First i should say maybe it is not the right place to post a thread like this. But I am really surprised to see so many Americans like Yao, a Chinese boy, because he is not really an idollike player (different from KB, KG, TD and TM), given his ordinary skill and soft mentality. BTW: I am a chinese myself, i just feel so curious about this PHENOMENON.
It shouldn't matter whether he's Chinese or not, he began his "popularity" with the people when the first saw him. A 7'6 man who could (back then) shoot a 20ft jumper, a great free throw shooter, to all these NBA viewers, he looked like he'd be an unstoppable force! A tall man who could do anything, in his first season he did great as a rookie, and people thought, he's only new and he's already putting up above average numbers, he'll get much better in time, well so far we haven't seen any big improvement from him, but I guess the occasional NBA Fans still see him as that "unstoppable force", as they still remember the media advertising him lol, well thats why I think he's still popular, but i'm probably wrong...
The man just has so many potential. And to Americans, I don't really think its about him being Chinese and such, they look at him more as a player with so much potential. Its not really a race thing that much. I mean, I'm sure theres plenty of Caucasians that idolize African American players. And I know plenty of Asians that look up to African American players. So it really doesn't mean anything when Americans like Yao. To the Chinese on the other hand, we see him more as the first Chinese to really have a successful career in the NBA. Thats my opinion about him anyway. Wang Zhi Zhi and Mengke Bateer all spiraled downhill, so for once, a Chinese player really gave China something to look forward to in the NBA.
i want to see yao quit the chinese national team. then we can talk about improvement, give him a full off season and then lets see.
Simply put: He has a rare combination of being larger than life with what appears to be incredible potential, while somehow still coming across as the underdog that you love to root for.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The man just has so many potential. And to Americans, I don't really think its about him being Chinese and such, they look at him more as a player with so much potential</div> Not only do the Americans and chinese only like yao, so do people from yugoslavia, my grandparents came to the United States to visit, well i was watching the rockets game and there is yao shooting his free throws and my grand parents are like dang how tall is this dude, im like he is 7'6 well i had to say the height in meters cause you dont have feet in yugoslavia soo, yao ming makes both his free throws and they decide to watch the game with me so then yao keeps scoring and scoring and they are kind of interested in him.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting sinical:</div><div class="quote_post">First i should say maybe it is not the right place to post a thread like this. But I am really surprised to see so many Americans like Yao, a Chinese boy, because he is not really an idollike player (different from KB, KG, TD and TM), given his ordinary skill and soft mentality. BTW: I am a chinese myself, i just feel so curious about this PHENOMENON.</div> Yao's popularity in the US in large part comes from the Asain community, I'd bet. I'd also bet that white fans tend to like him more than than black fans. People like him because he's unique, both in the way he looks, the way he plays, and the his demeanor. Under Rudy T, I think his uniqueness was more pronounced since he was regularly shooting outside jumpers and making flashy interior passes, as well as providing the media with lots of funny quotes. If it turns out that he doesn't improve much beyond where he's at right now, I wouldn't be surprised to see his popularity plummet amongst American fans, though.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting durvasa:</div><div class="quote_post">Yao's popularity in the US in large part comes from the Asain community, I'd bet. I'd also bet that white fans tend to like him more than than black fans. People like him because he's unique, both in the way he looks, the way he plays, and the his demeanor. Under Rudy T, I think his uniqueness was more pronounced since he was regularly shooting outside jumpers and making flashy interior passes, as well as providing the media with lots of funny quotes. If it turns out that he doesn't improve much beyond where he's at right now, I wouldn't be surprised to see his popularity plummet amongst American fans, though.</div> I have to agree with this. I find myself defending him quite often already to people that don't like him because he is not a dominant inside force. If he had a coach that would allow him to play to his strengths, I think he would be a very dominant player with his shooting and passing skills.
