Dec 17
When you walk around the Yuanshen, you quickly realize that this is Yao Ming's house. His image adorns the walls, the banners and the advertisements, whilst his retired jersey hangs from the rafters. During home games, Yao watches from his private box up high in the arena, looking down on players and fans alike like an emperor.
The imminent retirement of Houston Rockets’ center Yao Ming comes as no surprise to anyone who has followed the Shanghai native’s career from his early beginnings in the game. Persistent injuries over the past few seasons have allowed the towering center to only play in a handful of games. Coming off of his most recent injury, a stress fracture of his ankle, may have put the writing on the wall for the former Shanghai Sharks star.
When the lanky Shanghainese first landed in Houston in 2002, few expected him to achieve what he now stands for. In his nine seasons of playing in the NBA, Yao Ming averaged 19 points, 9.2 rebounds per game. Yet his contribution to basketball and the NBA cannot be told by these stats, as Yao basically globalized the sport more than anyone in history.
The news came out yesterday from Yahoo Sports that the 7-foot-6 player is to retire soon due to left foot and ankle injury, which already cost him the past two seasons. Yao's injury was a typical result of over-playing. Since the 2004 Athens Games, the "Moving-Great Wall" constantly found himself moving over the Pacific Ocean to reunite with his Chinese teammates for glories in the Asian Champs, the Olympics after at least four surgeries.
Jan 28
An article looking at the latest tennis duo from China, and how some of the world's less-reported sports are producing China's future athletic stars.
For all of about five seconds, there was discussion about an "all Chinese" final in the Australian Open. The People's Daily newspaper had already crowned Li Na and Zheng Jie — the Chinese female tennis players who both managed to advance into the final four to play against Serena Williams and Justine Henin, respectively — "two golden flowers."
Nov 5
According to the Shanghai Daily, NBA basketball star Yao Ming is not the owner of the Shanghai Sharks, the Chinese star's former team, and he has not been guaranteed ownership of the team.
The newspaper reported that while Yao's management group, Team Yao, has been signed on as an "entrusted investor" for the next five years, the basketball player is officially not an owner.
Jul 16
The Chinese NBA star Yao Ming is buying his former CBA team, the Shanghai Sharks. The team finished the second last in the 08-09 season, the worst ever result in club's history.
"As a Shanghainese, I'm emotionally attached to the team," Yao was quoted as saying by a state-owned television station. "The club is now in a difficult situation and I hope I can do something to help."
It's such a good thing to do when you can help your former teammates with their careers. But what can Yao get from the Sharks?
Two players in Guangdong Southern Tigers (广东宏远) and three in Shandong Lions (山东黄金) were fined and suspended by CBA last week for a brawl in their quarter-final playoff match. Guangdong, the defending champion, was barely touched by the punishment and extended their winning streak to 25 games after defeating Dongguan Leopards (东莞马可波罗) by 111 - 103 in their first semi-final match on Sunday. Everyone's happy in the in-form Guangdong side, even the two young players who were supposed to be put on the bench be there's a suspension or not. The two were fined RMB 70,000 ($ 10,239 USD) in all. This may not be a small sum for bench players, but their financial situation is head and shoulders above veterans like Liu Wei (刘炜) in the Shanghai team.
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