[SI] The Evolution of Yao

YAO was riding a bike I wonder what kind of a bike was that??

 

On a cool morning in the second week of the month, Yao arrived at the Toyota Center in downtown Houston at nine for his workout. Though he doesn't look bulky, Yao is far and away the strongest player on the Rockets. (He can bench 310 pounds.) This is a contrast from when he joined the team: During one of his first workouts, as he did incline presses with 45-pound dumbbells, Yao watched then teammate Jason Collier hefting 100-pounders. He turned to Falsone and asked if he'd ever be able to do that. Says Falsone, "This year, we bought 120-pound dumbbells just for Yao."


??? That's what I use for Incline Dumbells.. and I'm 5'11, 160 lbs

But theres no way in hell I can do 120 lbs.. LOL

 

Actually, he probably would have never been traded two times... and would have been the no-doubt best PF in NBA history (instead of simply top 5).

 

When was the last time you were in Shanghai? My guess is about 15-20 years ago.

 

Amazing article, every NBA fan needs to read this instead of just having opinions based on SportsCenter highlights and TNT postgame banter...

 

You know, I've always preferred ESPN.com over SI.com,

But after the recent Jemele Hill postings and reading this SI article on Yao, I have to say I'm leaning towards SI.

 

This really makes me question what the Chinese were doing in their training. Seems like they weren't doing any weightlifting at all!

 

no kidding. maybe it was one like this

 

If ever a thread deserved 5 stars for an article,

THIS IS IT

 

WTF are you talking about, what makes you say Barkley didn't have drive and dedication? The man was 6 ft 4 and became one of the best power forwards in history.

I just don't see why so many people let the things he says make them try to rewrite his history. By the time he got to the rockets he was on the downside of his career and injury plagued. Still, he put up good numbers for a 2nd option.

For my own curiousity, how old were you when Barkley became a Rocket?

 

Yes they are like New Yorkers -competitive and mentally tough.

 

LMAO
What's gonna happen if this bike falls down?
Kill that people?

 

Good article. My favorite part was the caption under the first picture - respect. It's great to see that he's been doing 310 on bech. Like the article said, he doesn't look bulky or strong at all, but he's becoming a beast.

 

I am sure 345 will be his next goal now.

 

Chris Ballard should be nominated for the pulitzer award,what a brilliant short story

 

As reported last summer in some of those Wang Meng articles, Big Yao can press bench 150KG (330 lb) ALREADY !!

And if I am not mistaken, the 310 lb mentioned is not the highest, as Dwight Howard said his highest is 345 lb.

 

great read......it makes you love yao more than you already do

 

Good read, thanks for sharing, Hayesfan.

 

Great article! The work by Falsone and Thibodeua is unbelieveble. Those 2 deserve major kudos.