Yao's agent questioning Chinese NT's training method

I can't believe I'm in a pissing contest over this. Here's the entire article.


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Newsweek, May 1, 1995


Copyright 1995 Newsweek
Newsweek

May 1, 1995 , UNITED STATES EDITION

SECTION: SOCIETY; Pg. 72

LENGTH: 2551 words

HEADLINE: The $ 16 Million Man

BYLINE: BY MARK STARR

HIGHLIGHT:
Sports: In the really big game -- money -- Shaquille O'Neal could be king

BODY:
SHAQUILLE O'NEAL ARRIVES for the Pepsi party at Universal Studios Florida in a mad dash, nearly trampling Woody Woodpecker in the process. Just as quickly he shifts from kid to corporate mode and begins posing for pictures with Pepsi managers, his incandescent smile on autopilot. After 30 minutes, he heads off to claim his reward -- besides about $ g million annually from Pepsi -- for showing up at the company bash. It's a private ride on his favorite, Back to the Future (on which he claims "a world record" 24 consecutive trips). As the car appears to hurtle at rocket speed through time and space, O'Neal, stretched across the front row, roars with delight. Every so often he turns to the ashen-faced reporter in back. and demands with a broad grin, "We all right, NEWSWEEK?"

If "we" aren't, Shaquille most certainly is. Never has a young man's life been better defined by the tattoos on his biceps: one is the Superman symbol, the other boasts THE WORLD IS MINE. At 23 and in only his third season in the National Basketball Association, Shaq has ascended to the demigod status reserved for the game's legends. He has won the scoring title and will contend for MVP award next month. And this week, having led the Orlando Magic to the best record in the Eastern Conference, Shaq begins pursuit of his first NBA championship. "Nothing else -- scoring crowns, MVPs -- is that important," he says. "A championship is the No. 1 priority."

But look, if he were just another oversize fellow with amazing reflexes, we wouldn't be bothering you with this story. Shaq lights up the eyes of little boys -- indeed, all ages and genders -- from Beijing to Orlando to Barcelona and back again. Basketball coaches say you can't teach a 48-inch vertical leap. Well, you can't teach an eight-inch smile, either, especially one like Shaq's that actually twinldes. Shaq is a rare amalgam: at 7 feet 1, 305 pounds, he's a bit larger than a force of nature, and he possesses a fierce gameface. Yet his physical power is not frightening; it's curiously magnetic, even self-deprecating (check out the Pepsi commercial when his head pops through the roof of an automobile). All of which makes Shaq destined to be a legendary scorer in the one game the whole world plays: riches and the accumulation thereof.

He's global: The sports world has long been equal parts athletic and entrepreneurial, but most stars have settled for selling their name and face. Shaq is redefining the merger of athletes and business, beginning with his ownership of the Shaq logo, the shin-dunking figure that adorns all his products. He's global; thanks to the NBA, Pepsi and Reebok, Shaq is almost as famous overseas as his rodent neighbor, Mickey, and foreign visitors now flock to Orlando to see the Magic as well as the Magic Kingdom. And he's multimedia: Shaq raps platinum, shares scenes with Nick Nolte and is angling for his own service station on the Information Superhighway. He's a $ 16 million-a-year man and still growing.

In fact, there's only one guy in short pants who's still beating Shaq at this game. Nope, it's not Shawn Kemp, Larry Johnson, Grant Hill or any of the other salesmen who want you to buy their over-priced shoes. It's Michael. With any luck, Jordan's Chicago Bulls will face Shaq's Magic as early as next week in the second round of the playoffs. It's the corporate gladiator games: Nike vs. Reebok, Gatorade vs. Pepsi, Today vs. Tomorrow. Whoever wins, Michael remains the world's most famous, most successful athlete -- for now. Though Michael's galaxy will always glow, the Age of Shaq is dawning: "It's like Jordan was the best stereo ever, and then along comes Shaq and he's digital," says O'Neal's L.A.-based lawyer/agent, Leonard Armato.

