Data map: Yao Ming delivered a speech.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Tomita
September 12th is Yao Ming's 40th birthday.
Before the word "Yao Ming", many titles were embellished: Little Giant, Great Wall of China, First Center, Olympic Flag Bearer, Club Owner, Chairman of the Chinese Basketball Association...
The ancients said: "Forty without confusion."
The so-called "do not be confused" means to be knowledgeable and not to be confused by foreign objects.
But in the context of today's society, this is more of a reluctant to give up fantasy.
Yao Ming, 40, works like an ordinary middle-aged man, but he has extraordinary expectations.
Yao Ming raised his hand on the sidelines to celebrate.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Chen Jimin
Unexpected and constant work
Two days ago, Yao Ming attended the inauguration ceremony of the Jilin Province Basketball Association.
When the news came out, many fans were shocked. In the 1990s, there were provinces with professional basketball teams, but there has never been a basketball association.
Indeed, in addition to the glorious league, many areas of Chinese basketball still need to be pioneered.
Perhaps this is exactly why Yao Ming is constantly busy.
He just turned 40 today, is the chairman of the Chinese Basketball Association, the chairman of the CBA company, and the banner of Chinese basketball.
Even if he is not compared in the basketball field, he is more successful than most of his peers in society.
But behind the success is busy.
In this regard, Yao Ming who is more than two meters away and you and me who are more than one meter are no different.
Yao Ming spoke at the inauguration meeting of the Jilin Province Basketball Association.
Photo by Zhang Yao
Last year's Men's Basketball World Cup was a topic that could not be circumvented when reviewing the career of Yao Ming's chairman of the Basketball Association.
As a result, the team failed to qualify, and it was basically certain that the Olympic tickets were lost historically.
In an interview with reporters, Yao Ming said that he is fully responsible for this.
I don't know how many people resonated with Yao Ming at that moment.
Nearly 40 years old, he has a certain position in the industry, and he has been thinking about a big project for several months, and when it is finally executed, because of a mistake by a front-line employee, he lost all the games.
Who will bear the responsibility?
Of course it's the person in charge. Who made you sit in this seat?
During the final qualifying match of the World Cup, Yao Ming sat on the sidelines with red eyes.
At that time, what he thought of was the way he used to kill all sides in the arena?
However, Yao Ming is no longer a young man.
Even if most of the blood is left, it is mostly used to deal with accidents made by subordinates and requests from superiors.
In a sense, this is more tiring than playing.
Data map: Yao Ming went to watch the World Cup group stage.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Tomita
At the beginning of this year, the new crown pneumonia epidemic broke out and CBA was suspended.
In May, he appeared on CCTV's live broadcast. Facing an interview with Bai Yansong, he talked about the CBA semi-final plan with two ridicules in between.
Ten years ago, after he won the game, he would also face reporters making jokes like this.
It's just that the old Chinese character face is now round.
On such occasions, it is natural not to laugh like the famous emoji once.
Unforgettable feelings
It has been 18 years since Yao Ming entered the NBA in 2002. At that time, many of the young people who watched football, like Yao Ming, became middle-aged.
The golden age of the Chinese men's basketball team in the 1990s is too far away. For many fans, Yao Ming is almost always present in the highlight moments of the Chinese men's basketball team in international competitions.
Many of them have similar life trajectories to Yao Ming-in the past ten years, they have married wives and children, promoted and raised their salary.
Young Yao Ming and David Stern, then the NBA commissioner.
The chairman of the Chinese Football Association and the Chinese Basketball Association has never been a good candidate.
Many of Yao Ming’s predecessors had a bad reputation among fans, and some even got scolded on the Internet after the team’s defeat.
After the defeat in the World Cup last year, the head coach Li Nan and Zhou Qi, who made key mistakes, faced the bombardment of public opinion.
The accountability of Yao Ming is naturally heard, but the firepower is very low.
For Yao Ming, the fans seem to be relatively tolerant.
There are many reasons for this tolerance.
For example, since the big man entered the public's field of vision, he has been adding luster to Chinese basketball, even if the reform measures he introduced are not understood by everyone.
At the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, Yao Ming, the flag bearer of the Chinese delegation.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Du Yang
Yao Ming's peers are mostly faced with the pressure of life; but he has long been financially free, and he is burdened with unlimited expectations brought about by his talent.
For middle-aged people who once harbored heroic dreams, Yao Ming’s experience like a superhero like this is quite enviable.
They are getting busy at work, and they can only meet with friends to play once; the classmates who once had a red-faced argument about a ball or a game have not been in contact for a long time, and the posters they posted in the bedroom when they were young have long since been removed...
Fortunately, even though the person in the poster left the basketball court, he still carried the Chinese basketball forward with difficulty.
Two days ago, some fans pulled out the interview video of Yao Ming before entering the NBA.
At that time, Yao Ming was still very immature. When asked by reporters if he felt he was capable of playing in the NBA, he replied: "Yes."
More than a decade later, when asked who was responsible for the World Cup defeat, his answer was still one word: "I."
The picture shows Yao Ming leaving the venue after the 100-day countdown to the start of the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Cui Nan
Father on the field
Although the love story of Yao Ming and his wife Ye Li often appears in articles on Chinese Valentine's Day, a closer look reveals that the material is not very fresh.
After retiring, Ye Li appeared in the public eye few times, basically only in some public activities to see the two of them together.
But this does not prevent the public from being curious about Yao Ming's family, but the focus has shifted to the next generation.
It's no wonder that by the age of 40 ordinary people, many of the images in the family have become "such and such father" and "such and such mother".
Some time ago, someone posted a video of encountering Yao Ming watching her daughter play on the Internet. The 10-year-old Xiao Qinlei played on the court and looked close to an adult, while Yao Ming was watching the game with her arms clasped outside the fence of the court.
Except for his extraordinary height, both the figure and the kind smile on his face are the same as those of the father next door.
Screenshot of network video.
From the day when he entered the professional arena, basketball to Yao Ming is more than just a sport. These two words have been given too many responsibilities.
The first NBA champion in Chinese basketball history and the most stable pillar of the Chinese team in the international arena; some players are lazy and waste their talents, and if they are lazy, they will be regarded by many as a waste of Chinese people's expectations.
"The greater the ability, the greater the responsibility", this sentence is regarded as the truth, but it ignores how cold it is for superheroes.
With Yao Ming's character, he would naturally take up these responsibilities willingly.
So from the player to the president of the Basketball Association, he has never slackened.
Yao Ming's family is watching a basketball game on the sidelines.
Photo by Xinhuanet reporter Fan Jun
But perhaps watching his daughter play on the field is the most complete and relaxing joy of basketball for him.
Saturday, September 12, a day off.
Although the new CBA season is just around the corner, and although there is still a lot of work waiting for him to do, I hope that on this day, Yao Ming can relax with his family.
Dayao, happy birthday!
(Author Wang Hao)