Houston Rockets' center Yao Ming is the highest-ranked athlete on the annual list of the 100 most powerful people in US sports.

Yao, the Chinese-born first overall draft pick in 2002, is ranked No 25 on the list, which was published in The Sporting News on Wednesday.

"With the NBA pushing to expand in China, Yao could become a Jordanesque figure (earning Jordanesque figures) in the world's largest country with its white-hot economy," the magazine wrote of Yao, who was one place higher than golfer Tiger Woods.

George Bodenheimer, president of sports television network ESPN, topped the list, followed by National Football League commissioner Paul Tagliabue, Nike chairman Phil Knight and Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig.

(China Daily January 9, 2004)