Talk:Yao Ming

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[edit] Picture's caption

Instead of it saying "Yao takes question from reporters" shouldn't it say "Yao takes a question from reporters" or "Yao takes questions from reporters" -Blackmanor1000 —Preceding comment was added at 01:17, 5 April 2008 (UTC)

Changed. By the way, if you're dissatisfied, you can be bold and change it yourself. The article is not mine, after all. Noble Story (talk) 01:49, 5 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] picture

wah??? The Samphexer 02:36, 20 July 2006 (UTC)

That is in fact a horrible picture, can someone please replace it?

I changed the part that mentioned Chinese voters influencing Yao's selection to the All-Star team. Quite frankly, this statement is always made in ignorance and comes up far too often when Yao's All-Star selections are discussed. I got the figures from a USA Today article online which you can read at this address: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/allstar/2004-01-29-starting-lineups_x.htm

These complaints about Yao's All-Star selections are obviously racist. It perhaps suggests resentment which some white fans might feel seeing an All-Star starting line-up that features more Asian players than white. Unfortunately, I don't have a link to back this up, so I'll save that for an editorial and not for an encyclopedia entry. This misconception about where Yao's votes are coming from must be cleared up however.


Should it be mentioned, that Yao carried the Chinese flag during the opening ceremony of the 2004 Olympics?

I wouldnt say Yao has had sucessful season. Looking at his statistics and his relatively smallish improvement compared to similarily/younger aged players (Lebron James, Wade, Amare).

I don't think Rudy was fired. Rudy had to leave for cancer treatment during the 2003-2004 season. http://www.sptimes.com/2003/03/27/Sports/Coach_is_sidelined_by.shtml

There should be mention of Asian voters for Yao's All-Star vote totals.

I would say Yao has had a successful season, since his Rockets are successful and he is maintaining perhaps the second best stats of a NBA center, after Shaquille O'Neal. You have to take into account that the man has not had rest for the past several summers, with the Chinese government wanting him to participate in all sorts of international basketball competitions. Wade, James and Stoudemire are exceptional players and you cannot expect Yao to show similar improvement. king 01:09, 13 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Wang Zhizhi is kicked out from Chinese national basketball team after his stay for NBA summer games.

Hi everyone, I made some statistical additions to the page (all from <http://www.nba.com/playerfile/yao_ming/>) and corrected some basic grammatical errors. I cited NBA.com as a reference at the bottom but I don't know how to reference stuff beyond that. -Shenzhou.

[edit] Reason for height

You would think that in a country with over a billion people, that at least some people may be over 7'0"? Also, with better nutrition, he should be taller than either of his parents.

Check this, as it may answer your question: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigantism#List_of_notable_.22giants.22

I have heard from other sources that the Chinese government encouraged/forced their men's and women's team centers to mate to produce an offspring that was large. Has anyone else heard this, or have substantiable evidence of this?

No force was used as far as I know. But there was government-sponsored dating service back in 1960s. :-) --Leo 19:38, 8 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Yao Ming's incredible stature: an analysis.

Yao doesn't have any apparent hormonal anomalies such as Acromegaly. His stature is the result of good genetics (likely recesive) and even better semi-mysterious environmental factors.

Quite Frankly, he is the sort of person you could expect to see when you realize his mother is 6 ft 3, and his father is 6 ft 10. This would give him a genetic height potential of 7 feet... yet he has grown half a foot taller than this! (Both Yao Ming's parents were born before 1960s, a time when virtually everyone in China was starving. I would suspect that Yao Ming's Parents would be *Much* taller than what they are now if they had been given sufficient food during their childhoods)

Ming, though listed as 7 ft 6 [his actual height], should really be listed as 7 ft 7 on his NBA Profile, as standard height stats for most NBA players are measured with shoes on.

If he is still growing, then I would start to worry about a pituitary disorder. Usually by the age of 22 to 26, the long bones are completed in their final form--Unless he has delayed epiphyseal fusion

Whatever the case, 7 ft 6 is about the most extreme height people are able to attain geneticaly, without some sort of pathology following.

[edit] Yao Ming: Physical dimmensions

Ht. 7 ft 6 [229cm] barefoot.

