Yao Ming

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Yao.

Yao Ming (Chinese: 姚明; pinyin: Yáo Míng; born September 12, 1980) is a former Chinese professional basketball player. He played for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was the tallest player in the NBA, at 229 cm (7 ft 6 in).^[1]

Yao Ming was born at Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital in Shanghai, He is only child by Yao Tzi Yuan and Fong Fengdi , There are professional basketball players by their family,^[2] He started with the Shanghai Sharks as a teenager and played on their senior team for five years in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). The team won a championship in his final year. Then he entered the 2002 NBA Draft. The CBA had to release him, and he was selected by the Houston Rockets to play on their team. He had also been chosen to play for the NBA All-Star Game for all six of his seasons. However, the Rockets have not advanced past the first round of the playoffs since he joined the team, and he has also had injuries in each of the past three seasons. On July 20, 2011, Yao Ming announced that he was retiring from basketball after many foot and ankle injuries.^[3]

His father, Yao Zhiyuan, is 208 cm (6 ft 10 in) in tall; his mother, Fengdi Fang, is 188 cm (6 ft 2 in) in tall. She was captain of the Chinese national women's basketball team. Yao Ming's parents were the tallest couple in China when he was born.

Yao Ming is married to Ye Li, who used to play for the China women's national basketball team.^[4] He is one of China's best-known athletes.^[5] He has sponsorships with several major companies, and he has been the richest celebrity in China for six straight years, earning US$51 million (CN¥357 million) in 2008.^[6]

His rookie year in the NBA was the subject of a documentary film, The Year of the Yao,^[7] and he recently wrote an autobiography titled Yao: A Life in Two Worlds.^[8]

Yao Ming Media

Yao prepares to shoot a free throw with John Stockton in the background
Yao (fourth from left) standing with the Sophomores team during the 2004 Rookie Challenge game.
In his fifth season, Yao averaged a career-high 25 points per game.
Yao advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the only time in his career in 2009.
Yao playing against Gilbert Arenas
Yao was the leading scorer of the 2006 FIBA World Championship.
Yao against LeBron James at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing
Yao answers questions from reporters, October 2006
Yao (left) with United States Secretary of State John Kerry at the U.S.–China Strategic and Economic Dialogue in 2014