The 1971 NBA draft was the 25th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
 The draft was held on March 29 and 30, 1971 before the 1971–72 season.
 In this draft, 17 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players.
 A player who had finished his four-year college eligibility was eligible for selection.
 If a player left college early, he would not be eligible for selection until his college class graduated.
 The first two picks in the draft belonged to the teams that finished last in each conference, with the order determined by a coin flip.
 The Cleveland Cavaliers won the coin flip and were awarded the first overall pick, while the Portland Trail Blazers were awarded the second pick.
 The remaining first-round picks and the subsequent rounds were assigned to teams in reverse order of their win–loss record in the previous season.
 Prior to the start of the season, the San Diego Rockets and the San Francisco Warriors relocated to Houston, Texas, and Oakland, California, and became the Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors respectively.
 The draft consisted of 19 rounds comprising the selection of 237 players.
 The league also hosted a supplemental hardship draft on September 20, 1971, for college underclassmen who wish to join the league.
The 1984 NBA draft was the 37th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
 It was held at the Felt Forum at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, on June 19, 1984, before the 1984–85 season.
 The draft was broadcast in the United States on the USA Network.
 In this draft, 23 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players.
 The Houston Rockets won the coin flip and were awarded the first overall pick, while the Portland Trail Blazers, who obtained the Indiana Pacers' first-round pick in a trade, were awarded the second pick.
 The remaining first-round picks and the subsequent rounds were assigned to teams in reverse order of their win–loss record in the previous season.
 The Cleveland Cavaliers were awarded an extra first-round draft pick as compensation for the draft picks traded away by their previous owner, Ted Stepien.
 A player who had finished his four-year college eligibility was automatically eligible for selection.
 Before the draft, five college underclassmen announced that they would leave college early and would be eligible for selection.
 Prior to the draft, the San Diego Clippers relocated to Los Angeles and became the Los Angeles Clippers.
 The draft consisted of 10 rounds comprising the selection of 228 players.
 This draft was the last to be held before the creation of the Draft Lottery in 1985.
 It was also the first NBA Draft to be overseen by David Stern.
The 1970 NBA draft was the 24th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
 The draft was held on March 23, 1970, before the 1970–71 season.
 In this draft, 17 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players.
 A player who had finished his four-year college eligibility was eligible for selection.
 If a player left college early, he would not be eligible for selection until his college class graduated.
 The first two picks in the draft belonged to the teams that finished last in each division, with the order determined by a coin flip.
 The Detroit Pistons won the coin flip and were awarded the first overall pick, while the San Diego Rockets were awarded the second pick.
 The remaining first-round picks and the subsequent rounds were assigned to teams in reverse order of their win–loss record in the previous season.
 Three expansion franchises, the Buffalo Braves, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Portland Trail Blazers, took part in the NBA Draft for the first time and were assigned the seventh, the eighth and the ninth pick in each round.
 In the first round, the Cavaliers had the seventh pick, while the Blazers and the Braves had the eighth and the ninth pick respectively.
 In the subsequent rounds, the Cavaliers and the Braves exchanged their order of selection, while the Blazers had the eighth pick throughout the draft.
 The draft consisted of 19 rounds comprising the selection of 239 players; it holds the record for the most prospects selected in any NBA draft.
The 1967 NBA draft was the 21st annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
 The draft was held on May 3 and 4, 1967 before the 1967–68 season.
 In this draft, 12 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players.
 A player who had finished his four-year college eligibility was eligible for selection.
 If a player left college early, he would not be eligible for selection until his college class graduated.
 The first two picks in the draft belonged to the teams that finished last in each division, with the order determined by a coin flip.
 The Detroit Pistons won the coin flip and were awarded the first overall pick, while the Baltimore Bullets were awarded the second pick.
 The remaining first-round picks and the subsequent rounds were assigned to teams in reverse order of their win–loss record in the previous season.
 Five teams that had the best records in previous season were not awarded second round draft picks.
 Two expansion franchises, the Seattle SuperSonics and the San Diego Rockets, took part in the NBA Draft for the first time and were assigned the sixth and seventh pick in the first round, along with the last two picks of each subsequent round.
 The draft consisted of 20 rounds comprising 162 players selected.
The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas.
 The team plays in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in National Basketball Association (NBA).
 The team was established in 1967, and played in San Diego, California for four years before being moved to Houston.
 In the Rockets debut season, they won only 15 games.
 However, after drafting Elvin Hayes first overall in the 1969 NBA Draft, they made their first appearance in the playoffs in 1969.
 After Hayes was traded, Moses Malone was acquired to replace him.
 Malone won two MVPs during his time in Houston, and he led the Rockets to the conference finals in his first year with the team.
 He also took the Rockets to the NBA Finals in 1981, but they were defeated in six games by the Boston Celtics.
 In 1984, the Rockets drafted Hakeem Olajuwon, who led them to the 1986 Finals in his second year, where they lost again to Boston.
 In the next seven seasons, they lost in the first round of the playoffs five times.
 They won their first NBA championship in 1994, led by Olajuwon, who won Finals MVP.
 They repeated as champions the next year, and Olajuwon won Finals MVP once again.