And diligent. Filming his new Pepsi commercial, he surprises various principals by requesting interviews for a marketing course he's taking by correspondence from his college, Louisiana State University. Ask him for a list of heroes, and Shaq lists entrepreneurs: media giant Ted Turner, rap mogul Russell Simmons and Rich DeVos, cofounder of Amway and, perhaps not coincidentally, owner of the Magic. "I'm going to own something someday," says O'Neal. In fact, he has already begun. Unlike Jordan, who's the best commercial pitchman around, O'Neal has an equity interest in virtually everything he sells. (Pepsi is the exception, and O'Neal has investments in Pepsi/South Africa.) And if Shaq's dreams and schemes (orchestrated by Armato's Management Plus Enterprises) come true, O'Neal will rule over a sizable empire. Armato has well served a small stable of stars like Ahmad Rashad, Hakeem Olajuwon and footballer Ronnie Lott. But his most impressive feat thus far has been the 1992 selling of Shaq as the next salvation of the NBA -- before he had played a minute of pro ball.

He's Shaq Fu: Now the selling of Shaq enters a new stage. Armato expects to soon sign a Hollywood deal for Shaq to star in and produce his own movies. First out may be Shaq Fu -- a basketball player turned ninja warrior fights futurist techno-gangs for the hearts and minds of our children. Shaq Fu, of course, doesn't repeat mistakes. O'Neal's first film, the serious, preachy "Blue Chips," bombed. He'll try to avoid that prospect by opting for the slick, superhero approach, a la Seagal or Stallone, easy to market to teens. Next Armato expects to launch Shaq's own record label, using the superstar as a talent magnet. Then there's the prospect of Shaq Online, which would provide via computer everything from Shaq Faqs to bytes of wisdom from his mom. This would be a site to market the countless products that now bear Shaq's imprimatur. And on special occasions Shaq might even go online for some live computer chat.

With many of America's premier athletes, that could be a frightening prospect. But the truth is, Shaq could be -- though he resists it -- a role model for youth. "The best thing I can do for other kids is to lead my life and stay out of trouble," says O'Neal, who claims he doesn't drink and never took drugs. "Kids who really need advice can't count on me because they can't talk to me."

But they can listen. His messages to his 60,000-member fan club may not be more sophisticated than "Follow Your Dream," but they're nevertheless uplifting. "What I want to tell kids is 'You don't want to be like Shaq. You want to be better than Shaq'." Above all, O'Neal says, he strives to be genuine. During his rookie season, Shaq balked at participating in a "Stay in School" campaign, fearing it would smack of hypocrisy since he had dropped out of LSU. He has since returned to school. And though he's still far more likely to channel-surf than to read a book, he'll star in a nationwide literacy campaign for Reading Is Fundamental.

His songs, too, are studded with messages that would surprise those who stereotype rap as America's most misogynous music. "I don't curse, shoot guns, do all that stuff," O'Neal says. "It's just not me." In "Biological Didn't Bother," O'Neal rejects overtures from his birth father, who abandoned Shaq when he was a baby. It's dedicated to his stepfather, Phil Harrison, a retired army sergeant who married O'Neal's mother, Lucille, when Shaq was 2 years old. His "My Dear" is a reverential tribute to her. And in gentlemanly fashion, Shaq won't rap about -- or discuss any girlfriends.

He's regular: While Jordan has offered many public faces -- from a regular guy ("Be Like Mike") to a cool, aloof man hidden behind shades, he remains a rather elusive figure. Shaq's every public manifestation consciously presents a consistent image. It is the slam-dunking monster athlete on the court, the smiling teddy bear off. "You're never going to see me flying or anything like that," says Shaq. Each of his major ads has ended with some endearing self-effacement -- from the little kid who disses him over sharing his Pepsi, to a goof on Shaq's one glaring basketball weakness, shooting free throws.

