When kids are just getting hooked up to the game of basketball, the first basketball player they hear or learn about is either michael jordan or kobe bryant. Surely, they are great players and have had hall of fame careers but without even actually watching them play, kids assume kobe and michael as the greatest players ever and pick them as their favorite basketball players.
That's exactly how every person in the world gets hooked to the NBA. For me the case was slightly different.
The way I got hooked to this wonderful game was believe it or not by watching a documentary on the country of china. I still remember that day when i saw little kids holding banners like "Yao you're our hero" and "Yao you make china proud". A few seconds later I see the giant on the screen and my eyes almost pop out. "7 feet 6! MOM! he's frekin 7 feet 6!" I said "can u imagine standing next to a guy who's almost two and a half feet taller than you?"
"What is he a basketball player?" asked mum.
"I don't know" I shrugged.
Turned out he was a basketball player. And how about this for co-incidence, that very same day my brother gets EA Sports NBA live 2003 for our PC and I doubt anyone was more excited than I was in the house that day. First thing I did was find out what team Yao played for. Less than a week later, after playing the game for more than 3 hours a day, I knew the names of each and every player that played for Houston Rockets and they did become my favorite team.
This was the beginning of my addiction the NBA and if one person was responsible for this, it was Yao Ming. Nobody knows how bad I feel for Yao Ming today when he announced his retirement. It was the multiple stress fractures on his ankles that forced him to miss more than 250 games over the last 6 seasons. And all this happened just because his ankles would fail to support his humongous size and weight. Being big turned out to be a disadvantage for him.
I mean seriously! 30 is not the age for an athlete to announce his retirement. Good athletes become great athletes and great athletes become exceptional athletes once and after they turn thirty as their game matures and fans start expecting more from such athletes than ever before. As far as Yao is considered, he established himself as an extraordinary player in the NBA in the mere 8 seasons he played (not to forget in his last two seasons he only got to play 5 games).
I don't think I'll be wrong in any way if I say that Yao would have become one of the top 5 centers to have ever played this game if luck would have been his friend. Also, I don't care what people say, Yao, in my eyes is a definite future hall of famer. Sure, he doesn't have the numbers and sure, maybe he didn't play enough seasons in the league. But he made every one in China love the game and he made everyone in Asia love the game. Most importantly, he made me love the game.
Adding to being an exceptional player he was also a great human being. When a person says that i'm announcing my retirement because i don't want to get injured again and stay on a wheel chair or walk around with crutches and a caste; I want to be able to play basketball with my kids and i don't want to jeopardize that pleasure for a few extra minutes on the court.
I always had huge amounts of respect for the Great Wall of Yao and today after understanding that i'll never see him step on the court again, for some reason, I respect him more than anyone in the game right now. I will never have a favorite all time basketball player because quite frankly my favorite players change let's say as frequently as i get a haircut. But one thing's for sure, that Houston Rockets will always be my favorite team and Yao Ming will always be the first favorite player i ever had and no one can ever change that fact. If I could, I personally would thank Yao Ming for getting me addicted to the beautiful game and being such an inspiration to me and billions around in Asia. You'll be missed very much.
That's exactly how every person in the world gets hooked to the NBA. For me the case was slightly different.
The way I got hooked to this wonderful game was believe it or not by watching a documentary on the country of china. I still remember that day when i saw little kids holding banners like "Yao you're our hero" and "Yao you make china proud". A few seconds later I see the giant on the screen and my eyes almost pop out. "7 feet 6! MOM! he's frekin 7 feet 6!" I said "can u imagine standing next to a guy who's almost two and a half feet taller than you?"
"What is he a basketball player?" asked mum.
"I don't know" I shrugged.
Turned out he was a basketball player. And how about this for co-incidence, that very same day my brother gets EA Sports NBA live 2003 for our PC and I doubt anyone was more excited than I was in the house that day. First thing I did was find out what team Yao played for. Less than a week later, after playing the game for more than 3 hours a day, I knew the names of each and every player that played for Houston Rockets and they did become my favorite team.
This was the beginning of my addiction the NBA and if one person was responsible for this, it was Yao Ming. Nobody knows how bad I feel for Yao Ming today when he announced his retirement. It was the multiple stress fractures on his ankles that forced him to miss more than 250 games over the last 6 seasons. And all this happened just because his ankles would fail to support his humongous size and weight. Being big turned out to be a disadvantage for him.
I mean seriously! 30 is not the age for an athlete to announce his retirement. Good athletes become great athletes and great athletes become exceptional athletes once and after they turn thirty as their game matures and fans start expecting more from such athletes than ever before. As far as Yao is considered, he established himself as an extraordinary player in the NBA in the mere 8 seasons he played (not to forget in his last two seasons he only got to play 5 games).
I don't think I'll be wrong in any way if I say that Yao would have become one of the top 5 centers to have ever played this game if luck would have been his friend. Also, I don't care what people say, Yao, in my eyes is a definite future hall of famer. Sure, he doesn't have the numbers and sure, maybe he didn't play enough seasons in the league. But he made every one in China love the game and he made everyone in Asia love the game. Most importantly, he made me love the game.
Adding to being an exceptional player he was also a great human being. When a person says that i'm announcing my retirement because i don't want to get injured again and stay on a wheel chair or walk around with crutches and a caste; I want to be able to play basketball with my kids and i don't want to jeopardize that pleasure for a few extra minutes on the court.
I always had huge amounts of respect for the Great Wall of Yao and today after understanding that i'll never see him step on the court again, for some reason, I respect him more than anyone in the game right now. I will never have a favorite all time basketball player because quite frankly my favorite players change let's say as frequently as i get a haircut. But one thing's for sure, that Houston Rockets will always be my favorite team and Yao Ming will always be the first favorite player i ever had and no one can ever change that fact. If I could, I personally would thank Yao Ming for getting me addicted to the beautiful game and being such an inspiration to me and billions around in Asia. You'll be missed very much.
