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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 booed. They 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 at 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
[This page is closed to new input. --Ed.]
Argentina just beat US. My Argentine girlfriend is happy tonight given Argentina did poorly in the FIFA World Cup. How could US lose to Argentina given they don't even have professional basketball. I think tomorrow the press will blast all those NBA players and demand a pay cut on all of them. The end of US invincibility in hoop just begins.
FOP
Wednesday, September 04, 2002 at 19:17:48 (PDT)
[24.93.48.161]
Blinded,
I don't know. There's a difference between popularity and awareness. It didn't sound like Yao was too well liked when they announced he went first. A lot of people knew of him, but I don't think they were/are too fond of him.
huu76
Monday, September 02, 2002 at 22:41:49 (PDT)
[207.164.88.163]
Alright, the 7-foot, 200+ lbs. man sucks. But, just give Yao Ming time. This feat never, ever, ever happens overnight. It will take him years to perfect his game in the NBA.
dsfbcbsijbdax
Monday, September 02, 2002 at 12:13:16 (PDT)
[148.4.22.148]
blinded by your jealousy ,
Your basketball knowledge is seriously lacking because if you didn't even know Shaq was the unanimous prize of that draft, then you're just an idiot. There was NO question who the #1 pick would be. Not Alonzo from Georgetown, not college player of the year Laetner from Duke. Everyone knew the grand prize of that draft was the big cat from LSU called SHAQ. His team did poorly in the NCAAs, but he was a monster compared to everyone else in college. There were absolutely NO questions. Only an idiot with no knowledge of the game would wonder about alternatives.
This year? SHhhh.... it wasn't even made clear that Ming would be picked by Houston until the last day. He was such a big mystery and a gamble. There were even talks of Jason Williams or even Dunleavy being the top pick for some time before the draft order. Look at yourself. You just got schooled again, and you keep begging for more. Go back and read your little articles and learn some real stuff before you challenge my knowledge. Your knowledge is not at my level, but I'd be generous to teach your ignorant ass some more if you say please.
Wow, how incredibly stupid you are!
Monday, September 02, 2002 at 11:21:21 (PDT)
[66.107.44.253]
Wow, how incredibly stupid you are!
Compared to Yao's popularity, Shaq's popularity on draft day is nothing. People know Yao in Africa, Europe, Australia, Singapore, the Philippines, almost all of China, Mexico, South America, Canada, Middle East, and of course the U.S. and all other countries that you might not even know.
Sure, they had Shaq's Jersey in Orlando, but not in front of the world to show and tell.
This year's draft was the most televised of all time with the most viewers of different countries. Some people might have just found out that Shaq got number 1 through the introduction of Yao.
Remember the introduction?
I can't state the actual words; it may be an infringement of copyright law but it did mention Patrick Ewing and Shaq somewhere out there with Yao's image on a Tower in the end.
Remember now?
Wow, how incredib---ly dumb you are!
You are blinded by your jealousy
Monday, September 02, 2002 at 07:01:07 (PDT)
[68.96.110.59]
Hey, 19 points is better than 30 points. China's moving in the right direction. Now if only Yao didn't have to worry about fouling out. He'll get used to the rough stuff and learn handle it over time.
It's kind of gay. The guy runs into you and you get the foul. Heck, I like hockey's style. If you go into the corner, you better expect some business.
huu76
Sunday, September 01, 2002 at 23:19:07 (PDT)
[207.164.88.163]
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