Cultural Exchange

His arrival in Houston as the No. 1 Draft pick in 2002 was met with some skepticism—and even some cultural fear—but Yao Ming’s rookie season changed the international scope of the NBA forever.

- Alan Paul

Yao Ming faced tremendous pressure during his rookie year of 2002-03. Everything the 7-6 center did and didn’t do took on added meaning; his success or failure would carry repercussions far beyond him or the Houston Rockets.

Yao was the first Chinese player with a legit chance to be an NBA star and the first international player drafted No. 1 overall without ever playing in the US. Billions of eyes were watching his every move from all over the world. He had to be a model citizen, pay fealty to the Chinese sports hierarchy, pledge to always return for the national team, and prove that he had the athleticism and endurance to continue his Chinese success playing with and against the world’s best players. And he had to do it all with what seemed like a chorus of people rooting for him to fall on his face.

“A lot of people wanted to see Yao fail, quite frankly,” Jeff Van Gundy, who coached the center for four years starting in his second season, told Newsday. “They did not want to see him succeed.”