If there’s anyone who is automatically associated with Asian basketball, it’s Chinese legend and former Houston Rockets center Yao Ming.
SINGAPORE – As some of the best Asian high school players gathered for a five-day pocket tournament here, arguably the greatest Asian basketball player of all time, Yao Ming, believes this event is a step in the right direction towards closing the gap between Asia and the rest of the world.
“Well, first of all, that’s a good thing, that the gap is closing,” Yao told the media covering the NBA Rising Stars Invitational 2025 at the Kallang Tennis Hub. “And it’s closing, closing and closing, and obviously it’s bringing more competition, more competitiveness between the teams. But, you know, I sure wish those kids have fun up there. I remember while I was playing at this age, I enjoyed that my parents or my friends come to watch me play.”
The NBA RSI is the first of its kind to be held in Asia, a tournament featuring 220 boys and girls from 22 champion high school squads representing 11 countries across the Asia-Pacific region, including NU Nazareth School Bullpups representing the Philippines.
Yao, thus far the only Asian-born player to be drafted no. 1 overall in the NBA, hopes the young players participating will bring this experience with them and benefit from it.
“I remember when I was that age, even younger than that, it excited me to play a basketball game outside of my hometown. The travel, the new area, new opponents in a very unknown city. It’s a life story for them. Regardless of the result, regardless where they go for the future, I think it’s a life story for them.”
While Yao Ming is a big believer in training youngsters early, he acknowledges that there must be a balance between basketball training and the classroom.
“I think the biggest challenge, my blind guess is that balance the homework compared to practice time,” he said. “Maybe the NBA and other basketball organizations can put a lot of effort on the infrastructure build, and also the coach training and a program running 24 hours. Those kids who love to play basketball, that’s good on one side, but on the other side, high school they have to finish, we’re getting to college, too. I think that’s the biggest challenge, how to balance the academic and practice and sports.”
Yao wasn’t the first Chinese player to make it to the NBA, but he was certainly the most popular and the best. However, after his retirement, there have been fewer and fewer of his countrymen who have managed to follow in his footsteps.
There is some optimism, though, surrounding young center Yang Hansen, who threw his name into the 2025 NBA Draft held Thursday and Friday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
“He’s a very talented kid, very nice kid,” Yao said of Yang. “I spoke to him maybe three weeks ago, four weeks ago, when he left China. I wish him all good luck, and he deserves the best, and he put up with all the effort he put in there, and it was his team, and it doesn’t matter what happens (Thursday), the draft is just one step for him in his long career, so keep going.”
Yang was selected 16th overall in the first round by the Memphis Grizzlies then traded to the Portland Trail Blazers. Once Yang signs a contract and plays in a regular season game, he would be just one of a handful of Asian-born players in the NBA; last season only four such players played in at least one regular-season game: three from Japan (Rui Hachimura, Yuta Watanabe and Yuki Kawamura) and one from China (Cui Yongxi).
The number of Japanese players in the PBA wasn’t lost on Yao.
“Very competitive,” he said of Japanese basketball. “I believe there is a very strong program behind it. I have to congratulate my Japanese colleagues. They did a great job, obviously, both in the World Cup and the Olympics. And that really brings a lot of attention and raises the competition level in Asia. I think that will stimulate some of the feeling we have right now to try to catch (them).”
Yao thinks that Asian players need to get exposed to better competition to have a chance at cracking an NBA lineup.
“I think, just my own opinion, that the only way to get improvements, the only way a player can improve, is through better competition. Better competition will help us to find our own weakness and our strength. And then we need a coach and our teammates to help us to fix it and to come to the next level.
“I think for Asia, I think we need more competition to help us to see the world.”
Yao also said it takes more than talent to play in the NBA.
“Many, many things (are needed),” he said. “Talent, for sure. My parents were tall. That’s why I’m tall. So, I got that from my parents. For sure, without them, I can’t work as hard as I did. So, yes, of course, talent.
“But there’s always saying that from a coach I worked together before. It takes more than just talent to survive in this league.”
Banner images from NBA RSI