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More than just talent needed to produce NBA's next Asian basketball superstar: Yao Ming
SINGAPORE: During his time in the National Basketball Association (NBA), it is fair to say that 2.29m-tall Yao Ming was a dominant force.
The former Houston Rockets centre was an eight-time All-Star and became the first Asian player to be elected into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Since then, no Asian NBA player has quite touched the dizzying heights that Yao did during his time in the league from 2002 to 2011.
And that begs the question - what will it take for another Asian to reach his level in the NBA?
"My parents were tall, that's why I'm taller ... Without them, I can work as hard as I did but I won't be here," said the 44-year-old, whose parents were professional basketball players.
"Yes of course, talent. But there's always a saying from a coach I was working together with before that it takes more than just talent to survive in this league," added Yao, speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the NBA Rising Stars Invitational opening ceremony at the Kallang Tennis Hub on Wednesday (Jun 25).
While international basketball appears to have improved by leaps and bounds - the last seven NBA Most Valuable Player awards have been won by non-US players - Asian men's basketball has yet to make that breakthrough.
At the 2023 FIBA World Cup, no Asian nation made it past the opening group stage. And at last year's Paris Olympics, Japan, the only Asian nation to qualify, failed to progress to the knockout rounds.
Asked what it would take for Asian basketball to catch up with the rest of the world, Yao said that it boils down to "better competition".
'The only way (to) get improvement ... is through better competition. Better competition will help them find out their own weaknesses and their strengths, and then we need a coach and teammates to help fix it and get to the next level," said Yao, who was China Basketball Association president from 2017 to 2024.
"We need more competition to help us to see the world."
One player who could make a breakthrough in the NBA is 20-year-old Yang Hansen, who is just the third Chinese player ever chosen in the first round.
In a stunning turn of events on NBA Draft Night on Thursday, Yang was picked 16th overall by the Portland Trail Blazers, after being previously tipped by some to be drafted only in the second round.
Yao, the No 1 selection in 2002, and Yi Jianlian - who was sixth overall in 2007 - are the only other Chinese players chosen in the first round of the draft.
'He is a very talented kid, he's a very nice kid. I spoke to him about maybe three weeks ago, four weeks ago ... and wished him good luck," said Yao.
