He won two championships there with the Pacers, but was named an All-Star in the NBA three times and played in the 1977 NBA Finals after the merger as well.
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O’Neal entered the league in 1992, when Yao was just 12 years old. Tonight, he’ll be rewarded for his efforts.
345 members in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame; on Friday night, 10 more athletes were formally inducted in the city where the game was born. He was the first Asian player to be the number one pick in the draft, and there has yet to be another. I set out to be the most dominant player ever, but stats don’t validate my career, the respect of my peers and love from the fans are my biggest validation. Effectively, Yao bridged the gap between the National Basketball Association and the far east.
According to Turner’s official press release, the ceremony will start at 4:30PM PST, with coverage starting an hour prior with the “2016 Hall of Fame Red Carpet Show”, hosted by Matt Winer and Steve Smith.
Yao’s on-court dominance and off-court accomplishments aren’t the only reason he’s worth appreciating.
At 7-foot-6, 310 pounds, it’s no secret that he was one of the most physically imposing players the National Basketball Association has ever seen. To that end, Steve Francis wrote a piece for the Players Tribune on his lasting friendship with Yao. I had watched his game tape. You give me strength to move forward.
“He told me I’m cut from the same cloth as him”, Thomas said. But I didn’t want to be him, I didn’t want to talk like him, I didn’t want to dress like him.
“My speech centered around six people I have crossed paths with from the world of basketball that have taught me some life lessons worth sharing”, Greenberg emailed. That was all that mattered.
“That’s the first thing you want to know about things? I’d instruct my agent that if Michael Conley got $150 million, I’d probably have to get $250 [million], tax free”. There were so many people.
Nowadays, James Harden is constantly criticized for his lack of leadership with the Rockets. My teammates and my coaches. “That’s why I know God loves me”. “This is first time I feel so small as I look around at the pictures in the Hall of Fame”. I wonder how many stories behind these pictures. I just think it’s the best. That’s something that I wouldn’t say it hurt me to this day because I don’t lose sleep over it, but the acknowledgement is there and the hurt will exist because that is a team I felt I should have been on. His combination of height, skill, and leadership is rare to the point where he is one of a kind.
One fan came from Houston, about 1,500 miles away.
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Shaq and Yao were literal and figurate giants.
