Magic was only about 50 percent effective in that series because he was coming off of a knee injury. The series was only 3 games meaning fewer adjustments by both team. And it wasn't really Hakeem but Sampson that actually led the team during that series.
Peoples are just more concerned about Yao's attitude or temperament. that's all... Can he 'become' the great player with dominant attitude? Or are we seeing who he is already?
Yao's comment simply tells couple things: 1. Yao is home sick. 2. He does NOT have real friends on the team. Boki might be the closest one. Yao occassionally goes out with Boki. But Boki is not the kind of friend that you could discuss everything with due to cultural differences. The only other friend could be Mooch who was very helpful when Yao arrived. All the guys on the team just come together playing a game and then go home mind their own business. I would guess the team does NOT have good chemistry like Kings. It is business as usual. 3. Yao has NOT adopted Houston as second home yet. I guess this is mainly because he has not developed real friendship with teammates. I think this is going to be very important factor for his upcoming free agency. Again this is my personal view. Yao did not say anything about this.
I think it was shared leadership. It was Sampson who took over when Hakeem was out, but Hakeem also had a leadership role in that series.
to be fair I was just kidding about the Lagos thing...i understand where yao is coming from, i'm new to chicago from the A TX which is not nearly as different as China
I think he is under a lot of pressure from JVG and homesick. Plus, what would have he said. "China is not my home, Houston is my home."
yao needs to lower his expectation of "friendship". How many people have great friends at work, NBA or not?
