Yao Ming 10 Personal Facts, Biography, Wiki
Chinese basketball player Born: September 12, 1980 (age 40 years), Shanghai, China Height: 2.29 m Weight: 141 kg Spouse: Ye Li (m. 2007) Parents: Fang Fengdi, Yao Zhiyuan Children: Yao Qinlei Birthday: September 12, 1980 Nationality: American, Chinese Age: 40 Years, 40 Year Old Males Sun Sign: Virgo Born Country: China Born In: Shanghai, China Famous As: Basketball Player Basketball Players American Men Height: 2.29 M Spouse/Ex-: Ye Li (M. 2007) Father: Yao Zhiyuan Mother: Fang Fengdi City: Shanghai, China
Yao Ming 10 Pics, Photos, Pictures
Yao Ming 10 Fast Facts, Biography, Wiki
After Yao announced that he would enter the 2002 NBA draft, he told one American journalist that he had been studying English for two years, and that he liked the movie Star Wars but disliked hip hop. He was sometimes accompanied during interviews in Shanghai by one of his parents, whose basketball careers were derailed by the 1966–76 Cultural Revolution, and who came to his Shanghai Sharks games on bicycles. Yao met Chinese female basketball player Ye Li when he was 17 years old. Ye was not fond of Yao at first, but finally accepted him after he gave her the team pins he had collected during the 2000 Summer Olympics. She is the only woman he has ever dated. Their relationship became public when they appeared together during the 2004 Olympics closing ceremony. On August 6, 2007, Yao and Ye married in a ceremony attended by close friends and family and closed to the media. On May 21, 2010, the couple’s daughter Yao Qinlei (whose English name is Amy) was born in Houston, Texas. In 2004, Yao co-wrote an autobiography with ESPN sportswriter Ric Bucher, entitled Yao: A Life in Two Worlds. In the same year, he was also the subject of a documentary film, The Year of the Yao, which focuses on his NBA rookie year. The film is narrated by his friend and interpreter, Colin Pine. In 2005, former Newsweek writer Brook Larmer published a book entitled Operation Yao Ming, in which he said that Yao’s parents were convinced to marry each other so that they would produce a dominant athlete, and that during Yao’s childhood, he was given special treatment to help him become a great basketball player. In a 2015 post on the website Reddit.com, Ming stated that this was not true and that he started playing basketball for fun at age 9. In 2009, Yao provided the voice for a character of a Chinese animated film, The Magic Aster, released on June 19. Yao enrolled at the Antai College of Economics & Management of Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2011. He took a tailored degree program with mostly one-on-one lectures to avoid being a distraction on campus. Yao completed his studies in July 2018, graduating with a degree in economics after 7 years of study. In 2016, Yao opened a winery called Yao Family Wines in Napa Valley, California, which serves Cabernet Sauvignon blends and “the kind of rich-but-balanced luxury reds he’d come to enjoy in Houston steakhouses.” During his career, a major part of Yao Ming’s income came from sponsorship deals. He endorsed major companies like ‘Nike,’ ‘Reebok,’ ‘Coca-Cola,’ and ‘Pepsi.’ He sued ‘Coca-Cola’ in 2003 for using his image on their bottles when the company was promoting the national team; he won the case. In 2004, he co-wrote his autobiography ‘Yao: A Life in Two Worlds.’ In the same year, a documentary film titled ‘The Year of the Yao’ was made. The film focuses on his NBA rookie year. In 2005, former ‘Newsweek’ writer Brook Larmer published a book titled ‘Operation Yao Ming.’ He has participated in many charity events—he once organized an auction and raised US$ 965,000 for underprivileged children in China. He donated $2 million for relief work after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, and developed a foundation to rebuild schools destroyed in the earthquake. Yao dated basketball player Ye Li, and married her on August 6, 2007. Their daughter Yao Qinlei was born on May 21, 2010. In 2009, he bought ‘Shanghai Sharks,’ which hadn’t participated in the CBA due to financial crunches. He is also a dedicated supporter of ‘Special Olympics’ and serves as Global Ambassador and member of the ‘International Board of Directors.’ In 2011, he joined ‘Antai College of Economics & Management of Shanghai Jiao Tong University’ where he took up a tailored degree program with mostly one-on-one lectures. Yao completed his studies in July 2018, graduating with a degree in economics after seven years of study. In 2012, he filmed a documentary on white rhinoceros. He also serves as an ambassador for elephant conservation. Yao Ming wore uniform #11… Both of Yao’s parents played for the national basketball teams of China; his mother, Fang Feng Di, is 6’3″ tall and his father Yao Zhi Yuan is 6’7″… Yao Ming was drafted by the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 2002, and later that year became only the third Chinese national ever to play in the NBA. Yao Ming was already famous, and famously tall: at 7’6″ (2.29 meters) he towered over even most professional players, and he had played for China’s national team in the 2000 Olympic Games and the 2002 FIBA World Championships. He also played five seasons with the Shanghai Sharks of the China Basketball Association. Yao was an All Star eight times in eight NBA seasons, the fans voting him in as a starter despite his injuries in later years. Yao Ming averaged 19 points and just 9.2 rebounds per game over the course of his NBA career. Hobbled by injuries to his feet and legs, he retired at age 30 in 2011.