Wt. 310 lbs [141kg]

Shoe: US Men's size 18 [36cm]

Wingspan: 7 ft 5 [227cm]

Standing Reach: 9 feet 8 [297cm]

He isn't quite 229cm because that is what Shawn Bradley is and Shawn is slightly taller. Ithink the 226cm was the best measurement.218.166.42.120 (talk) 13:00, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Operation Yao

I've added a passage about the controversial new book Operation Yao [1]

I believe this book will at least cause some great controversy in the sports and political world over the next while. (Brodey)

This is defenitely a pretty startling revelation, should cause alot of controversy. -Rich B.

There is no need to put unsubstantiated, contraversial claims. Especially from sensationalistic sources.

"In Yao's case, I don't have any proof ..." Larmer was quoted, "(but) in that period of time in the 1990s, they were using all kinds of experimental stuff to enhance players' stamina and strength." - since he doesn't have proof, it should not be sourced.

I wouldn't argue that the book is anything but an unreliable source for information, but it is a subject that many have speculated on. That being said, I think the book is at least worth a mention if nothing more. Anytime an athlete has a book written about him I would think it's fairly noteworthy.--DavidFuzznut 06:48, 3 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] The most dominant in history?

Gentlemen! Yao Ming is an up and coming center and an all-star, but the most dominant in the history of the game? COME ON! His 2006 statistics are good (22 PPG & 10 rebounds) and are similar to a young Patrick Ewing. He cannot even approach the dominance of of Shaq (29 PPG & 13.5 rebounds and 2.7 blocks and %59 shooting!) or Hakeem (24 PPG & 14 rebounds, 4.5 assists & 4.9 blocks! 2.1 steals!) in their prime. I did not even bring up Jordan, Bird, McHale, Magic, Kareem, Russel, Chamberlin, West or Duncan, Dr. J et al. I do not need to. Different Rules, Different players in different periods. Cant compare. There was a reason Chamberlin score like 30 points a night. I'd like to see him score 30 a night in todays world. Imagine if Yao ming played in the 50s or 60s.

Let Ming grow into being a quality player who will top out at 24 PPG & 11 rebounds and stop all this, "Greatest Ever" nonsense . He will continue to improve and be a quality center, but he can never be the most dominant player in history. He is too slow, too nice and cannot jump.

These complaints about Yao's All-Star selections are obviously racist. It perhaps suggests resentment which some white fans might feel seeing an All-Star starting line-up that features more Asian players than white. Unfortunately, I don't have a link to back this up.....

You can't be serious about white fans, if this were true then a white center would be in the top three in voting. If there is any racism, I would suspect it would be black fans, after all Yao has beaten Shaq, although Shaq had better numbers.

Yao Ming is not likely to become the most dominant in history, but let's not judge too soon as he is still young.

lol, Yao Ming is far from the greats. You guys are joking right? i hope you are, because anyone who knows ANYTHING about basketball knows Yao Ming isn't even in the top 20 in active NBA players. Yao Ming isn't even the best on his team, Tracy McGrady is. Yao Ming is good, but he's not at that level, and he doesn't have the physical fitness to even reach that level. The only reason Yao Ming even makes the all star game is because billions of chinese and asian people vote for him, and the only true centers even left in the NBA are Shaq and dwight howard lol —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.114.6.117 (talk) 05:44, August 23, 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Height at Birth

He was 1.2 meter (120 cm) long at birth??? are you sure??

Indeed, that is 4 feet, I did some searching and the largest birth on record is 76 cm, someone clearly got this fact wrong... I removed mention of it...

[edit] Merged content from Colin Pine

I've merged some of the content from Colin Pine as an entire section (per this AfD), as well as two external links, but I'm sure you guys will know more about what is and isn't appropriate in this article. --Deathphoenix ʕ 16:02, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

The original move was to delete the Colin Pine article, which at the time, was quite short. No one agreed with the delete, so most people voted to merge, but that was before the article was expanded. The discussion was supposed to move to a how and if the article should be merged discussion, but it did not attract much interest.
I feel strongly that this should be a separate article. It sticks out like a sore thumb in the Yao Ming article, and there's enough material now for its own article. I don't want to move it to its own article by myself, but if you agree, I'd very much appreciate it if you did.--DownUnder555 15:51, 18 May 2006 (UTC)
Hmmm... I agree that as it is, it sticks out like a sore thumb. However, the AfD talked about whether Colin Pine was notable enough by himself to warrant his own article. There were more merge votes than keep votes, and all the merge votes said that Colin has no notability outside of his association with Yao Ming. I'd be uncomfortable with going against the AfD, but like you said, the Colin Pine section really sticks out. I think the best thing to do would be to cut back the content on Colin and mesh it in with the rest of the content. Maybe move him up to the section around where Yao Ming first started in the NBA, because Colin would have been assigned to him at that point. IMO, disputing the merge doesn't require a WP:DRV, because a keep vs. merge debate doesn't require an AfD. I've stated my opinions, but I'm just a neutral guy who doesn't know too much about Yao Ming (beyond what I've seen in the papers) or Colin Pine, so hopefully the regular contributors to this article can chime in. :-) --Deathphoenix ʕ 17:43, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

