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Yao Ming is a professional basketball player from China who stands at an incredible 7 feet 6 inches tall. He was drafted by the Houston Rockets as the first overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft and went on to have a successful career in the league. His height made him one of the tallest players in the NBA, and he was often matched up against some of the league’s best big men. He retired from basketball in 2011 due to injuries, but his legacy as one of China’s greatest basketball players will live on forever.
Yao Ming was born in Shanghai, China, on September 12, 1980. Making him 45 years old in 2024. When he was five years old, he started playing basketball and joined his first youth team when he was eight.
Yao Ming is a giant. At 7’6″, he was one of the tallest basketball players in the world. And his feet are huge to match his massive frame. In fact, Yao wears a size 18 shoe!
Yao, born in Shanghai, started playing for the Shanghai Sharks as a teenager and was selected to the Chinese national basketball team in 1997. He led them to a Sino-American Friendship Game victory over the United States that same year. After joining the Houston Rockets in 2002 with the first overall pick in the NBA draft, Yao suffered a series of foot and ankle injuries that limited his playing time, causing him to miss 250 games in his first six seasons.
However, Yao’s career was unfortunately plagued by injuries, which ultimately led to his retirement in 2011. In 2008, Yao underwent surgery to repair a stress fracture in his left foot, and he missed the entire season as a result. The following year, Yao was again sidelined for most of the season with a hairline fracture in his left ankle.
After missing the entire 2009-10 season, Yao attempted to come back and play in 2010-11, but he was eventually forced to shut down his season after only five games due to a lingering ankle injury. Yao officially announced his retirement from the NBA in July 2011.
Since retiring, Yao has remained a global ambassador for the game of basketball. In 2016, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Yao’s impact on Chinese society has been considerable. He has been hailed as a trailblazer for basketball in China, popularizing the sport in a country where it was not well known before his arrival in the NBA. His entry into the league helped increase global interest in the NBA, particularly among Chinese fans.