 To date, the Rockets have not advanced to the finals again.
 The Rockets missed the playoffs from 1999–2003, and did not make the playoffs again until after they drafted Yao Ming in 2002.
 Since then, the Rockets have had a winning season in all but two of the next 14 seasons and, led by James Harden, advanced to the conference finals in 2015.
The 2002–03 NBA season was the Rockets' 36th season in the National Basketball Association, and 32nd season in the city of Houston.
 This was their final season playing at the Compaq Center.
 The Rockets won the Draft Lottery, where they selected 7'6" Chinese sensation Yao Ming with the first overall pick in the 2002 NBA draft.
 In December, the Rockets acquired James Posey from the Denver Nuggets in a three-team trade which sent Kenny Thomas to the Philadelphia 76ers.
 This season was also head coach Rudy Tomjanovich's last as he would step down following the season due to health issues.
 With Yao teamed up with captain Steve Francis, they gelled their first season together, being named as starters for the 2003 NBA All-Star Game.
 On January 17, 2003, Francis gained national media attention, scoring a career-high 44 points in a home game against the Los Angeles Lakers.
 The Rockets would go on to finish the season with a 43–39 record without clinching a playoff spot, although they improved on last season, where they won just 28 games.
The 1968 NBA draft was the 22nd annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
 The draft was held on April 3, 1968, and May 8 and 10, 1968 before the 1968–69 season.
 In this draft, 14 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players.
 A player who had finished his four-year college eligibility was eligible for selection.
 If a player left college early, he would not be eligible for selection until his college class graduated.
 The first two picks in the draft belonged to the teams that finished last in each division, with the order determined by a coin flip.
 The San Diego Rockets won the coin flip and were awarded the first overall pick, while the Baltimore Bullets were awarded the second pick.
 The remaining first-round picks and the subsequent rounds were assigned to teams in reverse order of their win–loss record in the previous season.
 Six teams that had the best records in previous season were not awarded second round draft picks.
 Two expansion franchises, the Milwaukee Bucks and the Phoenix Suns, took part in the NBA Draft for the first time and were assigned the seventh and eighth pick in the first round, along with the last two picks of each subsequent round.
 The St. Louis Hawks relocated to Atlanta and became the Atlanta Hawks prior to the start of the season.
 The draft consisted of 21 rounds comprising 214 players selected.
Yao Ming (; born September 12, 1980) is a retired Chinese professional basketball player who played for the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) and the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
 He was selected to start for the Western Conference in the NBA All-Star Game eight times, and was named to the All-NBA Team five times.
 At the time of his final season, he was the tallest active player in the NBA, at 2.29 m .
 He is the only player outside of the United States to lead the NBA in All-Star voting.
The 1976 NBA draft was the 30th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
 The draft was held on June 8, 1976, before the 1976–77 season.
 In this draft, 18 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players.
 The first two picks in the draft belonged to the teams that finished last in each conference, with the order determined by a coin flip.
 The Atlanta Hawks won the coin flip and were awarded the first overall pick, while the Chicago Bulls were awarded the second pick.
 The Hawks then traded the first pick to the Houston Rockets before the draft.
 The remaining first-round picks and the subsequent rounds were assigned to teams in reverse order of their win–loss record in the previous season.
 The New York Knicks forfeited their first-round draft pick due to their illegal signing of George McGinnis whose rights were held by the Philadelphia 76ers.
 The 76ers, the Golden State Warriors and the Buffalo Braves also forfeited their second, third and fourth-round pick respectively due to their participation in 1975 supplementary draft American Basketball Association (ABA) players who had never been drafted in the NBA.
 A player who had finished his four-year college eligibility was eligible for selection.
 If a player left college early, he would not be eligible for selection until his college class graduated.
 Before the draft, 26 college underclassmen were declared eligible for selection under the "hardship" rule.
 13 of them withdrew before the draft, leaving only 13 early entry candidates eligible for selection.
 These players had applied and gave evidence of financial hardship to the league, which granted them the right to start earning their living by starting their professional careers earlier.
 The draft consisted of 10 rounds comprising the selection of 173 players.
 On August 8, 1976, the league also hosted a Dispersal draft for ABA players from the Kentucky Colonels and Spirits of St. Louis, who were not included in the ABA–NBA merger.
The 2002 NBA draft was held on June 26, 2002, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden.
 In this draft, National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting 57 amateur college basketball players and other first-time eligible players, such as players from non-North American leagues.
 The draft was broadcast on TNT at 7:30 PM (EDT).
 The NBA announced that about 42 college and high school players, and five international players, had filed as early-entry candidates for the draft.
 The Chicago Bulls and the Golden State Warriors both had a 22.5 percent probability of acquiring the first overall pick, but the Houston Rockets, with an 8.9 percent probability, won the NBA draft lottery on May 19.
 The Bulls and Warriors were second and third, respectively.
 As punishment for salary-cap violations during the 2000–01 season, the Minnesota Timberwolves forfeited their first-round draft pick.

Question: How tall in meters is the player that was he first overall pick in the 2002 NBA draft by the Houston Rockets?
Answer: 2.29 m