That's not true. 4 merges or given in contrast to delete when the article was still very short; this means both the fact that the initial vote was to delete and that the article was still very short influenced the outcome of the vote, which is not the fault of any of the voters, but makes the conclusion of the vote of questionable validity. One vote was open to either merging or expanding, and there was an additional two keep votes that did not explicitly say that they were keep votes. Let's just slow down the process, put the article back with a notice pointing to an on-going discussion about merging the article, let it sit for a week, and see what people think. If the conclusion is still to merge, all we've done is come to a firmer conclusion.--DownUnder555 14:58, 21 May 2006 (UTC)

The Colin Pine section really does stick out. The suggestion to leave the merge discussion up for a week does sound reasonable though. If the consensus is to merge, then I'll take responsibility for putting it back. Piepukipie 09:22, 23 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] height change issue

there is alot of debate abou Yao's height... which usually fall between 7'5 abd 7'6. 7'5 is supposedly his old measurement and it is said that he grew an inche since then. The NBA site had him at 7'6 and 310 pounds but recently reverted back to his rookie masurements for whatever reason and i doubt that he has shrunk and inch and dropped the weight he has gained. However, i think we should give him the benefit of the doubt(go with the new measurements) and put him at 7'6. --210.49.123.40

We are not here to speculate about how much he has supposedly grown. Read the first and second sentences of Wikipedia:Verifiability. Thanks. --Downwards 22:32, 7 June 2006 (UTC)
The NBA's web site currently indicates Yao Ming is 7'5"/2.26 m (2.26 m converts to 7' 4"), in another location it currently indicates he is 7' 6". CBS Sports indicates Yao Ming is 7' 6"/2.29 m (2.29 m converts to 7' 5"). Numerous other web sites offer conflicting heights as well.
The first three sentences in the box at the top of Wikipedia:Verifiability read:
"This page is an official policy on the English Wikipedia. It has wide acceptance among editors and is considered a standard that all users should follow. When editing this page, please ensure that your revision reflects consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on the talk page."
The first two sentences in the article itself read
"The threshold for inclusion in Wikipedia is verifiability, not truth. This means that we only publish material that is verifiable with reference to reliable, published sources."
Reverting edits that involve one height or the other is one thing; Downwards putting a vandalism tag on the other user's talk page is quite another. Accusing another editor of vandalism is very inappropriate when their edit has been made in good faith and is supported by verifiable sources.
--A. B. 05:13, 14 June 2006 (UTC)

I changed back Yao's height to 7'6" i'd say 90% of sources list him at that height:[2] [3] not to mention the rocket team confirimed themselves they had measured yao at 7'6". As someone had stated the official nba player page for yao is somewhat incorrect. For some reason they have reverted his measurments to his rookie year including his weight when it is obvious yao has bulked up from his rookie year. Yet on other parts of nba.com he is again listed at 7'6" indicates Even go to head to head comparions section of the player page[4] and he is again listed at 7'6". Look at Yao player bio from nba.com all star game 2006 [5] again 7'6". I'd say 7'6" would be the more accurate listing. Duhon 18 June 2006 (UTC)

I deleted most of the references for Yao's height because I think that one source is plenty. 6 is excessive,

There is not a single credible reference for Yao's height > an NBA list height is not an actual height. No intelligent basketball fan is unaware of that. Yao was measured at 7'5" at the draft camp barefoot and 7'6" in shoes, he was 22 at the time. His arm span was 7'4.75" . What these editors who constantly list Yao at 7'6" want us to believe is that a 22 year old man grew taller than his own armspan by an extra inch and he is not just listed at 7'6" because that was his height in shoes (nba players are listed as their height in shoes often rounding that figure up) which also happened to make him the equal tallest in the NBA.

NBA height is a lot like WWE height, there is a listed height and an actual height. I suggest that this reality is reflected in this page.

