Yao Ming Says He’s Partially Deaf in His Left Ear

Who knew? In one of multiple video interviews he conducted with Yahoo! Sports, Yao admits that he has trouble hearing out of his left ear. The Sporting News is on the details: “Former Houston Rockets center Yao Ming revealed that he is partially deaf in his left ear, and has been so since he was eight years old. In a series of interviews, Yao talks with Graham Bensinger of Yahoo! Sports about several topics, including his favorite game he’s played in (versus Slovenia in 2006 FIBA World Championships) and his proudest moments (leading the Houston Rockets into the second round of the NBA playoffs and playing for China in the 2008 Summer Olympics). The one thing that stood out, though, was Yao’s description of the lack of hearing in his left ear. Yao spoke with Bensinger about how that has affected his game. The big man, who played in NBA arenas packed with people, said he had a hard time hearing when it was loud. When Bensinger asked Yao how that’s affected him over the years, Yao’s response was, ‘Not many, not many. I can still clearly hear from my right side. If I’m ever at dinner or at a meeting I try to sit on the left side of the table so everyone is on my right side.’ The hearing loss in his left ear began when he was eight, Yao said.”