In his newest commercial, Shaq chases an elusive Pepsi -- Forrest Gump-like through such classic TV shows as "I Love Lucy," "The Honeymoooners" and "Bonanza." Pepsi is so enthusiastic about Shaq's overall performance that it's hard to recall what a huge gamble -- $ 14 million worth -- it took three years back building a campaign around an untested rookie. "Five years seemed like one hell of a commitment at the time," says William Cobb, a Pepsi marketing executive. "But when it works out this good, you sure wish you'd signed him up for 10. He's just so Pepsi."

He isn't always Sugar Shaq. On the second long day of the recent Pepsi shoot, O'Neal threatened to go home if the crew took its lunch break. It stayed, but three hours later, with just one photo session left, Shaq muttered, "That's it" -- and bolted. By the time his management team caught up with him in his private trailer behind the Orlando Arena, Shaq was already out of uniform. All their best efforts couldn't coax the petulant star back. (He did the session the next day.) "He handles so much with great equanimity, so many people coming at him -- all wanting something -- from every direction every waking hour that sometimes he goes on overload," says Armato. "He needs a little breathing room."

There isn't much breathing room for O'Neal in Orlando, or anywhere else. "He doesn't want to be unreachable like Michael Jordan," says teammate Dennis Scott, his closest friend on the Magic. "He wants people to see him and know he's normal." That's a lovely concept in the abstract, but awfully hard to pull off. When O'Neal and some teammates made an unscheduled visit to the Mall of America in Minneapolis, security guards had to be called in to handle the throng that began following him from store to store. O'Neal says, "The celebrity thing is tiresome," but adds, "it's either accept it or get another life."

Yet at times he delights in his celebrity. Tourists, who can't cadge tickets to sold-out Magic games, can sometimes get a glimpse of O'Neal along International Boulevard, one of Orlando's prime hotel strips. Shaq will put down the top on his Mercedes convertible and let folks gawk as he cruises, music blaring, bald pate bopping. When he wants to listen rather than be seen, he drives the "V.O.D.-the Van of Def" a moving boom box in which sound waves assault the riders with hurricane force. "The only thing I've come to like about it is if I'm waiting and getting nervous about when Shaq will show up, I can stop worrying when he's still a mile away," says Dennis Tracey, Shaq's personal manager and former college roommate.

He's home: If God is in the details, Tracey is on a divine mission. He tracks Shaq's life from the essentials, like the Magic schedule, to minutiae, like whether the beverage Shaq is about to quaff is his (meaning Pepsi's) or whether the label needs to be obscured. He briefs Shaq before every encounter. When it comes to what Shaq wants to know, he learns very quickly. After he saw the first financial statements from his best-selling album, he was outraged that those who produced the beats -- the bass and percussion lines that drive rap-netted far more than the wordsmith. "They're my songs," he protested. Shaq now works on beats in his home recording studio virtually every day. "I don't play golf," he says. "This is what I do to relax."

His home, in the exclusive residential community of Isleworth, is a 22,000-square-foot lakeside manse protected by a succession of iron gates and guards. Shaq lives alone in the 16-room, nine-bathroom neo-classic house. It is a mixture of elegance -- from the Oriental carpets to the granite floor to the African art to the leather couches -- and kitsch, from the landscape sculptures of animals to the soft-drink machines to the video and pinball games to the upstairs mini sports museum. (Shaq's prized possessions are two autographed O. J. Simpson football jerseys, obtained before O.J. was as famous as he is today.)

It is also the most conspicuous reminder that, for all his mature personal and professional judgment, Shaq just celebrated his 23d birthday. (His mother cooked fried chicken for the whole family. Most other meals are provided by Shaq's personal chef, who recently melded his New England training with Shaq's Louisiana college roots to create a lobster po' boy.) At home the kid in Shaq gets free rein; there's a basketball court, an indoor swimming pool, an eight-seat movie theater and a waterbike on which Shaq is the terror of the lake. Toy hoops -- Shaq's own model, of course -- abound, with one even perched on the arch of the elegant marble staircase that leads to the upstairs living quarters. O'Neal seems to get almost as much pleasure dunking over his friends and family as he does on Patrick Ewing. "Shaq likes to win no matter who or where he's playing," says Tracey.

