http://cache.deadspin.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/deadspin.com.png http://deadspin.com/tag/yao ming http://deadspin.com/tag/yao ming

Yo, panda, real talk for a second: I cannot get enough of you posing with basketball players wearing the Official China Panda Blue Smock. It's like, they're so big and goofy and you're so little and fuzzy and greyscale, and they've always got that wonderful little smock to avoid rubbing their sweaty human oils on you, since maybe your panda momma won't take you back if you smell like human. More »
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How long was Yao Ming going to last? That was the question about the seven-foot-six center long before he broke his foot for the first time in the NBA. When Yao joined the league nine summers ago, picked first overall in the 2002 draft by the Houston Rockets, he was the man who would bring the entire Chinese market with him to Texas, a force that would effectively "globalize" a professional sports league. He was on billboards and magazine covers draped in Chinese red and gold. More »
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In this touching Taiwanese animation tribute, Yao Ming has an 80-inch vertical. He rides rockets. He rides sharks. He retires. It's all very poignant, especially the bit in the beginning where his mother gives birth to a basketball out of which hatches a baby Yao. Does that count against the one-child policy? More »
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Remember how when Yao Ming retired after nine years in Houston, they weren't allowed to call him or release a comment? One of the side effects of the lockout is that players can't have any contact with their teams, so we were forced to imagine Yao sitting at home, staring at the phone, not understanding why the Rockets weren't calling. Sad! More »
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Your morning roundup for July 9, the day Detroit teaches us to respect the crackheads who walk among us. More »
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Yahoo! reports that Yao Ming is retiring after nine seasons with the Houston Rockets. Shaq, as he tends to do, confirmed the report on Twitter and then suggested that they go on vacation together. [Yahoo!, @Shaq] More »
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Hardworking team-player, all-around swell guy, and chronic injury victim Yao Ming has been campaigning for a while against the indefensible Chinese tradition of exterminating the world's sharks by finning the creatures and throwing them back into the ocean to die slowly so nouveau riche assholes can slurp broth at a wedding (often before eating more fish caught after dynamiting a coral reef). Good for him. More »
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Jesus. What is this? There's Yao in a leg brace, perhaps never to emerge. There's a barren set with a dirty floor. A sinister-looking man dressed in black sits beside Yao in a high chair. Is this a shoot for an evil podiatry ad? Yao has yet to explain himself. But Nan from China is thrilled: More »
]]> http://deadspin.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5785067&view=rss&microfeed=true Yao Ming, on his latest injury setback: "I haven't died. Right now I'm drinking a beer and eating fried chicken. What were you expecting, a funeral?" More »
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Between this and this, Yao Ming is fast becoming one of the most interesting people to watch doing calisthenics. [via @jose3030] More »
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This ad, featuring crudely drawn and out-of-proportion representations of Yao Ming, Wang Zhizhi, and Yi Jianlian, is for Chinese manufacturing conglomerate GMC and oddly enough appeared in today's Wall Street Journal. Expect the Rockets to run this on in-bounds plays. [Copyranter] More »
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Conspiracy theorists in China believe that Yao Ming just brought his pregnant wife back to the US so she can give birth to an American citizen. Lou Dobbs is not going to be happy. More »
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President Obama showed the Chinese Vice Premier proper jump shot form, and also quoted Yao Ming. I suppose reducing a nation of one billion to a stereotype isn't so offensive if that stereotype is "they all love basketball." [CBS News] More »
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Because no one reads the newspaper, and SportsCenter's anchors are too perky for this early in the morning, Deadspin combs the best of the broadsheets and the blogosphere to bring you everything you need to know to start your day. More »
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Shit's broke. Like broke-broke. And fuck the Knicks. I'm sorry, this isn't the Brandon Jennings article is it? I must have gotten lost. [Yahoo!] More »
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Yao Ming set to star in Chinese animated movie. [ESPN] More »
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Either the Houston Rockets veterans had a little fun with Aaron Brooks this weekend or he forgot to bring his ventriloquist dummy to the post-game press conference. More »
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The Houston Rockets announced yesterday evening that Yao Ming will be out for the rest of the playoffs with a hairline fracture in his left foot. Adjust your bets accordingly. More »
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Ron Artest had a nice moment last night when he went into the stands after a loose ball. It was just like the last time he went into the crowd, only not as hysterically funny. More »
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Um so…did I mention I am also recovering from a sinus infection? How about a YouTube clip of children using obscene language? More »
