A great ambassador for basketball
- By Liang Tao
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E-mail CRI, April 8, 2016
With eight All-Star selections, Yao Ming was among the most dominant centers ever to play the game and one of the best international players in the NBA's history. He is also the first international player to break the record for the most All-Star votes, an honor previously held only by American players. His induction is a testament to his impact on the globalization of the game.
Yao Ming's influence can also be demonstrated financially. His former teammates Chuck Hayes, Louis Scola and Shane Battier admitted that any member of Yao's team could easily win lucrative contracts representing Chinese brands.
Six years ago, Yao Ming cut short his career because of intermittent ankle injuries. At that time, he was 30 years old. Sports Illustrated, a leading US-based sports magazine, called him "the most influential player after Michael Jordan in the NBA". In that article, the author attributed much of the NBA's popularity in China to the Houston Rockets center. For many American basketball fans, Yao Ming is considered responsible for basketball's growth and popularity in his native China. ESPN statistics showed that a game featuring Yao Ming and the Rockets against his countryman Yi Jianlian and the Milwaukee Bucks in 2007 in China drew over 200 million television viewers across the country, making the game one of the most watched games in the NBA history. From this perspective, his induction is a well deserved acknowledgment for his role in spreading the NBA's popularity in China.
Yao Ming has ended his professional sports career, but his impact on the game has continued unabated. The 36-year-old is now President of the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association. One of China's most recognizable people, he is also active with charities and the Special Olympics. Earlier this year, Yao Ming led 18 CBA clubs to establish a CBA professional league company in order to boost the development of professional sports. These activities have earned him a comparison to former NBA Commissioner David Stern among western sports journalists.
As a leading figure in the game, Yao Ming has continued to influence the sports industry well beyond his days on the court. With such high degrees of impact, Yao's induction to the Basketball Hall of Fame is a well deserved honor!
Congratulations to the great ambassador of the game!
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