From day one, Yao Ming had the makings of a basketball superstar in his blood. Born on September 12, 1980, Yao entered the world as the only son to mother Fang Feng Di, and father Yao Zhi Yuan (both of whom stood over six feet tall). While growing up as an abnormally tall child in Shanghai, China, Yao was introduced to the sport of basketball at an early age.



Yao was the first-ever No. 1 overall pick to come from an international basketball league and became the third Chinese player in NBA history, following Wang Zhizhi and Mengke Bateer.

Yao received his first formal basketball training when he joined the Youth Sports School at age nine. During the mid-1990s, China's appreciation of basketball began to grow at a rapid pace. Due to the rising popularity of the sport, the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) was created, and Yao seized his next golden opportunity. He joined the Shanghai Sharks during the 1997-'98 season and the 17-year-old seven-footer (at least) shone as the team's man in the middle.  He was named to the Chinese National Team at age 18. During 2000 Sydney Olympic he scored 10.5 points per game with team-leading averages of 6.0 rebounds and 2.2 blocked shots.

In the 2002 FIBA World Championship Games, received All-Tournament Team recognition after posting team-leading averages of 21.0 points (on .753 shooting), 9.3 rebounds and 2.3 blocked shots for China ... among tournament leaders, ranked first in both field goal percentage and blocked shot average and third in both scoring average and rebounding average ... recorded tournament single-game individual highs with 38 points and eight blocked shots vs. Algeria ... logged his best rebounding effort vs. Angola, registering 15 boards with 27 points.

Thanks to his rising popularity all over the world  Yao can be seen in TV shows, on first page covers of famous magazines and commercials.

• 2003 first place at Asian Championships, China qualifies for Athens 2004
  
• 2002 World Championships participation