Better get used to it, big guy. The first non-U.S. player to be picked No. 1 in the NBA draft, Yao has Rocket boosters dreaming of ticker tape parades, team officials drooling over his army of Chinese-American fans, and millions in China watching live broadcasts of Rockets games into the morning hours. Says Rockets CEO George Postolos: "One tall kid is doing more for relations with China than decades of other methods."
Yes, but can Yao negotiate the likes of Shaq? "He needs to eat a lot more to get strong," says his mother, Fengdi Fang, who is 6'2" and a former captain of the Chinese national women's basketball team (his father, Yao Zhiyuan, is 6'10" and also a former player). Even so, it's clear he's jot great skills. Despite a rough start, Yao scored 30 points against the rival Dallas Mavericks last month and leads the NBA in field goal shooting percentage.
Living with his parents in a four-bedroom Houston home (he sleeps corner to corner in a king-sized bed), Yao misses China but is making friends fast. "My team-mates are helping me with English phrases," he says with a giant grin, "just not the good phrases."
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
