Wartezimmer » Customized Raiders Jersey

Yao Ming Photo: IC
As his No.11 white-red Rockets jersey was unveiled high above the basketball court at the Houston Toyota Center on Friday Austin Hooper Jersey , basketball star Yao Ming became the first Chinese to have his jersey retired by the NBA. This move came almost one year after Yao was elected into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in April 2016.


These tributes are well deserved, not only because of Yao's prowess as a player, but also because of his role in bringing the NBA to China.


""My motivation for following the NBA should be accredited to Big Yao,"" Damien Yang, 26 Deion Jones Jersey , told the Global Times. Yang explained that the year Yao was selected into the NBA, was the same year he first began playing basketball in junior high school.


Cultural icon


Already 183 centimeters tall in junior high school, Yang was taller than any of his peers and so was therefore asked to play center. ""And because Big Yao was the most famous Chinese center, I watched a lot of the games he played for the Rockets,"" Yang said.


""There was a TV in our classroom. Every time there was a Rockets game Keanu Neal Jersey , all the boys in my class would turn it on behind the teacher's back to watch the Yao live during our one-hour afternoon break,"" Yang recalled.


""Because Yang joined the Rockets, I got to know other NBA figures like Tracy McGrady and Hakeem Olajuwon. Since Yao retired from the Rockets, I have seldom watched the NBA,"" Yang added.


The excitement Yang showed talking about Yao was palpable. For him Sean Harlow Jersey , Yao is closely tied to his beautiful memories of youth.


A fan of Yao but not the Rockets, Zhang Ning fell in love with the NBA long before Yao became a part of the association.


""They began broadcasting NBA games in the 1990s. In fact, it was Michael Jordan who created the first group of basketball fans in China,"" Zhang said. ""But as the first overall pick of the NBA for the 2002 draft, Yao did bring enthusiasm toward the NBA to a climax back at home.""


""Especially during the years when Yao partnered with McGrady Duke Riley Jersey , the Rockets were like a national team in the eyes of many Chinese,"" Zhang explained.


A report on sports.sohu describes Yao as ""a person who changed the course