In a game dominated by large people Yao Ming, standing a massive 7 and a half feet tall in his bare feet, dominated them all. When he was controversially recruited by the Houston Rockets as the number 1 NBA draft pick in 2002, it heralded the start of what was often referred to as ‘the Ming Dynasty’.
However, given that his opening statistics were less than impressive, many wondered if perhaps the Rocket’s faith had been misplaced. Then the massive Chinese player was given his chance and he showed everyone just why the Rockets had gone to so much trouble to secure him.
Yao Ming’s statistics are now legendary, including his 8 NBA All-Star team nominations. Those who played with and against him testify that he was among
the best centers ever. A skilled team player, he could block shots like nobody else and make impressive three-point shots.
Unfortunately Yao’s other statistics are not quite so impressive. Although he only missed 2 out of his first 246 games, by the time he retired in 2011 he’d missed 180 games over his 8 NBA seasons due to injury. Unsurprisingly, these recurring injuries forced his eventual retirement at only 31 years of age and in hindsight were probably a given considering his sheer size and the sporting system he is a legacy of.
It also raises the issue of pushing large young athletes too hard, something that is increasingly being recognized and addressed by modern sports institutes. Tall, young, and growing athletes require a different training approach to smaller athletes. They take a lot longer to develop, their bones need longer to mature and strengthen, and many of them are late bloomers.
Yao though is a product of the Chinese youth sports system. Had he been born anywhere else he possibly wouldn’t have graced a basketball court at all. But as fate would have it, he was born to tall parents who themselves had been forced to become professional basketballers by the state run system.
Yao was a massive baby who grew into a massive child. He was earmarked from a very early age for a career in basketball and entered the extremely harsh world of the Chinese youth sports system at the age of 9. This was despite the fact that he had some physical issues that should have given his connections cause for concern.
His lungs are small for someone his size and Yao has commented that he had to push them to the limit in games. He also had limited lateral mobility and lift, and had to work extremely hard to develop more athleticism in these areas. His father in fact was always concerned that Yao was not physically athletic enough for the NBA. Then there are the references to his awkward gait and slow movement. All signs that for this larger than life man, elite level basketball was perhaps not an ideal career choice. However, the circumstances of his birth were such that he had very little choice in the matter.
It’s now a matter of record that whilst he was in the youth sports system, he broke his left foot twice. A case of being pushed too hard too fast perhaps? In each case, the injury was treated superficially instead of given the specialist treatment it should have had. Ultimately, the foot subsequently broke down time and again under the pressures of his professional career. And forced his early retirement.
We wonder how many potential stars the elite sports world has lost because they broke down under training and nutritional regimes that were not suited to them?
For the last couple of months we’ve been hearing stories about how guys in Hollywood such as Vin Diesel and Zac Efron or top NBA players like Chris Paul have been using two insane new products to lose body fat and add some incredible muscle bulk in mere weeks. Needless to say, when word of these ‘wonder-products’ leaked out men everywhere went crazy over them and their popularity simply exploded! Understandably, our readers have also been going mad over them too and why wouldn’t they?
To be continued …