SHANGHAI, China -- Rudy Tomjanovich went for a walk in the neighborhood surrounding his hotel here and was struck by the deep differences between this culture and that which Westerners know. Tomjanovich saw walls of high-rise apartment buildings lining virtually every street, each apartment little more than a cubicle the size of most American sedans. He saw women putting out laundry on strings and bamboo sticks stretched between windowsills and trees. He saw bustling streets, with vendors carrying straw baskets and hawking berries and apples, buses filled to the hang-straps with commuters and thousands of bicyclists swerving dangerously through traffic. But Tomjanovich saw no walls -- either real or imagined. There are differences, yes, but nothing impossible. Thus, Tomjanovich drew upon this walk through the streets of Communist China as a reference point for a great escapade into the world of Yao Ming. It will be a different kind of negotiation getting Yao into a Rockets uniform, but nothing is impossible. In fact, after today things are looking more possible than ever. Even though no one in the Rockets contingent here would go so far, the big news today in fact appeared to be a feeling on both sides that it no longer is a question of if Yao will become a Rocket, but when. Feeling comfortable and talking at ease and at length with the general manager of Yao's Shanghai Sharks, various Chinese sports administrators, the Sharks coach and even Yao's parents, the Rockets executives saw two worlds come together. Yao's past and future definitely can co-exist, with few if any impossible barriers standing in the way. "Because things are different in another country," Tomjanovich said today, "sometimes people get intimidated. You imagine things." Some of the things the Rockets either worried about or heard about through news reports and wire stories coming out of China were that the Sharks would make unreasonable demands in return for allowing Yao to join the NBA. But from the start of this get-acquainted visit to China, the Rockets front-office executives have received nothing but positive messages from the likes of Sharks general manager Li Yaomin and parent company Shanghai Media Group's top brass. From the moment the Rockets group was met at the airport Sunday night by Li, who spoke with Rockets general counsel Michael Goldberg into the wee hours Monday morning, the mood between the two sides has been united in finding a way to get Yao into a Rockets uniform. Members of the Rockets negotiating team here, which includes Tomjanovich, Goldberg, general manager Carroll Dawson and director of public relations Nelson Luis, were given a tour of various sights on Monday, including the Shanghai Museum and Yu Yuan Garden. The group also dined with Li and Sharks head coach Li Qui Ping, with whom Tomjanovich had a long discussion about how Li Qui used Yao and areas of the game where Li Qui believes Yao could improve. On Tuesday, the president of the Shanghai Media Group, Ye Zhi Kang, and Vice President Hu Jin Jun met with the Rockets, along with Shanghai sports administrator Yao Song Ping and Yao's parents. Every meeting on the trip thus far has been not just cordial, but productive to the point that the Rockets move on to meetings in Beijing today with Chinese Basketball Association brass -- and perhaps also with Yao -- more confident than ever. While the Rockets remain cautious publicly, to see the looks on their faces today, the relationships built with Yao's team of representation, is to know one thing more than ever. "Everything was formal at first," Luis said. "By the end of the third day, (Carroll Dawson) and those guys were joking around like friends." You knew this already: Yao's name will be called first at the June 26 NBA draft. But this trip has gone a long way toward making sure Yao will answer the call with few unreasonable obstacles to overcome from his former team and government. "Nothing has ever been awkward -- not ever," Goldberg said. "We didn't know what to expert, but to see them face-to-face, to understand what each other is saying, it was like a partnership were building. The last few days have been like a calming effect for everyone." During the visit, Shanghai Sharks management did indeed broach the subject of compensation, more specifically a relationship being formed, since their best player will be playing in the United States. But the Rockets were not asked to send players or money to the Shanghai team. The Sharks executives spoke more about basketball fellowship, which could include things such as Rockets players and/or coaches participating in off-season camps or other players in the Chinese program visiting U.S. camps and clinics. And perhaps most important, in the meeting with Yao's parents -- specifically, with his mother, Fang Fengdi -- another rumor about Yao's feelings toward the Rockets was dispelled. Shortly after the Rockets won the lottery, some reports said that Yao was disappointed and not exactly thrilled at the prospect of playing in Houston. Yao's mother told Tomjanovich that the exact opposite was true. Fang Fengdi said the Rockets in fact long have been one of her son's favorite teams, since he first began following the NBA game during the Rockets championship seasons of 1994 and 1995. Also, Fengdi, who stands 6-6 while her husband is 6-10, both told Tomjanovich that Yao's favorite big man in the NBA was Hakeem Olajuwon. "We felt very comfortable with everyone we've talked with very quickly," Tomjanovich said. "It's been amazing." No one was offering congratulations just yet on sealing the deal. There remain numerous more people to meet and certainly more hurdles to maneuver past, beginning in Beijing today. But even if the Rockets' movers and shakers are a world away from Houston and everything here looks starkly different from what they know, one thing appears to be the same: The Shanghainese, his team and his family all want Yao to become a Rocket as much as the Rockets do.
Rumors.. go away.. Truth: [...] During the visit, Shanghai Sharks management did indeed broach the subject of compensation, more specifically a relationship being formed, since their best player will be playing in the United States. But the Rockets were not asked to send players or money to the Shanghai team. The Sharks executives spoke more about basketball fellowship, which could include things such as Rockets players and/or coaches participating in off-season camps or other players in the Chinese program visiting U.S. camps and clinics. [...] And perhaps most important, in the meeting with Yao's parents -- specifically, with his mother, Fang Fengdi -- another rumor about Yao's feelings toward the Rockets was dispelled. Shortly after the Rockets won the lottery, some reports said that Yao was disappointed and not exactly thrilled at the prospect of playing in Houston. Yao's mother told Tomjanovich that the exact opposite was true. Fang Fengdi said the Rockets in fact long have been one of her son's favorite teams, since he first began following the NBA game during the Rockets championship seasons of 1994 and 1995. Also, Fengdi, who stands 6-6 while her husband is 6-10, both told Tomjanovich that Yao's favorite big man in the NBA was Hakeem Olajuwon. "We felt very comfortable with everyone we've talked with very quickly," Tomjanovich said. "It's been amazing." [..] The Shanghainese, his team and his family all want Yao to become a Rocket as much as the Rockets do.
"Because things are different in another country," Tomjanovich said today, "sometimes people get intimidated. You imagine things." I think he was referring to people on this BBS.
