Houston Rockets' Yao Ming has signed a sponsorship deal with Reebok, the sports shoe giant announced.

Yao took the NBA by storm last season and Reebok are keen to tap in to his huge popularity and the marketing opportunities it could open up in Asia.

Reebok president Paul Fireman said: "Close to 200 million people are playing basketball in China and he's a hero to 200 million more people in nations that made up the Asian Basketball Confederation.

"We now have several extraordinarily powerful assets in global performance basketball. And the addition of Yao gives us incredible traction in China, a critical market with great potential for our brand."

Yao was sponsored by Nike in his first NBA season.

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