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Film recalls Yao Ming's bounce into the NBA
By Chris Bonjean (SunTimes)
Updated: 2005-08-09 11:14
Like most international businesses, the National Basketball Association has longed for a way to enter the lucrative China market, a country with as many basketball fans (270 million) as the entire U.S. population.
In 2002, the NBA got its wish in 7-foot-6-inch Chinese star Yao Ming. After much wrangling with the Chinese government, the 21-year-old Yao became eligible for the NBA draft and was selected No. 1 overall by the Houston Rockets. While China and the NBA rejoiced, many media members who felt he would be a bust criticized the pick.
A new documentary film, "The Year of the Yao," chronicles that 2002 season, which was full of growing pains as the shy and modest Yao encountered the brash, me-first attitude prevalent in America's professional ranks. When a teammate is shown in his Mercedes-Benz sports car, Yao is shown thanking his parents for the wealth they had given him -- only he was talking about spiritual wealth.
He has other reasons to thank his parents. Both played professional basketball in the '70s, which explains how someone with his incredible size can move with a grace and agility rarely, if ever, seen before.
But neither could help him make an easy transition into American society.
That falls to film narrator Colin Pine, who quickly is introduced as Yao's translator for his first NBA season, and their friendship dominates the picture as the setting shifts from China to Houston. With both holding the hopes of a country looking for world respect and a city wanting a basketball championship, Pine, 28, wound up under nearly as much scrutiny as Yao.
Since Yao's English is extremely limited, the film is told through Pine's thoughts and words. It would be better to know what Yao is really thinking when interacting with his teammates, whose typical locker-room banter can't be interpreted. This sets up awkward moments that go by in the film without comment.
Having millions of dollars, though, helps in any adjustment, and Yao is able to realize the American dream of owning his own home, moving into a large house that is a significant contrast to the spartan dorm room he shared with a teammate in China. It seems normal that Yao's parents move in -- but a little weird when Pine does, as well.
Mercifully, we finally see some basketball action (this is a film about basketball, right?) and the pace picks up. Yao struggles to transition from the team-oriented ways of Chinese basketball -- individual stats weren't kept until recently -- to the one-on-one style of the NBA. The Rockets and Yao would have been happy to have been in China after his first game: zero points and two rebounds in 11 minutes.
This performance encouraged former NBA star and TNT commentator Charles Barkley to promise on-air that he would kiss the butt of partner Kenny Smith if Yao ever scored over 19 points in a game. This promise provided motivation for Yao -- and a change of heart later for Barkley.
The struggles help remind us that Yao is human, despite his super-human size and a pretty out-of-this-world demeanor. And though he initially struggles on the court, Yao rebounds to start the all-star game and carry his team for a stretch of the season.
"The Year of the Yao" appeals because of the title character, a rare individual who has helped two countries -- one very open and another traditionally closed but changing -- have a better understanding of each other. But it is a bit outdated, as two full seasons have gone by, and those familiar with the NBA know that Yao has become an elite player.
There's also a feeling that this is like watching a film about Michael Jordan in the late '80s --the big story just hasn't been played yet.
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