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ASIAN AMERICAN ISSUES
Yao Ming: The Next Asian Superstar?
(Updated
Wednesday, Jan 22, 2025, 06:38:56 AM)
he sweetest moment for Asian men in American sports came on June 26, 2002 at Madison Square Garden. The Houston Rockets had just spent their number one overall draft pick on 7-5 Chinese center Yao Ming over 6-2 Duke guard Jay Williams. The largely black crowd of draft prospects and their contingents had reason to be displeased. For the past quarter century black athletes had dominated pro basketball and they saw Yao as a subversive force, an alien threat. Even Charles Barkley -- Yao's basketball idol -- sniped at Houston's choice and hinted at bad consequences.
David or Goliath?
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What's wrong with this picture?
In the global sports scene blacks have come to represent all-around athletic prowess. Asian athletes, on the other hand, have been painted as disciplined and skilled but lacking power and size, able to excel only in sports no one cares about. For an Asian to get the top pick in a black-dominated sport was heresy.
To appreciate what Yao represents to Asian American men requires a quick trip down memory lane. And we do mean quick. The lane is short and sparsely populated.
In the beginning there was Sammy Lee, the first Asian American to win Olympic gold. He did it with 10-meter platform diving at the 1948 London games and again in 1952 at the Helsinki games. Not exactly a marquee sport, but inspiring nevertheless in a time when Asian Americans hardly knew what to call themselves.
Then came Michael Chang whose 1989 French Open championship has passed into tennis legend. Cramping and down two sets to Ivan Lendl in the round of 16, the 17-year-old phenom dared to discombobulate the Ice Man with moonballs and an underhanded serve. The ploy worked. The proof that Chang's nerves and speed were real came in the classic 5-set finals victory against Stefan Edberg. But Chang's recent ignomious descent into tennis twilight raises the suspicion that he simply lacks the size and power to stay in the power game.
It wasn't until Hideo Nomo joined the Dodgers in 1995 that an Asian athlete was able to inspire sustained frenzy in one of the big-three sports. Nomo's martian windup and delivery proved so effective that he set Dodgers strikeout records, made the All-Stars and inspired Nomomania.
By 2001 when Ichiro Suzuki joined the Mariners, Asian imports taking Rookie of the Year honors had practically become a Major League tradition. But none had done it with Ichiro's flair or sunglasses. It wasn't enough that he led the game in hitting and basestealing, he seemed determined to make it look easy. Sex appeal had finally come to the image of the Asian male athlete.
But the image still lacked something in many AA minds. Sure, for a leadoff hitter Ichiro hit his share of home runs, but he was known for speed and finesse, not power. Having chafed so long under stereotypes denying them size and strength, AA men longed for a star who could knock those assumptions back into the last millennium.
Eyes turned longingly to football as the obvious arena for the ultimate stereotype smasher -- and saw only Dat Nguyen of the Dallas Cowboys. As a promising linebacker, Nguyen doesn't enjoy the cache of a star offensive back. And at 5-11 and 240 pounds, Nguyen isn't exactly in the 99th percentile in terms of size and power among football players.
Asian American eyes were drawn to basketball by a trio of giants known collectively as "The Great Wall". They were very big for the Chinese national team. First to make his NBA debut was Wang Zhizhi (7-1, 220 pounds) in April 2001. As a center for the Dallas Mavericks he has averaged 5.5 points per 10.6 minutes of playing time per game. A respectable stat for any rookie but disappointing for those who had hoped for an instant Asian star. Then came Mengke Bateer (6-11, 290 pounds) in February of 2002. Despite 15.1 minutes of play per game as a center for the Denver Nuggets, he too disappointed some with an average 5.1 points and 3.6 rebounds.
Enter the Dragon. At a height variously described as 7-5 or 7-6, Yao Ming, 22, is at once the tallest and youngest of the trio. In the past two years his weight shot up from 255 to 295 pound -- and he's still growing. His gifts extend beyond size, however. He moves a foot shorter. Born to a pair of former stars for the Chinese national teams, his court instincts and skills are practically dyed-in-the-wool.
And yet Yao isn't a lock to defy the darker prognostications of his prospects as a Rocket. He was regularly outplayed by Wang Zhizhi when both were playing in China. Even with Yao, Wang and Mengke, the Chinese national team routinely lost to second-tier powers like France and Lithuania. Yao has never gone up against the likes of Shaquille O'Neal. The adjustment to life in the U.S. will be long and difficult. In short, Yao Ming is ideally positioned to become the biggest disappointment in the history of Asians in American sports.
Is Yao Ming the next Asian superstar? Or is he more likely to reinforce the image of Asian men as also-rans in power sports?
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WHAT YOU SAY
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http://www.iaaf.org/WJC02/Multimedia/get.asp?MediaID=2350&imgh=photo
check out Tao Wu the world junior championship record discuss thrower in 2002, now that's power for you!!!
jj
Saturday, August 03, 2002 at 19:51:57 (PDT)
Jared,
Yao made is as #1 pick is still impressive. This is a break through for asain players. No time in history has this ever happen that an asain basketball player was chosen #1. No time in history was even a international player who never play college basketball [in u.s.a] went #1 pick. Be proud!!!
