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| Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets grabs a rebound
over Chinese national teammate and former Shanghai Sharks team mate
Liu Wei (L), who is under training and is playing for the Sacramento
Kings for the exhibition match, during their NBA pre-season at
Shanghai Stadium October 14, 2004.
[Reuters] |
Yao Ming's Houston Rockets squeezed past the Sacramento Kings on
Thursday in the first NBA game to be played in China, a country the
fast-growing basketball league deems a potential marketing mecca .
The Rockets topped the Kings 88-86 in a pre-season match-up -- but in
many ways the score did not matter.
All eyes were glued on hometown hero Yao, who has emerged as a
worldwide marketing phenomenon that lured mega-sponsors from McDonald's to
Disney to the China games, which include a match-up between the same teams
in Beijing on Sunday.
A capacity crowd of more than 11,000 at the newly refurbished Shanghai
Stadium cheered raucously
every time Yao attacked the basket.
"Yao Ming is quite simply the most important development for the world
of basketball, for the NBA, in China that has ever occurred," NBA
Commissioner David Stern told reporters.
The 7ft-6ins Yao has become a symbol of emerging China and a key part
of the globalization of sport. Yao, 23, was one of the first Chinese
nationals to be allowed to head to the NBA. After three years in the
league -- he was taken by the Rockets as the top draft choice in 2001 --
he has established himself as one of the game's premier players.
The center's marketability has made him Asia's hottest sports
commodity. Observers say his youthful sense of humor and self-deprecating
manner have won him fans in a league characterized by brashness and
individuality.
 Yao scored 14 points on Thursday even though he was taken out
with two minutes to go in the third quarter and was never played again
despite the crowd shouting for his return. Head coach Jeff Van Gundy said
he did not want to overplay the Chinese.
Yao said: "I don't think I played that well. I was a bit nervous, just
as if I was playing my first NBA game. Perhaps it was because I'm not used
to such an occasion."
Yao's popularity is such that more than half of the visits to NBA Web
sites last season were from outside the United States -- the first time
that has happened. He twice garnered more All-Star votes than Shaquille
O'Neal.
It has also earned endorsement contracts galore, including one with
Reebok who recently signed a five-year deal to sell NBA gear in Asia.
Forbes magazine put Yao at the top of its list of Chinese celebrities
with an estimated income of $14.5 million, largely from his endorsement
deals.
(Agencies) | 
Updated: 2004-10-15 09:43