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Yao
Ming
By Doris Fisher
Yao Ming was mobbed
as he carried the Olympic torch in Beijing before the start
of the 2008 Summer Olympics. During the opening ceremony,
held on August 8, 2008, Yao carried the flag as the delegation
of Chinese athletes entered the stadium behind him.
Born in Shanghai,
China, in 1980, Yao Ming is the tallest player in the NBA!
He is 7 feet 6 inches tall. Yao’s father is 6 feet 7
inches and his mother is 6 feet 3 inches. They both played
professional basketball.
Yao started playing
basketball at the age of nine. At the age of ten, he was 5
feet 5 inches tall when a doctor predicted Yao would grow
to 7 feet 3 inches. Yao made the Sharks Junior Team when he
was 13. He became a member of the senior team at the age of
17.
In his second season
with the Sharks, he broke his foot for the second time. In
his fifth and final year on their senior team, the Sharks
won the championship of the Chinese Basketball Association.
Yao made all 21 of his shots in one of the final games of
the playoffs!
In 2002 he entered
the NBA Draft and was selected by the Houston Rockets as the
first overall pick of the draft. During his years with the
Rockets, the team has not advanced past the first round of
the playoffs. However, in all six of his seasons, Yao has
been voted to the NBA All-Star Game and started as the center
for the Western Conference.
After missing only
two games of play during his first three years with the NBA,
Yao was on the inactive list during his fourth season, 2005-2006,
due to an infection of his big toe on his left foot. Surgery
was performed. Afterward he came back to play 25 games, and
then, with only four games left in the season, he broke a
bone in his left foot.
Early in the fifth
season, Yao broke his right knee. And in his sixth season,
2007-2008, Yao suffered a stress fracture in his left foot.
The Rockets had a 12 game winning streak, and even without
Yao, the Rockets continued to win 22 games in a row, the second-longest
streak in NBA history. Yao underwent surgery and had screws
place in his foot to strengthen the bone.
Yao is now healthy
and happy to represent his native country at the Beijing Olympics
on the China basketball team.
Fun Facts about Yao Ming
- He weighed 11
pounds when he was born and has no brothers or sisters.
- Yao first played
for China in the 2000 Summer Olympics.
- When_ Yao carried
the Chinese Flag during the opening ceremony at the2004
Athens Olympics, he considered it a dream come true.
- Yao is married
to Ye Li, a former basketball player for the China women’s
national basketball team.
- Yao co-authored
a book, Yao: A Life in Two Worlds, with Ric Bucher.
- He starred
in the movie The Year of the Yao, which chronicled his rookie
year in the NBA.
- He is one of
China’s most well-known athletes and has been the
richest celebrity in China for the past five years.
- His sponsorships
deals have included Nike, Reebok, Pepsi, and McDonald’s.
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