China's star basketballer, Yao Ming, who plays for the Houston Rockets, was named one of six candidates for the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s Sportsmanship Award on Tuesday.

Other nominees include Shaquille O'Neal who plays with Miami Heat, Elton Brand of the Los Angeles Clippers, Luol Deng of the Chicago Bulls, Jacque Vaughn of the New Jersey Nets, and Russian Andrei Kirilenko of the Utah Jazz.

The annual award is given to NBA players who best exemplify sportsmanship on the court. The eventual winner will be selected by five retired NBA legends, and the result announced after the regular season, which ends on April 20.

Standing at 7'6", Yao, currently in his best NBA campaign, averaged 22.7 points and 10.3 rebounds in his first 52 games this season.

Incidentally, he also earned the Player of the Week honor in the NBA Western Conference on Monday. In his three games last week, Yao made 62.5 percent of his shots, averaging 33.3 points and 12.3 rebounds to give the Rockets a 2-1 aggregate. 

LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers continued his hold on the Eastern Conference award.

(Xinhua News Agency April 5, 2006)