Hall of Fame Yao

BY: Andrew Mielke

Authors Note: This is a persuasive argument essay on if Yao Ming is worthy enough to be in the NBA Hall of Fame or if he should just go down as the best Asian players in the NBA.

Yao Ming is not the usually when you think of an NBA player he is more of the unusual, Yao Ming is 7’6” tall and from China. Earlier this summer Yao Ming announced his retirement because of constant foot injuries that sidelined him for long periods of time and has left his team the Rockets in situations that are not helpful.  He has been through the ups and downs of the NBA and numerous people think that Yao should be enshrined in the NBA Hall of Fame, I don’t agree.

Yao Ming retiring started up chaos for the sports world of basketball numerous people were thinking he is a true hall of famer. First of all most of the Hall of Famers play an average of 15 seasons Yao Ming played 9. Most of those nine seasons Yao didn’t step foot on the court instead he stayed on the bench injured. Through his first few seasons he was hardly injured. But around 2 years ago Yao broke his foot and was sidelined for long periods of time and he has had trouble coming back from that broken foot.

However, Yao has been the core offensive player and defensive player for the past few years and has been an NBA all-star eight times in his nine year career. Although he has been to multiple all-star games he hasn’t had the right numbers to be a Hall of Famer. One of the best centers of all time Hakeem Olajuwon and NBA Hall of Famer has 3 times the amount of points and rebounds in his career than Yao has in his career. 

Being an all-star is what people are getting caught on with Yao, even though many of the experts agree that Yao is not Hall of Fame worthy. So many people think that just because Yao was the premier Asian NBA player so he should be in the Hall of Fame, well it doesn’t exactly work that way. Many different NBA athletes from many different countries can be qualified as the greatest from their country to play in the NBA but almost half have never even been considered to be in the Hall of Fame, That is why the Yao fans can’t get caught up that since he is the best Asian NBA player that he as a one-way ticket right to the Hall of Fame.

Therefore Yao Ming is agreeably not Hall of Fame worthy and maybe some time in the future he will be in some type of the Chinese Sports Hall of Fame where he is best suited for his accomplishments in the Olympics and CBA (Chinese Basketball Association) for the country of China. Although Yao Ming is not Hall of Fame worthy, he will still be an honorable mention for the Hall of Fame.