and Europe. When is the last time he said this? I'm guessing they said this, and they learned that our rules disallow this. I'm guessing this has long since been retracted after the Wang negotiations.
heypartner, Unfortunately I heard him saying that even last week. But in no way he indicated that's a deal breaker.
axmpo, Thank's for all the information, it's very much appreciated ! Welcome to the best dam BBS in the NBA. S.J.
Welcome to the board. Hope we get Yao Ming and give you a reason to stick around. About your point #1. I think the understanding that has to be reached is that the Rockets are not a completely autonomous organization. They are bound by the NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement and I don't think can honor a lot of the rumored requests the Sharks are making. I have no problem with the Sharks making requests, but I hope they understand that they have to deal with more than the Rockets if they want considerable financial compensation, etc. The Rockets can't just send a player over to the CBA IMO (or at least they shouldn't be able to; the Players Union should be all over that). If the Sharks want an American player, I think that's something that has to be negotiated with the NBA league office primarily. As for National Team commitments, I understand and respect that. I think both parties just need to sit down and explain what they need (the Rockets would prefer to have him all 82 games, playoffs, training camps and pre-season.) I think the Rockets can tolerate an out-clause for Yao being recalled, but that they'd have to have some compensation (not necessarily financial, although I don't know what other type it could be.) and assurances/restrictions to how he can be recalled. Don't you think that's fair? What if the Rockets are in the playoffs and lose their starting center? I don't think an unconditional recall clause is fair. I think it would be wrong of the Sharks not to be considerate of the Rockets' needs just as the Rockets should be considerate of the CBA needs with Yao as the country's star player. I'm not saying the Sharks are making unreasonable requests because I just don't know with all the questionable information out there. But whatever the nature of those requests, I think both parties should and will consider the needs of both sides. I think a lot of BBSers are unnecessarily raising Cain about the possibility of the Sharks having requests while it certainly is a significant concern.
MadMax, Did I mention that you're one of the posters here I disagree the most, yet I respect the most at the same time? hehe As far as I know, Olympic Games and bball worldchampionship games seldom conflict with NBA post-seasons. Will China pull Yao Ming back for Asian Games? I don't know. It better be specified in Yao Ming's contract. No China will not retract Yao just because CBA got another cute idea. Even CBA has to abide by something that's on paper.
Relativist, Sharks has to and will respect Rockets interests, IMO. That said, they'll continue to play their "I want the moon!" game and the Rockets will continue to play their "no, you can have hell" game until the last minute. All business tricks in my opinion. BTW, if you ever go to China and tries to buy something from a street vendor, don't pay more than half the price he/she asks.
no heypee- The Rockets winning the lottery was a plan all along. Last year, the Rockets traded Shandon for Glen Rice. Stern wanted him off the Knicks, and so did the Knicks, so in return, the Rockets agreed to take him if he'd get them the #1 pick. Also forseeing this "player" thing, they made this into a 3 way deal, and the Rockets mysteriously pick up Kyle Hill. I think we relinquished Hamilton and Washington's rights...we still have Kyle Hill's rights, though.
Did it work? MadMax, I'm right there with you on specifying that Yao must be in camp and play all games. However, I am willing to let that slide for this one camp coming up, given that we don't have the contract, yet. After that, it is non-negotiable, and I am in 100% agreement that it must be in writing. axmpo, Are you aware that the NBA has a standard contract for rookies drafted in the first round. That contract requires training camp, all games, all practices, and availability for summer leagues. Does the CBA have a standard contract, or is that part of the reforms you suggest? I've read that they are trying to pattern their procedures like the NBA. I hope they agree that our contract is pretty solid and proven to work pretty well. I hope they understand that their best road to compensation is through revenue sharing with the NBA League Office, not one of the league franchises. There are too many rules that the NBA franchises have agreed to. If we break one of those loopholes become a precedent, and everything could start unraveling. The NBA must not allow loopholes to occur in regards to monetary compensation or compensation in terms of player trades between leagues. I trust that the Chinese business man and govt regulators will appreciate this once they study it. They expect us to follow standard procedures of the CBA, and we should; for instance, their insistence that US agents for Yao be "certified by the CBA" is very reasonable. I think it all comes down to both leagues honor and follow standard procedures of each, and any conflicting procedures get settled with league-wide revenue-sharing agreements, not franchise to franchise sharing agreements. I don't think that is good for either league. For instance, giving the Shanghai Sharks exclusive contracts with the Rockets or the NBA League Office is unfair to the Taiwanese SINA team owned by Daniel Chiang (for instance). He has an investment at stake, and I'm sure he doesn't want to see Shanghai get preferential treatment by the NBA.
My biggest concern is how you say that the Chinese should be able to recall Yao at any time for the Chinese National Team. I could understand this if it were in the NBA offseason, but him missing training camp or god forbid some of the regular season is unacceptable to me. I understand that China is a communist country and they feel that they can control their people but if he wants to play in an American league, he should play by our rules. It should come down to what's more important to Yao's representives, having him play in the NBA or having him play for the Chinese National Team, and devote his energy 100% to that choice. I hope the Rockets are firm on this or otherwise don't draft him, we're offering him millions to play for the Rockets, not the Chinese.
heypartner, I'm 100% behind you that the Sharks should not get preferential treatment. But the sad truth is the Sharks owns Yao Ming's rights at this time, plus they believe Yao Mings owes them for his success (a claim may or may not be true), therefore they'll do everything they can to squeeze out maximum profits. Trust me, a lot has been learned by us from the NBA and more will be learned out of this Yao Ming experience. Do you know that CBA teams now have their hot cheer leaders! Great American idea if you ask me.
This is my favorite part of the post and why Yao is so much more than Shawn Bradley. Bradley never brought that kind of desire to the NBA.
kubli9 read his #2 point again. He said "IF" in all caps. And we have to agree with that. IF we agree to allow him to be recalled as a contract clause that Wang has in his contract, we have to honor that clause. Including that clause in the contract is negotiable, and axmpo says the CBA will honor the final clause. That puts my mind to rest. Now we just have to get our way on not including such a clause. axmpo, I hear that they aren't going for the buxom cheerleaders, though. They prefer to use girls with small breasts. Is that from fan preference, or are the Communists rulers of the CBA holding the Westernized big breasts hostage from the fans, so as to not corrupt your people. LOL! Maybe we could trade them our blonde-aired, silicon cheerleaders. Yao!
This is funny. Sorry for the test. Because my very first post did not go through, I did a test the second time. I hoped it didn't work or retrieved it when it is halfway through, but... I am a Chinese who works and lives in Sugar Land. I am a Rockets fan without a cable or satellite TV at home. I hope Rockets will draft Ming so that I can watch him on local channels. amxpo's posts are great. Looks like he understands the situation in China.
