Last Updated on February 23, 2025 by Mathew Diekhake
Here is a detailed profile for basketballer Yao Ming:
- Full Name: Yao Ming
- Nickname: Yao, The Great Wall of China
- Nationality: Chinese
- Date of Birth: September 12, 1980
- Hometown: Shanghai, China
- Height: 7 feet 6 inches (2.29 meters)
- Weight: 310 pounds (141 kilograms)
- Wingspan: 7 feet 9 inches (236cm)
- Shoe Size: 18 (US)
- Jersey Number: 11 (Houston Rockets)
- Position: Center
- High School: No formal high school team; he played for the Shanghai Sharks’ youth team in China.
- College: Did not attend college (played professionally in China before entering the NBA).
- NBA Draft: Selected as the 1st overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft by the Houston Rockets.
- Teams Played For:
- Houston Rockets (2002–2011)
- Championship Rings: None (did not win an NBA title).
- Children: One daughter, Yao Qinlei (Amy).
- Siblings: Yao Ming is an only child due to China’s one-child policy during his youth.
The most underappreciated center to play in the NBA is Yao Ming in my opinion. People seem to have forgotten how great of an impact he had on basketball around the world. Yao towered over Shaq, who was the most dominant and popular center in the NBA at the time of Yao’s arrival. Shaq struggled to play against Yao and developed a lot of respect for him as a basketball player. There is a myth that bones always come back stronger after being broken. Yao will be the first to tell you that that’s not true. My own arms will also attest to this. After Yao broke a bone in his foot, it resulted in more stress fractures over time. Inserted screws did not solve this issue for him and he had to retire after 9 seasons in the NBA. But 9 seasons is a long time. If you can play 9 good seasons, you’ve had a long career. The timing didn’t work for the Rockets. They were at their best when Yao and McGrady had peaked as players, but that’s the way life does. Timing is everything. It was and will always be a great era of basketball.
Notes:
- Yao Ming’s height without shoes is approximately 7 feet 5 inches (226 cm). This measurement is slightly less than his listed height of 7 feet 6 inches, which accounts for wearing shoes, as is standard in NBA listings.
- Yao Ming’s listed playing weight during his NBA career was approximately 310 pounds (141 kilograms).
January 13, 2025 @ 6:05 am
Houston Rockets Jerseys
The Houston Rockets changed their jersey for the Yao Ming era to feature numerous Chinese-inspired themes. For starters, it became red instead of blue, and the shade of red was popular in Asia. Moreover, the font they used for their new logo was inspired by Chinese fonts. The jerseys were also loose, which I took to mean more modest and conservative in appearance. I thought the new Rockets uniforms were very well done because they appealed to Yao’s following but also looked great at the same time. I’d like to know the designer of these full uniforms because they were very intelligent. Such a concise and well-done uniform. They achieved a lot in this look including seeming premium.
The best basketball jersey ever designed in my opinion was the 2003-2017 Houston Rockets era. But more specifically while Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady were playing, and Adidas or Reebok made them. The Nike ones weren’t quite the same. These jerseys paid homage to a rocket while still looking simple enough to be an iconic basketball jersey. The Rockets could have kept this look for centuries and become known as a well-branded basketball team. Instead, they changed their look in 2018 for the fourth time in their rather brief history. The good news is that this will always be the T-Mac era jersey, and that is fine by me, as long as they’re not stupid enough never to wear them again. They should wear them on the odd occasion.