HISTORY was made when former Houston Rockets center Yao Ming was named as one of the inductees of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2016 last week.

    Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame said Yao Ming, who is from China, changed the face of global basketball as a respected player and ambassador of the game.

    “He led his hometown Shanghai Sharks to a CBA Championship in 2002 and was the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft the same year. As a member for the Houston Rockets, he earned All-Rookie honors (2003) and was named to the All-NBA Team five times (2004, 2006-2009). As an eight-time NBA All-Star (2003-2009, 2011), he broke the record for most All-Star votes, previously held by Michael Jordan in 2005. As the anchor of the Chinese National Team, Yao was named a three-time FIBA Asian Championship MVP,” the official proclamation said.

    While Yao’s induction to the highest honor-giving body in basketball is definitely well-deserved, it still expectedly drew criticisms from some parties mostly because of his incomparable statistics to those of the past inductees because of a career cut short by injuries.

    Perhaps the most controversial disapproval came from former Indiana Pacers standout Jalen Rose, now a TV commentator and analyst, as he said that the 2.26-meter giant “absolutely, positively doesn’t belong in the hall,” as per the New York Daily News.

    While the statistics argument is valid, it should be noted that the hall is not just about the numbers a player produced, although it is considered, but is more about how someone impacted the history of basketball.

    Yao broke boundaries when he became the first Asian to be drafted No. 1 in the NBA and also when he achieved all the honors mentioned above.

    ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk wrote a comprehensive article describing how Yao “sprung a generation of Asian NBA fans around the world,” linking two cultures, building respect from one another, and educating the public about racial stereotyping. It is absolutely not a small thing to achieve not only in sports but in all of life in general, but Yao did it innocently just by being himself and the way he carried himself.”

    The induction ceremony is set to be held in Springfield, Massachusetts on September 9.

    (SD-Agencies)