Yao Ming
Yao Ming entered Shanghai's Provincial Sports Academy at age 12, and joined the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association for the 1997-98 season. The league's growing popularity attracted the attention of NIKE Sporting goods company, and the company became an official sponsor of the Shanghai Sharks.
NIKE invited Ming to attend a summer basketball camp in Paris, France during the summer of 1998. After making a good impression, he received an invitation to attend the NIKE All-American Camp in Indianapolis, Indiana where he ranked as one of the top players at the center position.
Yao Ming played on the Chinese Men's National Team in 1999, and the 2000 Chinese Men's Olympic team in the Australian Olympics. Chinese players are trained to play emphasizing team play as a unit rather than concentrating on individual players.
Ming made his NBA debut in 2002 after signing a 4 year, $17.8 million dollar contract with the Houston Rockets. He has also appeared on national TV commercials for Apple computer and VISA. He is as recognizable commercially as the center for the Miami Heat and we should be seeing him more and more as his professional basketball career progresses.
Birth Date
September 12, 1980
Chinese Astrology Sign
Monkey
Sun Sign:
Virgo
Copyright @2005 Profile of Yao Ming