Still impressive
Saturday, August 03, 2002 at 14:51:29 (PDT)
FOP
you meant more delusional chinese like yourself??? right???? just because ming is asian doesn't mean who should blindly crown him the next shaq, moron!
Of course, I would love to see a fellow Asian do well but after watching him in games and comparing him to NBA stars, I'm not impressed.
Ming will be lucky if he becomes the next Rik Smits, be realistic. You and Chinatown, two over zealous nationalistic delusional Chinese characters. Why don't you guy just compare Ming to Wilt? yeah right!
Hoops
Friday, August 02, 2002 at 19:48:47 (PDT)
Dan Wang,
As long as he doesn't become a crack head thug like Chris Webber, I think asians can be proud of him.
Like I said superstardom is not all about individual skills. It is about a support network in the bigger structure of the NBA. Players, fans, franchise, coaches, executives, and referees all need to get behind a superstar pheno.
You keep talking about him cracking under the pressure. I'm sure his English skills are at the level where he can ignore the hype pretty effectively just by thinking in Chinese.
The hype makes non b-ball fans aware of his existance which in and of itself is pretty good for the overall asian image in the USA.
So you're right Nike probably won't have Yao shoe line, his face is not going to be on a Wheatie box, and he might not be inducted in the NBA hall of fame.
But I do believe he will be a respectable player in the NBA. There are just too many variable to speculate too far into his budding career. Hell, he could be bench after his first year due to injuries for all we know.
AC Dropout
Friday, August 02, 2002 at 09:37:55 (PDT)
Yao Ming went #1 because most of the draft wasn't that great this year. Jason Williams was the voted best player in college basketball, but there'are always one or 2 of him in every draft. Mike Dunleavy at #3? Oh please, his name wasn't even mentioned 3 months prior to the draft. Drew Gooden had a decent college career, but he's no better than Jason or Jarron Collins. And Caron BUtler is no Paul Pierce. Just throughout, this draft sucked.
Yao will be alright, but probably only in the level of Rik Smits, not one of the greats like Jabbar or Hakeem. Both Jabbar and Hakeem had untouchable post up moves.
Now Rik Smits was an alright player, but did he dominate basketball?? Of course not! But he didn't suck. He did have a respectable career and help Indiana reach the Finals at least once. I hope Yao does get to do that, but still, for the hype that is going on, it seems everyone wants him to be the next Wilt Chamberlain. I don't think so!
Yao doesn't have that authoritative presence. Let's face it. If you're not a strong player by age 20, you're not going to be a strong player afterwards. Camby tried. Van Horn tried. They all added muscle, but they still played the same weak game. For comparison, Players like Shaq, Ben Wallace, Barkely had all played a physical game their entire lives. Yao is just a bit soft compared to the strong ones, and that's not enough. He got some inside admirable game for the CBA level, but he definitely doesn't have any inside game for the NBA level. Anybody that watches basketball should notice that. So if you can't bang in the paint, it's going to be hard to succeed as a center in the pros. Like I said, he plays like Rik Smits. Now would Rik Smits ever get this kind of attention? Beleive it or not, he did. He was drafted #2 in his year.
So Yao may have a very decent outside shot, but no matter how good it is, it's still not as good as a high-percentage shot like a dunk or 2 footer. He's most likely going to have some difficulty adjusting to the physical nature of the NBA. Even Batere, a 290lb elephant, agrees.
I agree with Dan and think we should just let the man play instead of annointing him and expecting him to be the messiah that will revolutionize basketball.
Jared
Friday, August 02, 2002 at 09:33:37 (PDT)
Those who think Yao Ming will be the last of the biggest Asian basketball players in the NBA are wrong. He is among the first. I found this interesting article about Yao Ming and more upcoming Chinese basketball stars, all younger than Yao.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/special/yao/1465763
Some future NBA players in the CBA:
Tang Zhengdong, a 7-1 center
Jianlian Yi, a 6-11 forward
Xue Yuyang, a 7-1 forward
Sun Heo Hua, a 7-3 1/2 center
And actual quotes by an NBA scout of even younger talent in China (I believe Ray was refering to this article):
"I was up in the northern part of China, up near the Mongolian border, and I found 20 7-footers between the ages of 13 and 17. You can't find five 7-footers over here in America between those ages."
"There's a 16-year-old 7-footer over there right now who will be in the NBA in the next three or four years. And there's a 12-year-old kid over there that I worked out who's already 6-11. They're saying he might be 7-8. I was blown away when I was over there."
This is just the beginning of a new era in the NBA.
B. Lee
Thursday, August 01, 2002 at 21:44:54 (PDT)
"What the f.. is wrong with some of you people? Use your brains. I'm Asian."
So what? We all know there are self-hating AA out there.
FOP
Thursday, August 01, 2002 at 20:55:33 (PDT)
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