Before this season, Shaq still had his doubters. Critics carped about his limited assortment of shots, deriding Shaq as a dunk specialist. They fretted about his outside distractions and nodded sagely last year when Orlando exited its first playoffs ever without winning a game. Publicly Shaq disdains any criticism of his game. "When you're seven-one, why should you shoot jumpers?" But this season he added jump shots, soft hooks and even an occasional fake. His career shooting percentage remains above .580, highest in NBA history. "He's unstoppable," said Los Angeles Lakers big man Sam Bowie, after O'Neal torched L.A. for 46 points.

But it was O'Neal's two free throws to clinch the game that sent him racing across the court, high-fiving and shouting "What" (roughly translated: "Who's the man?") to his teammates. Shaq knows his playoff op ponents will try to exploit his free-throw shooting woes by continually fouling him. In recent months, he has begun shooting an extra 150 free throws a day, trying to find the rhythm that will eliminate the last mystery the game holds for him. "Once I start hitting my free throws, I'm going to work on my three-pointer," he joked recently. "Maybe when you're 28," retorted Scott.

The fact that great centers like Ewing and Olajuwon have peaked around the age of 80 makes such boasts no laughing matter for the rest of the NBA. The emergence of O'Neal's running mate, Anfernee Hardaway, as an all-star in just his second season should make Orlando a title contender throughout the decade. "We're going to be the Kareem and Magic [Johnson] of the '90s," says Shaq. "That's just my opinion, but my opinion is the only one that counts with me."

But with the playoffs here, even Shaq's opinions don't count for all that much. NBA dominance is one thing that is easily measured. Kareem and Magic teamed up for five NBA titles with the Los Angeles Lakers. Michael Jordan had his three-peat. Shaq may be destined to be as rich and famous as any athlete in history, a future ease study for Harvard Business School. But he remains first of all a basketball player, and marketing has never won an NBA championship. If Shaq wants to be the true Air Apparent, then this is the time for him to step up. Shaq can truly come of age in only one place -- on the court.

GRAPHIC: Picture 1, Smile! Just turned 23, a basketball demigod who's already redefinging the merger of athletes and business, NEIL LEIFER; Picture 2, Shaq attacks: 'When you're seven-one, why shoot jumpers?', TOM DIPACE; Picture 3, 'The World is Mine': a 16-room, 9-bathroom lakeside Florida home is one place where the kid in him gets free rein, NEIL LEIFER; Picture 4, Try filling these shoes: Lawyer/agent Armato's most impressive feat was selling Shaq as the salvation of the NBA -- before he'd played a minute of pro ball, MICHAEL GRECCO - SYGMA

LOAD-DATE: May 2, 1995




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According to the National Jumping Association ( http://www.nja.coolfreepage.com/intro.htm ) , Shaq's vertical is 32".

That article that was just posted is just quoting a popular saying among coaches, not Shaq's actual vertical.

 

The artcile is very "as a matter of fact..."
or "casual."

Do the math...

Vince Carter, during the Slam Dunk Championship, reached hight of 43" inches. He's 6'6". His ELBOW was IN the basket.

Shaq is 7'1". If he was to jump the same, 43" inches, his ELBOW would be almost over the white square on the backboard (6 more inches than Carter based on height alone).

Now, you said Shaq jumps 48" inches. That's an additional 5" inches on top of Shaq's hight.

Let's see, that would put Shaq's ELBOW at the top of the backboard!

No. Shaq's vert is around 28-32, if that.

Jordan and Spud reached heights of 50+.

