Word: shaq
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Some 1.3 million NBA fans have already fallen for Yao--selecting him, in the balloting for this Sunday's All-Star game, over the Lakers' Shaquille O'Neal as the Western Conference's starting center. Yao isn't O'Neal's equal on the court, but he has surpassed Shaq in the estimation of blue-chip companies like Apple and Visa, which see Yao as the pitchman messiah who might finally open the wallets of China's 1.3 billion consumers. "Yao Ming is Tiger Woods," says Adam Silver, president of NBA Entertainment, the league's marketing, Internet, television and merchandising...
...badly that he crumpled to the floor like a shot giraffe. Then in a November game against the Lakers, Yao came alive. He hit all nine of his shots, scored 20 points and grabbed six rebounds. Shaquille O'Neal, with an injured toe, missed Yao's coming out, but Shaq was back by the time the Rockets and Lakers squared off again on Jan. 17, in what turned out to be the NBA's second-highest-rated regular-season game ever on cable. Yao blocked five of O'Neal's shots--almost half as many blocks as Shaq had suffered...
...tell Yao Ming, 'Ching-chong-yang-wah-ah-soh.'" In an Asian Week column early last month, the remarks were repeated, and Yao was asked for a response. Tongue in cheek, he said that Chinese was a hard language to learn. (To defuse any controversy, Yao had also sent Shaq a Christmas card, not a typical Chinese gesture.) Before the two played in Houston later in January, Shaq apologized, using the Mandarin dui bu qi. Yao invited Shaq to his home for dinner, and though O'Neal declined because of a family commitment, he congratulated Yao on his All-Star...
...chose him in the second round in 2000, 53rd overall. They dumped him on Oct. 30 of that year, and he played for the Kansas City Knights before Denver signed him again the following April. "My first start?against the Lakers at the Staples Center, when I was guarding Shaq?it kind of hit me that I had made it to the top of the pyramid," says McClintock, who in 22 minutes had NBA career highs of eight points and eight rebounds. "I thought I did O.K., but that night Shaq made 13 out of 13 free throws...
Last Sunday, the Asian Invasion was 9-for-9 from the field, posting a career-high 20 points against the Lakers. True, he was probably only perfect because Shaq is still out with a big toe injury (sidenote: think how big Shaq’s big toe is, I mean seriously), but I’m still thankful that the 7’6” guy finally showed why the Rockets used the first overall draft pick on him. That this performance came against the detestable Kobe-led Lakers made it all the more satisfying...