Yao has claimed he grew since 22, but Shawn Bradly has also said that he is 2 inches taller than Yao and Yao is not 7'6". —Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.6.189.118 (talk) 13:15, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

there was a photo of bradley standing shoulders to shoulders with yao a few years back and Yao looked exactly as tall as Bradley <---at celebrityheights.com, albeit bradley have higher shoulders which give the impression he is taller, yao has a larger head, and they are exactly the same height, in fact Yao is taller by a hair or two, so bradley was sadly mistaken. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 218.208.193.123 (talk) 05:52, 7 February 2008 (UTC)

Untrue, http://www.nba.com/media/rockets/yao021121-2.jpg this picture shows that Bradley is easily taller than Yao even when standing further away than Yao. An honest person with intelligence could only conclude that Bradly is indeed taller than Yao. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.6.188.120 (talk) 13:19, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] religious preference

somebody up there mentioned that Yao is not a buddhist because he is neither a monk or a vegeterian. That is wrong, because you dont have to be a buddhist by shaving ur head or just eating fruits. You just go to temples occasionally or have some statues of buddhas and guanyings at home.

This is from my personal experience: among Chinese, it is very common for self-proclaimed Buddhists to have never been a monk or vegetarian. In reality, most Chinese follow a folk religion that combines Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, and some other traditional elements, and they just call it "Buddhism". They identify themselves as Buddhists when being asked about their religion. The fact is that religion is not really Buddhism, and they don't actually know what religion they follow. It is a very informal, unstructured, unorganized religious belief that has been passed on from generation to generation, from parents to children. "Folk religion" is really the best definition for it. Many Chinese who follow that folk religion even self-proclaimed to be "atheists". ktchong 19 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Marketing value?

I guess Team Yao is missing here...--Skyfiler 16:13, 28 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Scouting Report

Is asian power the correct term here? Did not want to delete in case it was correct, but it seems a bit doubtful to me. S-man64 09:53, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Height

No one has a problem with using information from the NBA bio that has not been updated since Yao was drafted four years ago? It seems absurd to use that info. You might as well cite to an article written about him when he was 17. 205.188.116.65 11:12, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

Excuse me, the information on wikipedia is judged on citable sources, and not necessarily the truth, as one sees it. And most certainly not truthiness. If the reliable source, or if any overwhelmingly number of reliable sources don't quite reflect one's perception of the truth, whatever that truth is, tough poop. --Downwards 01:32, 23 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] one blocked shot is not notable

Yao had a shot that was blocked. I don't see how this is important or notable. No other basketball players have a section listing when a shot is blocked. Unless there is something remarkable about this shot then it doesn't belong in wikipedia. 68.40.243.186 22:39, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

You had a point, and it's now ammended with appropriate encyclopedic notability/significance. --Downwards 01:28, 23 November 2006 (UTC)
I disagree with its inclusion in this particular article. The blocked shot trivia adds nothing of value here. The appropriate place for this trivia is in the Nate Robinson article, where it has already been added. Myasuda 10:26, 23 November 2006 (UTC)

I think the blocked shot should be included in the article. The guy who blocked it is only 5 foot, 6 inches, nate robinson. Yao Ming is 7,6, the shortest guy on the court, nate robinson blocks the tallest guy on the court....it should be noted —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.114.32.126 (talk) 21:08, August 23, 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Draft

I went ahead and reverted 67.169.20.131's truncation of Yao Ming's draft history. The user unnecessarily removed an important chunk of the section, making it confusing and incomplete. The user also has a history of vandalism, but I hope this is not his/her intention. - USLeatherneck 17:06, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] 2006-2007 - Season Notes for Future Possible Revisions

I'll try to fill in the 2006-2007 season section in the real article soon unless I hear an objection. - USLeatherneck 09:55, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

  • Yao Ming recorded his third 35 point, 15 rebound game against the L.A. Lakers on December 15, 2006 just a day after his second. The last person to have back to back 35 point, 15 rebound games was Antonio McDyess back in November/December 2000. Yao remains the only NBA player this season with a 35 point, 15 rebound stat line in a single game. He had 8 career high blocks to go along with this superlative. Source: ESPN - USLeatherneck 09:55, 16 December 2006 (UTC)
  • Yao Ming scored 38 points and 18 rebounds in a close loss against the Golden State Warriors on December 14, 2006. According to the Elias Sports News on ESPN, it's his second 35/15 or better performance of the season. No other player has yet to achieve these numbers in the 2006-2007 season. Elias further adds, "The last player with more than one such game in one season before New Year's Day was Shaquille O'Neal in 2001." Source: ESPN. - USLeatherneck 09:56, 15 December 2006 (UTC)
  • Yao Ming's 34 point, 14 rebound performance over Shaquille O'Neal's 15 points and 10 rebounds on November 12, 2006 is the largest head-to-head point margin (19 points) in O'Neal's entire career. According to Elias Sports News on ESPN: "The opposing center who had the next-widest scoring margin over Shaq (and the highest legitimate total) was David Robinson, who outscored O'Neal, 30-15, on March 19, 1993, in Shaq's rookie season." Source: ESPN - USLeatherneck 09:55, 16 December 2006 (UTC)
  • Someone should mention Yao's tibia fracture on December 23, which should sideline him for at least 6 weeks. Source: ESPN.com

