Yao Ming
Chinese basketball player · China · On the map · Basketball Players · Born 1980 · age 46
At 7 feet 6 inches, he became the first Chinese player to turn the NBA into a bridge between two superpowers - not just tall enough to dominate the paint, but prominent enough that his rookie season warranted a documentary and his career became known as the "Ming Dynasty."
Yao Ming is read about 3,068 times a day, in 59 languages.
A typical day, 30 days to 9 November 2026
The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 400 days, one point a day.
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Dikembe Mutombo Teammate at Houston Rockets, 2004-2009
Shane Battier Teammate at Houston Rockets, 2006-2011
Luis Scola Teammate at Houston Rockets, 2007-2011
Aaron Brooks Teammate at Houston Rockets, 2007-2011
Rafer Alston Teammate at Houston Rockets, 2005-2009
Joey Dorsey Teammate at Houston Rockets, 2008-2010
Kirk Snyder Teammate at Houston Rockets, 2006-2008
Yao MingPartners
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Correct this familyCareer 2
Media & music
Photos 11
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 BeijingAwards
About this person
Born in Shanghai in 1980, Yao Ming played five seasons with the Shanghai Sharks in the CBA, winning a championship before the Houston Rockets took him first overall in the 2002 draft. Over nine years in Houston he made eight All-Star teams and helped the Rockets win their first playoff series since 1997 in 2009, but foot and ankle injuries cost him large stretches of his final six seasons and forced his retirement in 2011. He left the franchise sixth in points and rebounds, second in blocks. In 2016 he entered the Basketball Hall of Fame alongside Shaquille O'Neal and Allen Iverson, the first Chinese national so inducted. A year later he was elected chairman of the Chinese Basketball Association, the same league where he won three FIBA Asia Cups and three tournament MVPs before retiring from international play after the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
