(by FRANCESCO RIVANO). Browsing the internet and looking for useful material to satisfy my NBA craving, I come across these rather curious statistics: zero points and two rebounds in his NBA debut; still zero points, one rebound and one block in the farewell game to the NBA and at the same time as the basketball played. It would seem like the case of a disastrous career but instead in the middle there are 9,247 points, 4,494 rebounds and 920 blocks and an immense world to discover, at least as big as the country, China, which gave birth to our character. The Great Wall of China, Mandarin (understood as a language and not as a fruit), communism, the imperial dynasties, Confucius and the typical red lanterns that I see more and more frequently hanging at the entrances of shops and restaurants… and Yao Ming. I have never been seduced by China, I would prefer to travel elsewhere even if I am convinced that I would be amazed by the immense charm of a country with a thousand-year history, but Yao has always had a strong attraction towards my basketball interest, if only for its ability, in the aw era (before Wembanyama) of not looking awkward on a basketball court despite his 2 meters and 29 centimeters. The date of his birth had already intrigued me; born on September 12th (same day as the one who gave me life and therefore allowed me to love basketball) in 1980 (my year of birth), Yao Ming is to date the only Chinese player to have been called with the first overall pick at the NBA Draft and, what was even more surprising until a few decades ago, the only Chinese player to have been included in the Basketball Hall of Fame, among other things which happened on the same day, and sorry if it’s not much, in which the same treatment was given to two sacred monsters of basketball in the late 90s and early 2000s: Allen Iverson and Shaquille O’Neal.
Born to two former basketball players, Yao Zhiyuan and Fang Fengdi, the little boy (in terms of age and certainly not from a physical point of view) immediately shows a certain confidence with the ball in his hand. Having abandoned his ambitions as a water polo player (imagine the discomfort for a nine-year-old child, 1 meter 65 centimeters tall, with 41 feet, moving around in the pool with his peers), Yao decides to take the path of his parents and dedicate himself to world of segmented ball. There have always been a lot of assumptions about the conception of the Chinese center; there are those who say that he was born from a genetic experiment, those who say that he was raised by scientists; who is ready to swear that Yao was “built” by a crazy perversion of the Chinese dictatorial regime which forced two athletes to procreate, “loveless”, a son who should have dominated the world of basketball, as there are those who claim that it is the simple fruit of the sincere love of two young lovers. All this interests me relatively, or rather not at all, what attracts my interest are the pages of basketball history, on and off the court, written by the delicacy and sweetness of two hands which, although enormous, seem like those of Paganini on the violin. His debut in professional basketball took place in 1997 at just 17 years old with the Shanghai Sharks. In the Chinese top flight Yao dominates and impresses the experts at home and abroad and his size attracts and arouses the first interests of the stars and stripes scouts. In the third consecutive final he reached with the Sharks from his hometown, he managed to win the Chinese title with very respectable figures: 32.4 points and 19 rebounds on average in what would be his farewell season in oriental basketball.
Now let’s board the first flight from China and move to Texas, and more precisely to Houston. At the beginning of the 2000s the Rockets were a team navigating the slums of the League. The years of Hakeem the Dream are long ago. The year 2001-2002 was almost disastrous. Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley are the main offensive weapons of a team managed in playmaking by the countless dribbles of Moochie Norris whose hair I actually greatly envied. The season ends with a balance of 28 wins and 54 defeats in a year that will see Kobe & Shaq triumph for the third consecutive year against Jason Kidd and Kenyon Martin’s New Jersey Nets. Houston seems to be covered in sloth for many years to come but as if by magic, what I consider to be the most beautiful invention of American sport, the very famous and very democratic Draft, gives the Texan franchise a chance and the Lottery decides to award it the first absolute choice and make it one of the most followed teams in the League. The draft doesn’t offer much: with hindsight I can recognize among the best chosen in 2002 Mike Dunleavy at 3, Amar’e Stoudemire at 9, Caron Butler at 10, Prince at 23 and Boozer at 34; you understand well that apart from STAT in the Suns version, we are not talking about the NBA elite. But the Rockets need a center, a player who can dominate the boards and who can score points from inside the paint, and Yao is the player for them. After Olajuwon in 1984, John Lucas in 1976, Elvin Hayes in 1968, the Chinese center becomes the fourth first overall pick of the Rockets and the expectations are high, just as the interest that the mysterious Chinese object arouses in the States and beyond is high Alone.
