Although the Rockets narrowly missed making the NBA play-offs in 2003, Yao helped lead the team to a 43–39 record-an impressive turnaround from the Rockets’ 28–54 record just one season earlier. In the 2002–03 season he was voted by fans to start for the Western Conference in the All-Star Game and was a unanimous selection to the league’s All-Rookie team. The 7-foot 6-inch (2.29-metre) Yao was drafted by the Houston Rockets with the first overall pick in the 2002 NBA draft.
By the time he led the Chinese team to a respectable 10th-place finish at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Yao had become a national icon. In 1997 he joined the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). By the time he was 12 years old, he was attending a local sports academy and practicing basketball several hours a day. From an early age Yao towered over his classmates. Yao was born to accomplished basketball-playing parents who each stood more than 6 feet (1.8 metres) tall.
Yao Ming, (born September 12, 1980, Shanghai, China), Chinese basketball player, who became an international star as a centre for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA).