Rockets' No.1 pick even lugs his own suitcase in Vancouver Doug Smith SPORTS REPORTER VANCOUVER ?There was nary a piece of diamond-encrusted, over-the-top, platinum jewellery in sight, no entourage of agents, handlers, cousins and security dudes. No crisply pressed five-button suit, no wraparound shades to hide the eyes, no cell phone earpiece dangling beside the face and no portable DVD player to provide a distraction from the admiring hordes. Yao Ming, who apparently has a lot to learn about how top NBA draft picks generally comport themselves, arrived here just after noon yesterday with all the fanfare of, well, there was no fanfare at all, in fact. He dragged his own suitcase (which may draw a rebuke from the players' association), declined to speak with the media (which will likely put him back in the union's good books) and simply strode to the front desk, collected his key, smiled at the staff and wandered off to the elevators. No bling for Ming; no Yao's Army. Public reaction? None. This wasn't the United States Dream Team pulling up at some posh five-star hotel, it wasn't Vince Carter arriving at some NBA city to be met by autograph-seeking crowds; this was a bunch of unrecognizable basketball players not even drawing a passing glance from people going about their everyday business. Clad in a Chinese national team T-shirt (with the requisite sponsor swoosh over the breast), wearing the latest in Michael Jordan-style basketball shoe (again with the swoosh) and a pair of nondescript pants, there was nothing to distinguish Yao from any other member of the travelling group. Well, there was the little thing about the 7-foot-5, 20-year-old having to duck through the 7-foot high doorway, the little stoop he had to make to get below a chandelier that would have been unnoticed except for him having to avoid it and he did brighten a bit when the hotel manager mentioned they'd added a second bed onto the end of the one that would be normally found in a hotel room. But other than that, he was just one of the guys. The most anticipated rookie in the NBA in years, Yao operates with no pretensions once he's with his national team, and he couldn't probably put on airs even if he wanted. Team officials were loath to even stop and acknowledge the small coterie of writers and broadcasters standing in the lobby, Yao gave a slight nod of his head and kept marching to the elevator when he was asked to stop and chat. The team's head coach made it glaringly apparent that the media could wait until this morning to get any information and the team's translator had to be persuaded to provide a 20-second sound bite for the two Houston television stations trailing the newest Rocket. And when he did, he wouldn't answer questions about any individual player, begged off even providing his name and spoke only in generalities. "This is a great opportunity to warm up before the world championship games and we're very glad to be in Vancouver to play Canada," he said. "The Chinese team is a very young team and needs to play some games. We are looking forward to it." But the rest of the basketball world is looking forward to seeing how Yao does when the NBA season starts this fall. The Houston Rockets, who made him the first player born and trained outside the United States to be a No.1 pick, hope that all the hype around him and his selection translates into success on the court. Perhaps one of the reasons for Yao's lack of ostentatious NBA trappings is he's really not wealthy enough yet to carry it off. He has yet to sign his rookie contract with the Rockets, which will pay him more than $10 million (all figures U.S.) over the next three seasons but there is a question of just how much of that money he'll actually get to keep. The Chinese basketball federation, who had to be convinced through intense negotiations just to let him leave the country to play, will get a big chunk of his salary (unconfirmed reports put it at anywhere from 50 to 75 per cent) for having trained him. There will also never be an issue about insurance and Yao's participation in Chinese national team events, no matter what the Houston owners think. So adamant is he about playing, and so adamant are officials who need him to help improve the national team before the 2008 Beijing Olympics, that he has yet to even work out in Houston. And he won't join the Rockets in any manner, even for informal workouts, until the world championships (Aug. 29 to Sept. 8 in Indianapolis) are completed. The North American cognoscenti get their first glimpse of him here tomorrow night when China faces Canada in an exhibition game. After that game, the Chinese team heads to Oakland where it will meet the United States in an exhibition game Aug. 22 as their last tune-up before the world championships.
The more I hear about Yao Ming, the more I want to meet him. The man seems like he hasn't done anything, but keep his feet on the ground. Not something I can say for the rest of the NBA.
