THE NBA’s version of the Ming Dynasty is done. After helping pro basketball gain a foothold in the world’s most populous market, Chinese star Yao Ming has retired.

    Yao made it official Wednesday, telling a packed news conference in Shanghai that a series of foot and leg injuries forced him to end his playing career at the age of 30.

    “I will formally end my career,” said Yao, the 2.29-meter Shanghai native who became a household name in China before starting his NBA career with the Houston Rockets as the top draft pick in 2002.

    Yao, who will turn 31 this September, is God’s gift to Chinese basketball. Apart from his overwhelming dominance and physical presence, Yao possesses many talents most giant centers do not have.

    His mobility and dazzling footwork often earned him easy points, while his fade-away shot, hook shot and good shooting touch were sharp weapons around the low-post. And his brilliant passing often provided open shot chances to his teammates off the three-point line.

    However, his nine years in the NBA were never plain sailing. The Rockets’ top pick in the 2002 draft, who experienced a scoreless maiden NBA show, tried his best to find chemistry with the team and managed to prove his worth in his rookie season, in which Yao averaged 13.5 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.74 blocks in 82 games and was selected to the All-Rookie, All-Star team.

    “Keep working hard,” the words Yao typed on his laptop screen saver, are his motto. Throughout his first three seasons in NBA, Yao never slacked off in training and he had only missed two matches.

    However, starting from 2005, Yao had major surgery five times on his left foot, missing 250 NBA games. His fragile left foot finally forced Yao to retire early.

    In the 1990s, a consummate player wearing number 23 helped the NBA become more of an art than a game, while in the new century, a Chinese big guy wearing 11 single-handedly raised the NBA profile among one-fifth of mankind.

    Although his success on the court cannot be compared with that of legendary Michael Jordan, Yao’s achievements off the court helped to promote cooperation and exchange between Chinese and American basketball cultures.

    “I don’t think anybody was more of a global icon in the NBA than Michael Jordan. But Yao is different. He’s Chinese, and he is an icon for the globalization of our game. He is a symbol of this Chinese renaissance and their determination to compete on a world stage,” said NBA Commissioner David Stern.

    Thanks to Yao, the NBA saw its popularity soar in China and throughout Asia. A number of NBA stars, including his Rockets teammates and his arch rival O’Neal, earned hefty commercial contracts in China.

    Former NBA players like Stephon Marbury and Smush Parker joined Chinese CBA clubs. More and more Chinese enterprises choose to throw big money at the NBA to have their slogans and logos seen on broadcasts during games, which usually earn high ratings on Chinese TV channels and on-line broadcasts.

    Yao is not the first Chinese to play in the NBA, but he is the most important for sure. He proved that Chinese can adapt well to the high-pressured playing style. He also conquered various difficulties and accumulated plenty of experience for his followers who want to live and play basketball in the United States.

    Most overseas-based Chinese athletes consider local language as a major barrier when they move abroad, and so did Yao. Back in 2002, Yao could hardly tell the difference between “What day is today?” and “What’s the date today?” Two years later Yao could poke fun in English.

    Once queried by media about his English skill, Yao quipped: “I have learned how to say ‘Next question.’”

    Yao’s influence went far beyond sports.

    The video in which he taught Rockets teammate Tracy Mcgrady how to handle chopsticks was widely watched on the Internet. He served Dikembe Mutombo and Patrick Ewing with traditional Chinese food in his Yao Restaurant where the doorway is nine feet (2.74 meters) high, the table and chairs are super-sized, and large plush recliners are specially designed for him and his craft brothers.

    Yao, labeled as China’s biggest export to the United States, built a bridge that introduced millions in the two countries to cultures they didn’t really know.

    Yao has a big heart.

    When a deadly earthquake hit Sichuan Province, Yao donated 2 million yuan (US$294,117) to victims and helped to raise money for quake relief efforts.

    “When I was an elementary school student, I was taught to help people when they are in need,” said Yao, who launched the Yao Foundation in 2008 that helps Chinese children in poor areas.

    Yao also dedicated himself to awakening the public’s awareness of social welfare and green issues.

    “As one of the most high-profile athletes and with a fan base of millions across the world, I am sure he can help us raise public awareness on environment and climate change,” said UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner when Yao became the first-ever Environment Champion of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) in 2008.

    As Goodwill Ambassador of the international wildlife conservation organization “WildAid,” Yao calls for the protection of endangered animal species and says no to eating shark fins.

    When Yao and his wife Ye Li, also a basketball player from Shanghai, got married in 2007, they publicly announced that they would not allow shark fin soup to be served at their wedding banquets.

    Yao’s sturdy attitude against shark fin soup, an expensive delicacy that has a long history in China, even aroused panic among seafood providers as they signed joint statement to protest against Yao.

    As Yao decided to hang up boots, speculation is rife about what he will do next.

    Yao once said he could work as a journalist because he is clever enough.

    Back to Shanghai Sharks? Likely. Yao took over his former club as the sole owner when it was deep in financial difficulties in 2009.

    Just be a family man? Maybe. Yao had expressed his regrets on many occasions for not having enough time to be with his family.

    He may even indulge himself in digital games. It is not a secret that Yao loves World of Warcraft and other role-playing computer games. He says that, in the virtual world, he can enjoy the luxury of being an ordinary man.

    In the real world, he wasn’t, and will never be ordinary.

    Yao’s career as an NBA star is over, but his impact as a culture ambassador, a philanthropist and a national symbol will continue. (SD-Agencies)