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Thanks to Pau Gasol's 29 points the Spanish team overcame a 14 point deficit to send the game into overtime tied at 72. Then, much to the chagrin of millions of angry Chinese, Spain overcame karma and pulled out an 85-75 victory. But not before their team picture exploded into controversy. To such a degree that the Spanish press are going out of their way to defend the team. Spanish news site, Soitu's article suggests that the international media are making too big of a deal of the "slit-eye" photo. Their article commences: "What began as a simple graceful photo to wish luck to the Spanish basketball team in the Olympic Games has finished with accusations of racism and discrimination in the foreign press." Yes, of course, a simple, graceful photo. The fact that this photo exists isn't a huge surprise. Basketball players aren't renowned for their worldly perspective. What's unique about this photograph is that it ran in two of Spain's biggest newspapers. As an advertisement for a courier service, no less. And not one single person in Spain thought it was the least bit offensive. Only when other countries saw the photograph did it become an issue. Put it this way, what would have happened in America if the U.S. Basketball team posed for these photos on behalf of Fed Ex? Yeah, thought so. The Spanish press doesn't think these photos are a big deal, but the rest of the world disagrees. ¿Te parece ofensiva esta foto? [Soitu] Spain basketball team add victory to insult against China [The Guardian] More »
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Over 1 billion people are expected to be tuning in to the USA/China matchup in progress in Beijing. In attendance are both Bush generations, the Chinese Prime Minister, and Henry Kissinger who appears to be sleeping in the stands. China has a big three that towers over the US team (Yao Ming stands at 7'6", teammates Wang Zhizhi and Yi Jianlian at an even 7'), but the U.S. is making up for it with strength and speed. Watching the respective game strategies, it's clear that the U.S. is adjusting to their opponent's style of play and it's making for some awkward shots and steals on both ends. But as they settle into their groove, both teams are looking rather pretty. Who knew they had that many tall people in China? More »
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Yao expressed some concern about whether or not Artest would still be fighting and going into the stands. Which isn't that big of a surprise considering that the Chinese calendar says it's still 2004. But Ron Artest wasn't pleased by the comments. So he did what Ron Artest always does, gave the Houston Chronicle a cogent explanation of his position. That, or said that Yao hadn't really played with any black basketball players yet. Okay, the latter. More »
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Bad news for chronic deer penis ingesters planning on participating in the Beijing Olympics — you'll have to find something else to help you win a gold medal this year. Yes, deer penis and all sorts of other crazy Chinese voodoo medicines have officially been put on the no-no list by the Beijing IOC because some of the ancient traditional performance boosters contain high quantities of banned substances like ephedrine. (Turtle blood, caterpillar fungus, animal hoofs, leopard bone wine, etc.) More »
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In one of those stories that we're sure is being blown out of proportion but just can't help but pile onto anyway, it appears that people within the Houston Rockets — who apparently, in the midst of a 16-game winning streak, need something to worry about — are concerned that Yao Ming's rehabilitation is being handled in the wrong way. That is to say: It's being handled by the Chinese government, which is using "traditional Chinese treatment methods. More »
]]> http://deadspin.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=364649&view=rss&microfeed=true A very sad song about Yao Ming's foot injury. [1560TheGame] More »
]]> http://deadspin.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=362519&view=rss&microfeed=true No more Yao. That's sad. [ESPN] More »
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It's a fine Friday afternoon as Awful Announcing asks the musical question, is anyone aware that the largest television audience ever for a sporting event could take place tonight? That's right folks, it's Yi vs. Yao! From the Houston Chronicle: More »
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Rockets center Yao Ming got himself hitched yesterday — or today, or whatever the hell the time change makes the actual date — in front of 70 onlookers and about 100 media people hanging out in the lobby waiting for interviews. It must be so odd to have people wanting to interview you after your wedding. More »
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Notes on Monday's games in the National Basketball Association ... More »
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There's no sugarcoating it for you... other than the NFL, there is nothing appealing on the sports landscape for you today. You might be able to find some ice dancing or some exhibition golf, but... I don't know that that's enough to justify putting a viewing schedule for you here today. Instead, here's your NFL scoreboard, and let's just talk about the latest reason that Jeff Van Gundy has to kill himself. More »
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Notes on Monday's games in the National Basketball Association: More »
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Notes from today's games in the National Basketball Association: More »
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Team USA got back to their ass-romping ways this morning, beating China by a score of 121-90. Despite the presence of Yao Ming, China's not that good of a team. Really, they're probably the most poorly-equipped team to play the United States; they prefer (an unathletic) man defense, and their guards and prone to turnovers, and if that's your style, you might as well go ahead and sew "Dwyane Wade's Bitch" onto the back of everyone's jersey where their name used to be. More »
]]> http://deadspin.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=195402&view=rss&microfeed=true Houston Rockets center Yao Ming doesn't just spend his offseasons taking a stroll or two around the track. He also spends it saving elephants by swatting away bullets heading toward them directly out of the air. See, he's not just tall; he's made of some sort of indestructible material. More »
]]> http://deadspin.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=191778&view=rss&microfeed=true China Expects Yao To Play On National Team Again (China Daily) More »
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