height_ft statvalue nationality birth_date career_start years draft_year team draft_pick image statlabel name career_position caption weight_lb birth_place draft_team career_end position draft_round letter career_number height_in bbr article_title
7 9,247 -rrb- 920 -lrb- 1.9 bpg -rrb- -lrb- 19.0 ppg -rrb- 4,494 -lrb- 9.2 rpg chinese 12 september 1980 1997 1997 -- 2002 2002 start -- 2010 end 2002 shanghai sharks shanghai sharks houston rockets 1 yaomingonoffense2.jpg points rebounds blocks yao ming 姚明 center yao december 2006 ming in game against the washington wizards in 310 shanghai , china houston rockets 2011 president 1 m 11 6 mingya01 yao ming

yao ming

yao ming -lrb- born september 12 , 1980 -rrb- is a retired chinese professional basketball player who played for the houston rockets of the national basketball association -lrb- nba -rrb- .
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 .
yao , who was born in shanghai , china , started playing for the shanghai sharks as a teenager , and played on their senior team for five years in the chinese basketball association -lrb- cba -rrb- , winning a championship in his final year .
after negotiating with the cba and the sharks to secure his release , yao was selected by the houston rockets as the first overall pick in the 2002 nba draft .
he reached the nba playoffs four times , and the rockets won a first-round series in the 2009 postseason , their first playoff series victory since 1997 .
in july 2011 , yao announced his retirement from professional basketball because of a series of foot and ankle injuries which forced him to miss 250 games in his last six seasons .
in eight seasons with the rockets , yao ranks sixth among franchise leaders in total points and total rebounds , and second in total blocks .
yao is one of china 's best-known athletes , with sponsorships with several major companies .
his rookie year in the nba was the subject of a documentary film , `` the year of the yao '' , and he co-wrote , along with nba analyst ric bucher , an autobiography titled `` yao : a life in two worlds '' .