The debut is not the most convincing. 11 minutes, zero for one from the field for zero points, two rebounds and defeat suffered at the hands of the Indiana Pacers. The first matches are quite difficult for the Chinese center who plays only a few minutes also due to the fact that he seems rather awkward in following the pace of the NBA matches. Following his first appearances, I clearly remember Yao’s difficulty in becoming part of that world; it aroused a strong sense of anxiety in me because I strongly desired to see that elephant maneuver easily inside the NBA glassware, desires that often remained unexpressed. My nature of propensity towards those who are in difficulty and good at heart, suffered when I saw the shy but proud face of that man, defenseless as if he were a child, suffering one humiliation after another, and the first seven races show disastrous numbers for a first overall pick: 14 minutes on average with 4 points on the scoresheet per game played. Skepticism is at exorbitant levels and irony is easy towards a player coming from a culture and world diametrically opposed to that of the American homeland. Culture, precisely her, who comes to the rescue and turns the fate of the enormous Chinese center. That culture that is strongly influenced by the school of thought that characterized the formation of human ethics in the shadow of the Great Wall. A life ethic marked by teachings based on rectitude, justice and the harmony of human relationships dictated by Confucius, who, although he lived between 551 BC and 479 BC, inspired and influenced schools of thought and lifestyle of the Chinese people to the present day.
“It doesn’t matter if you move slowly, the important thing is that you don’t stop.” Among thousands of Confucian aphorisms, this maxim seems written for Yao. His intelligence, his ability to understand, his vision of the world, combined with his professional ethic and respect for work, allow the Shanghai native to learn in small steps how to grow in a completely new environment. The big boy doesn’t stop in the face of difficulties, he adapts and immerses himself in the NBA basketball system and within a few months he becomes important for the team. His movements are more fluid, his feet travel faster and his hands don’t need anything different than what nature has given him, all with that kindness of heart that leads him to honor and respect even the most mangy of his opponents. He closed his rookie season averaging 13.5 points and 8.2 rebounds, earning him a call-up to the All Star Game as Tim Duncan’s reserve (I strongly believe that the televoting factor from China will have made a slight contribution). . The second year is better with 17 points and 9 rebounds on average and the team rises above 50% of victories despite failing to reach the playoffs in an ultra-competitive Western Conference. The best years came with Tracy McGrady’s arrival in the Rockets jersey, who together with the Chinese center brought Houston back to the Playoffs. Unfortunately T-Mac, Yao and his companions will never make it very far in the post season, also due to the countless physical problems that block the Chinese center, but in those years they are certainly one of the main attractions of David Stern’s circus. 2008-2009 seems like a good year, the Rockets start as one of the best in the West and Yao shows that she can dominate if she is in good health, especially since behind her there is an experienced center like Mutombo capable of guaranteeing level minutes and make the Chinese catch his breath. The numbers are excellent, almost 20 and 10 on average and finally the passage of a round to the playoffs despite (or perhaps thanks to) T-Mac’s absence due to injury. The next series is against the Lakers and goes up to game 7 with the victory of Kobe & C. but this series will be fatal for Yao Ming who will remedy the “injury” to his left foot which will soon force him to say goodbye to world of basketball. The following year Yao was forced to miss it entirely, and upon his return the doctors agreed with the technical staff to avoid back-to-backs and to limit his use to just over 20 minutes. His career slowly goes out like a light, the relapses in his left foot are more and more frequent and on November 10, 2010 he steps onto an NBA parquet for the last time against the Wizards, ending his career as he began it: “scoreless ”. Always present at the All Star game except for the years he was injured, Yao was the symbol of the globalization of basketball made in the USA, he was the pioneer of Chinese basketball on American soil and he always faced his journey with a smile among his lips, despite the injuries and harassment he had to suffer from the enormous macho of the African-American culture that dominates the league.
His love for the game, his kindness and admiration for his teammates and opponents have earned him the respect of absolute NBA phenomena such as Shaq and Duncan and have sometimes even cost him a bad impression (and who cares? forget the hilarious block made by Nate Robinson in the most unbalanced duel in the history of the game in terms of centimeters). At home he is recognized as a living monument, he dominated and was the undisputed leader of the Chinese national team for years, he was the standard-bearer at the Olympics in Athens in 2004 and in 2008 in Beijing and would also have been the torchbearer responsible for bringing the Olympic flame into the stadium like a bird’s nest if his great humility had not led him to refuse and point out that there were other athletes deserving of such an honor. His social commitment and the promotion of sporting culture in his homeland have elevated him to a point of reference and example for younger people to follow. A giant in physique but above all a giant in soul and heart who made the history of Chinese and world basketball, and who taught (or at least tried) to the US basketball world a different culture of play, less linked to testosterone and more linked to spirituality. But then again, we couldn’t expect anything else from a native of the land of Confucius and the best memory will be seeing him fly on the counterattack in a coast to coast game complete with behind-the-back and final dunk. Hi Yao.
Francesco Rivano was born in 1980 in the deep south of Sardinia and grew up in Carloforte, the only inhabited center on the island of San Pietro. Graduated in Economics and Commerce from the University of Cagliari, he returns to his beloved island where he lives, works and cultivates his great passion for writing. Surrounded by the sea and fascinated by sport, he was suddenly overwhelmed by the love of basketball. He collaborated as an editor with some online magazines that mainly deal with NBA basketball, an experience that led him to develop the skills to write and publish his first work: “Ricordi al basket” linked to the history of basketball. And a few days ago he published his second, entitled “The escape route”. Link to purchase the book. Francesco Rivano presented his book in the Club House of Dinamo Sassari.
2024-05-17 23:00:57
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