Top 50: Yao Ming, no. 38

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@ Adam – That makes perfect sense. His touch for his size is amazing. He is what an 85% ft shooter? And Houston is also the most dangerous team in the league in the penalty. THey actually hold a close lead better then anyone else when Yao is in.
@Teddy – Read what I said again. Nothing about guards, and as I said most skilled would include all skills. Since he is 7’6 as Adam pointed out dribbling is not really a skill you would expect or consider. But to be most skilled, like hakeem was, would include the dribble. (I assumed as a general statement he meant all big men/post players). Because in all reality the most skilled bigman since, before, and after hakeem is probably dirk or durant. (dirk is a legitimate 7’0, *and if you ask players in the league and people that have been around and would know they would tell you Durant is at very minimum 6’11)

You’re right Joel O’s, and I respect your opinion. And it makes sense and you have a proper reason for it–it’s all good man.
And good points, nbk. I concede. But, at the same time I was talking more centers–Dirk is a big man by size but he isn’t a traditional “post presence” because of the way he plays. Same with Durant, who also happens to be a razor thin small-forward. “Most skilled center since Hakeem the Dream.” There we go.

Adam, still one of my favorite writers here; very nice piece, man. But if Yao gets only 20+ mins a game, how can one of the main criteria for this list apply to him (projected impact/performance in the coming season)? Of course his mere presence for half a game gives other players more room to operate (Scolaaaaa!) but he’d have to get insane per-minute no’s to be more productive than say…. Andrew Bogut. Luv Yao’s game, don’t quite understand the ranking.

Hey everyone,

The discussion is awesome. I have tons of respect for Tim Duncan, Amare Stoudemire, Dirk Nowitzki, Pau Gasol and Dwight Howard’s games. As clarified, I think Yao, considering his size, is the most skilled center in the league. I also feel if he had a player like Kobe Bryant on his team that there is little doubt he would have a ring by now. And no, Tracy McGrady doesn’t count in my eyes. The Lakers’ supporting cast for the last two years has been stacked in comparison to the one T-Mac and Yao used to roll with. Also, the Rockets played some extremely tough opponents in that run.

Great article Adam, probably the best one I’ve read so far in the SLAM 50 series.
I especially loved this line: “We want him to be like us, assuming that is the correct form of existence.”

@ Hursty : Actually it does since Yao´s Rockets won 7 of 9 games against Dwight´s magic and the Rockets team record has also been great for the rockets with Yao.
And the way the Rockets defense went down without him last year also shows how good he is on that end of the court. Might not get the number of blocks but is an amazing team defender as well as a great defender on Post-ups.
Rockets also routinely are one of the better rebounding teams in part to his ability to box out.

Hey Adam-if u qualify it like that, thon Yao is #1 out of a group of 2. There’s nobody else in the L that you can compare his size & skill set too other than Ilgauskas, and he’s like 72 years old.

Even when healthy, Yao isn’t as dominant as he should be, sorry Teddy.
I was really struck by how he was unable to dominate the series against Utah and Dallas when both he and T-Mac were healthy. Granted, his teammates, particularly McGrady, took way too many long jumpers, but Yao was allowing himself to be bothered by Boozer and Okur, something that would not have happened to Duncan or even Gasol.
I really am a fan of Yao. But, I think he lacks the physical tools to ever be “dominant” even when healthy. It’s amazing that he’s as mobile as he is, but compared to most of hte all time greats at his position, he’s a plodder. His soft touch and knowledge of the game are really what make him special, along with his height.
If I could guarantee their health, I honestly don’t know who I owuld pick out of Yao and Dwight. Yao is lightyears better as an offensive player, but I’m not sure he’s an anchor in the mode of Shaq or Dream.
Dwight is great at help defense and rebounding, but his lack of offensive skills make him a liability because your team has to work outside in against quality big men.
Both of htem require very talented teammates to make them effective, and I think my choice would depend on who I already had on the roster. Certain players would work better with Howard, other players would work better with Yao.

Who gets called soft when it’s unjustified?
I’ve never seen Manu called soft.
Or Nocioni.
Or Biedrins.
Or Detlef Schrempf back in the day.
Nobody calls Oberto soft. And we didn’t call Garbajosa soft. Marc Gasol didn’t get it either.
All of them would qualify as “white” and “European” in most people’s minds.
So, it seems like the cats who get called soft are the cats who set themselves up for that label by their play or attitude.
Fernandez, Dirk (who I like), Pau, Darko and others got called soft because they played soft.
Yao gets good comments because people respect his game.

Alan, I’m Asian and I do agree with you to a slight extent. Yao was defintely soft and frail in his first season but defintely had an amazing skill set for a 7 ft 5 dude. Remember the guys before him who played at that altitude were well…Shawn Bradley? That being said he’s defintely gone a long way removing to removing that ‘softness’ and to a large extent has become far less China Chinese (ie. overly humble, passive, too patriotic to a point where he played non-stop for years). I’m glad he has the support needed to finally take an off season to recuperate. If he fails to put up numbers, wins and 70+ games per season in the next 3-4 years, we can start the criticising for real. Thats all we can ask for from Yao, he’ll never win a ring while this Laker group are intact and the super friends remain friends. OR they can stack up oldies like the Celtics?

Why would Yao be thought of as soft because of his ethnicity? No ethnicity is “soft.” Guys like Pau Gasol are labeled soft because they’ve played that way. In other words co-sign Allenp and nbk.

Don’t forget: Yao’s first three seasons in the league, he missed a whopping two games… and both of those came in his third season. The following three seasons were much worse, at 57, 48 and 55 games, respectively. The ’08-’09 season, he played 77 games.

All that’s to say, he hasn’t been injury-plagued his *entire* career… but when he *has* been injured, it has had a huge impact, both in games played *and* in the Rockets’ success.

I also think it’s a bit early to say “what *would* have been a Hall of Fame career”. His career isn’t over yet.

i agree yao is an amazing player, on of the greatest in his prime,
but there hasent been a lot of prime actually. and yao stats have never been better than d-howards. maybe in poits but never overall. youve gotta play good against all players not just the biggest man on the court