Yao's journal, on June 30, 2004

June 30, 2004

"When I heard about the trade, my first thought was that I will miss my friends Steve, Cuttino and Kelvin very much. They were great teammates, and were all very helpful to me during my first 2 years in the NBA. I'm sorry to see them go, but I understand that is the way of the business. I wish them well with their new team. But I am also very excited to be playing with Tracy McGrady. He is one of the best, most exciting players in the NBA. We also get very talented players in Juwan Howard, Tyronn Lue and Reece Gaines . I welcome them all to Houston and look forward to playing with them."

April 18 2004

I am really excited to be in the playoffs, and honestly, a bit nervous. Even though I was feeling tired as the regular season wound down, I know I'm going to have to gear up because the post season is a big opportunity for us.

We had a disappointing lose in Game One of our matchup with the Lakers. It was such a close game. Shaq played very well, and I realize that I just need to push myself harder to face him and beat the Lakers. Our playing mentality in Game One was, if you're not going to let us breathe, we're not going to let you breathe either. Because we couldn't put the ball in the basket, we knew we couldn't let them put the ball in the basket. We'll just have to do better than we've done. We've had Sunday to rest, and now we're ready for Game Two.

March 12, 2004

I have been happy with how the team has been doing, and I have been feeling very confident about my playing, a lot more than at the beginning of the season. I was very honored to win Western Conference Player of the Week recently. I'm a little surprised that I had the week I did, playing against the Timberwolves, Lakers, and Mavericks. I'd like to thank everybody who selected me. It's the first time I'd been selected Player of the week, and I'm very happy. I think my improvement in playing is my self confidence.

On another note, I just became a spokesperson for McDonald's, which I'm very excited about, since they are such a great company. I was able to meet Ronald McDonald at the press conference. Some of you may know this, but there is really only one Ronald McDonald.

I was 12 when the first McDonald's opened up in China. It was a very big deal. People were excited because they wanted something new, and everybody had heard about McDonald's. My parents knew that kids loved McDonald's, so they used that as an incentive for me to get good grades in school. If I got good grades, they would take me to McDonald's. I started traveling internationally as a basketball player when I was 17. Everywhere I went, there were fast-food restaurants. It was very simple to get this food. It's so convenient. One of the big reasons that I am happy to work with McDonald's is that they do a lot of help children. Now that I'm working with McDonald's, I don't have to bring money when I want to eat there.

Feb 2, 2004

I'd like to thank all of my fans for selecting me as the West's starting center in the All-star game. It is truly an honor to represent the Western conference. I look forward to share this priviledge with Steve and many other great players in Los Angeles.

Jan 22, 2004

I want to wish everyone a Happy Chinese New Year. Coach Van Gundy continues to push me to become a stronger player, along with Coach Ewing. I think I have been able to gain more intensity on the court, but we need to pull together on the offensive to get more wins.

Dec 25 2003

I am very excited about our win over the Lakers on Christmas Day. I was kind of surprised that we had to play, seeing how it was Christmas Day. I found out from fellow players, such as Steve, that playing on this day is a great honor because the game will be nationally televised, and many people will probably be at home watching us. Only the best teams play on Christmas Day. I was nervous about this game because there was so much hype surrounding the "third showdown" between Shaq and me, but I think everyone on my team pulled together and played very well. Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, got lots of great presents, and have a wonderful New Year's!


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