Yao thrills crowd at first China NBA game
Yao thrills crowd at first China NBA game
Agencies, Shanghai, China
Yao Ming's Houston Rockets squeezed past the Sacramento Kings
on Thursday in the first NBA game to be played in China, a
country the fast-growing basketball league deems a potential
marketing mecca.
The Rockets topped the Kings 88-86 in a pre-season match-up --
but in many ways the score did not matter.
All eyes were glued on hometown hero Yao, who has emerged as a
worldwide marketing phenomenon that lured mega-sponsors from
McDonald's to Disney to the China games, which include a match-up
between the same teams in Beijing on Sunday.
A capacity crowd of more than 11,000 at the newly refurbished
Shanghai Stadium cheered raucously every time Yao attacked the
basket.
"Yao Ming is quite simply the most important development for
the world of basketball, for the NBA, in China that has ever
occurred," NBA Commissioner David Stern told reporters.
The 2.29-metre (7ft-6ins) Yao has become a symbol of emerging
China and a key part of the globalization of sport.
Yao, 23, was one of the first Chinese nationals to be allowed
to head to the NBA. After three years in the league -- he was
taken by the Rockets as the top draft choice in 2001 -- he has
established himself as one of the game's premier players.
The center's marketability has made him Asia's hottest sports
commodity. Observers say his youthful sense of humor and self-
deprecating manner have won him fans in a league characterized by
brashness and individuality.
Yao scored 14 points on Thursday even though he was taken out
with two minutes to go in the third quarter and was never played
again despite the crowd shouting for his return.
Head coach Jeff Van Gundy said he did not want to overplay the
Chinese.
Yao said: "I don't think I played that well. I was a bit
nervous, just as if I was playing my first NBA game. Perhaps it
was because I'm not used to such an occasion."
Yao's popularity is such that more than half of the visits to
NBA Web sites last season were from outside the United States --
the first time that has happened. He twice garnered more All-Star
votes than Shaquille O'Neal.
It has also earned endorsement contracts galore, including one
with Reebok who recently signed a five-year deal to sell NBA gear
in Asia.
Forbes magazine put Yao at the top of its list of Chinese
celebrities with an estimated income of US$14.5 million, largely
from his endorsement deals.
Meanwhile, NBA commissioner David Stern said he expects the
NBA in China to expand in step with the country's burgeoning
economy, which clocked 9.3 percent growth last year.
"In order to bring two teams here, and over 100 NBA employees,
to pay for travel, accommodation ... we have spent several
millions of dollars," Stern said.
"This is an extraordinary investment in an economy and country
which is the largest in the world in respects of population and
an economy that is outstripping the rest of the world in terms of
growth.
"Over the next 20 years, the growth of the NBA in China will
mirror or parallel the growth in China."
Beijing's hosting of the 2008 Olympic Games, Stern said, was
central to the NBA decision to bring the Houston Rockets and the
Sacramento Kings to China for two exhibition games this week.
He said the NBA was seeking to help Beijing sports authorities
stage the 2008 Olympic basketball tournament, similar to its role
in Athens, and may even hold an NBA regular-season game at the
Beijing Olympics basketball venue.