The Phenomena of Yao Ming

Since Yao Ming, the first player without any American basketball experience before, was selected by Houston Rockets as the 1st overall pick in the 2002 draft, the past five years have witnessed a sharp rise in basketball fever in China. People gathered around to watch Houston Rockets’ game and showed interest in Yao’s performance. Large number of Chinese teenagers dreamed that they can play like Yao Ming and enter the NBA league one day in future. Yao’s hard work led him to become one of the best players in the league. Not only did the mass media and many experts give him highly praise, like “Chinese Great Wall”, but also he was voted as the starting roster for the Western Conference in NBA All Star game by his millions of NBA fans votes. As a result, Chinese players are highly approved and attract many teams’ scouts’ attention because Yao, to some extent, represents Chinese players. Those with the title “the next Yao Ming” are eager to trace Yao’s success. Yi Jianlian and Sun Yue have been successfully picked by NBA teams this year and are ready to show their abilities in this highest level of league in the world. We can optimistically estimate that increasing number of Chinese players will performance in NBA in future.