 

It's Yao's cousin plus agent Zhang Ming Ji who were talking.

His perception of the NT training being improper rests mainly on the length of training period. 4 months of training is too long in his book. "I haven't heard about such a long training period for other NT trainings". Nah, that's wrong Mr.Zhang, I heard the Agentina team that beat the USA trained for one year.

He used another example of an injury/ailment laden Bayi Rockets pf to illustrate his point, but it's too stretching to say a injury prone pf is the sign of NT's improper training without further elaboration.

He did say that "Yao doesn't care a lot about missing summer camp in the USA, because he can train with the NT" though.

 

Hmmm, I was guessing. But 32 seems about right (back in 1995).

Today he's probably around 25-28 because of his big body (350lbs).

Yao's vert is around 5" inches.

Shawn Bradley's is around 1" inch.

Ha!

 

You joke about it, but I bet ya Yao's vertical is no more than 12"-18" or so.

Isiah Thomas had a high vertical too. He never dunked in games, but I remember seeing a picture a long long time ago where he jumped and was able to touch the top of the square.

 

Codell, one of the most amazing BIG MAN jumpers was Antonio McDyess before his injury problems.

I remember once time in Denver he swatted Hakeem's fadways (95-96?).

Hakeem and McDyess got into a fight. And it was the last time that Hakeem fought someone.

That's when he started knowing his time was over.

Hakeem lost the fight for the first time in his career.

 

I remember that fight. It was when McDyess played for Phoenix. It was the only fight Hakeem had since he become a devote Muslim (circa 1992). I remember he apologized to McDyess a short time afterwards.

 

what's Hakeem's vertical? i think it must be higher than 35.
and i remember reading an article a while ago saying that Yao's vertical is 25.

 

Yao's head comes close to the rim, I am guessing his vertical is around 20 inches.

I read in a scouting report where his vertical was less than the average NBA big man, not significantly less but less.

 

wizkid83:- Sorry I didnt mean to sound so insulting it just that I want to know exactly what they found as it wasn't made clear to me just what they found. It still isn't! ( It sounds like a make up story in the Press, to get rest for our Center, especially without clarification!)

 

Don't worry about it, it was kind of hard trying to translate it directly, I thought I was clear enough, maybe not. Instead of translating I guess I'll just paraphrase the article instead.

Basically Yao got a physical before going back. The results didn't show anything major but the doctors agree that Yao's body have problems due to fatigue. They feel that his health is bad enough that any further physical activities will cause serious problems down the line and can shorten his career. So they all felt that rest was required and apparently the Chinese NT follow the advice. The rest of the article Yao's cousin/agent pretty much bashed the Chinese BBall system saying things like their trainings aren't scientific and such.

It could be a made up stories to get Yao rest, but I won't overlook it. Especially for a big man,whose body are known to break down over time. With Yao schedule and the fact that he has gone through vigorous training since he was like 13 can greatly speed up such a down fall. It's really hard to pinpoint exactly what would be wrong with the center, look at Hakeem, I would say his last surgery was the reason for his sharp downhill curve in his career. It wasn't like he got anything major happen to him, his body just broke down. I'm sure before the surgery, there were signs but they were small enough to ignore and him to keep playing. The same could be with Yao, but its too early in his career to be seeing these signs and that's why I'm worried.

 

wiz, you say "don't worry about it" and then end with "that's why I'm worried." Make up your mind!

I bet it's a scam to get him major rest, which he desperately needs. I hope it works.

 

I said "Don't worried about it" to Yetti semi apology.

I'm worried about the heath of our center.

 

Not sure, But if Kobe's vert is 38, (good for a guard) and McDyess was 42 (incredible for 6'10" center), then it would be reasonable to say that Hakeem's vert in his youth (1984-91) was probably around 35-37. Remember Hakeem was 6'10" and had long arms. So, for a guy of that size and length to jump 35" inches was amazing! That's why he's the all time leader in blocks!