[edit] Rush Hour 3

Yao Ming was approached by Brett Ratner's representatives to appear in the next Rush Hour installment. Apparently, they wanted to recreate the famous Bruce Lee v. Kareem Abdul Jabbar scene from the martial arts classic, Game of Death. However, it has been confirmed by various sources that Yao Ming turned down the offer to focus strictly on basketball. Source: Rottentomatoes.com - USLeatherneck 14:25, 18 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Scouting report

I think that the scouting report exaggerates Yao's abilities. The way it is written gives you the impression that he is the greatest of all time (when actually he isn't). For example, it says: "When Yao gets position in the post, he is almost indefensible" - that just isn't true. The scouting report should be deleted or re-written more realisticly.


[edit] Jacky Yao

excuse me, but who is Jacky Yao and can someone please verify that he is indeed Ming's first cousin and very instrumental to his success in the NBA? Sounds like a bunch of baloney to me!!! Qbizzle 15:37, 30 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Ye Li

I removed the internal link to Ye Li, as it pointed to a Chinese Men's speed skater. Yao's not dating a dude as far as I know. 70.64.104.35 07:13, 10 May 2007 (UTC)

I created a new page called Ye Li (basketball) which is the women in this article and added the internal link to that page,

==

I added the latest news on the date of marriage plus links coz it is important.

--Florentino floro 07:18, 9 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Some pointers for GA

I've some experience with GAs/FAs and it's great to see a nice overhaul of this page. The following points could be considered in improving this article in view of its GA nom:

  • see WP:LEAD -- at the moment the lead is a little too concise.
  • won't hurt to include the name of the websites in "references", viz. publisher.
  • "Before Yao Ming’s first meeting with Shaquille O'Neal on January 17, O'Neal said, "Tell Yao Ming, ching-chong-yang-wah-ah-soh", prompting accusations of racism." -- this statement should be prefaced with some context so that an ordinary reader can understand it. Perhaps something along the lines of there was much media frenzy leading up to the first showdown between the then most dominant center in the league...
  • "He has started for the Western Conference in the NBA All-Star Game in all six of his seasons" suggests that he played in all the games, but didn't he miss one due to injury?

I'd try to fix minor stuff (e.g. WP:DASH, copyedits) as I see them. There are some useful precedents listed at the NBA wikiproject page too. Chensiyuan (talk) 12:27, 16 March 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for your suggestions, as I know you have the credentials to back up your statements. I'll be working more on the article in the coming days. I've already used Tim Duncan and other highly-rated NBA articles as a guide, and I probably will continue to do so in the near future. Noble Story (talk) 13:36, 16 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] GA

The GA review has been archived and is linked via the article history at the top of this page. Dr. Cash (talk) 13:53, 17 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Standard disclaimers

this is the diff for my copyediting on your FAC (and there are a few other edits mixed in there). I could be wrong about anything. Feel free to revert. Feel free to ask. I am happy to look things up and provide support for my edits, or try to. - Dan Dank55 (talk) 01:19, 18 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Error

Newsweek should be italicized in the "Personal life" section. I can't change it myself. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 29, Trip and Fine (talk • contribs) 04:58, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for pointing that out. Done. Noble Story (talk) 05:04, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] error in Early life and CBA career

5 feet 5 inches is 1.65 m, not 1.7 . —Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.205.162.6 (talk) 08:14, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

I think it's rounded up. Noble Story (talk) 09:08, 30 April 2008 (UTC)
5 centimetres are 2 inches, too much to round up, in my opinion ;-). --79.3.58.247 (talk) 16:06, 1 May 2008 (UTC)
OK, it's done. Noble Story (talk) 02:45, 2 May 2008 (UTC)
thanks! --79.18.14.182 (talk) 10:33, 2 May 2008 (UTC)