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Yao Ming's origin — as the product of two basketball prodigies pushed into marriage by the Chinese government, in hopes of giving birth to a world-renowned athletic talent someday — might sound rather unique and specific to Yao Ming. It is. However, the backstory on how Ming made it to, and thrived in, the NBA also became a powerful blueprint for international success that helped give rise to the modern and worldly NBA game of today.
After all, there were political systems far friendlier and more in line with American democracy than China's Communist regime. And if Yao Ming's family and the Chinese government could find a way to negotiate a deal with the NBA — not to mention Nike and numerous other sponsors — to allow him to play in the U.S., surely international players from other parts of the world with more democratic and/or capitalistic governments could as well.
Ming had a profound cultural impact during his eight seasons in the NBA with the Houston Rockets. Besides creating an enormous fan base for the NBA in China that remains today, his popularity stateside and abroad showed the league and major athletic sponsors that it wasn't thinking big enough in terms of expanding the league's global appeal.
Around this same time, the Spurs invested heavily in international talent, building their roster around Tony Parker (from France) and Manu Ginóbili (Argentina), both of whom went on to be superstars, in the NBA and their countries of origin as well.
Dirk Nowitzki and Pau Gasol made a new generation of NBA fans in their home nations of Germany and Spain, respectively.
And Nowitzki's broad appeal with his Texas fanbase and across the league undoubtedly gave Dallas the peace of mind to trade for Luka Doncic at the 2018 NBA Draft.
Giannis Antetekounmpo, “the Greek Freak,” might be the most famous international NBA player at the moment — but, as detailed in his Disney+ biopic, Rise, Giannis likely never would have had a chance to play in the league if it wasn't for the Milwaukee Bucks fatefully taking him with that 15th pick in the 2013 draft.
Surely the massive appeal and success of international phenoms like Yao Ming figured at least minimally into the Bucks' thinking with that pick, and it's almost impossible to imagine where the modern NBA would be today without a profoundly impactful player like Giannis in it.
Nike, meanwhile, ushered in a new era in its international appeal when it signed Antetekounmpo to its shoe line, a deal that Yao Ming's partnership with the company a decade earlier undoubtedly paved the way for (though Yao's Nike deal became a source of frustration for his family).
And in terms of laying the groundwork for international big men, Yao Ming's smooth transition to NBA basketball certainly gave teams like the Spurs, Hawks and Wizards the confidence to draft three Frenchmen with top picks the last two years.
Victor Wembanyama had a promising rookie season and the hype about Wemby potentially being the LeBron James of his generation continues to grow. If Zaccharie Risacher and Alex Sarr have anywhere near that level of success in their rookie years, it will count as two more victories for France.
And none of these international success stories would have been possible without the historic journey of Yao Ming to the NBA. Yao's backstory might not be as Disney biopic-friendly as Giannis', but his impact on the NBA and its international fanbase is second to none.
