Chinese Center Yao Impresses NBA Coaches, Scouts in Official Workout

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, May 03, 2002

Chinese Center Yao Impresses NBA Coaches, Scouts in Official Workout

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Chinese Center Yao Impresses NBA Coaches, Scouts in Official Workout

Prior to the June 26 draft, Chinese center Yao Ming conducted an unprecented individual official workout in Chicago on Wednesday for 65 NBA coaches, officials and scouts from 26 of the 29 clubs and a troop of 150 registered media members.

In an hourlong workout, Yao's basic shooting, running and passing drills provided a brief, limited look for the 21-year-old Chinese center who averaged 41.3 points, 21 rebounds and 4.3 blocks in leading the Shanghai Sharks to win the Chinese Basketball Association championship last month.

"Yao Ming certainly has captured everyone's attention," said NBA commissioner David Stern, "A man his size (2.28-meter) who can do the things he does is very intriguing."

"You can't tell from out here," said Jerry West, new president of basketball operations for Memphis who watched Yao compete in the Sydney Olympics, "But he has a wonderful feel for playing the game. My biggest concern would be can he stay in the game without having a lot of fouls called against him."

During his brief stay in Chicago, Yao Ming has conducted two private workouts for the New York Knicks and the Chicago Bulls, which became an issue for complaints from other NBA teams as Yao's representatives hope him to wind up in a city with a large Chinese community.

"We asked (for a private workout) and they said they didn't have time to do that," said West, "The two teams that seem like there was enough time to do it for were New York and Chicago. It's no coincidence that they have large Chinese populations. It would not send the right message to me. If he were available and that's who we wanted to draft, we would draft him."

Despite Yao's obligations to the Chinese national team which might prevent him from joining in the Summer League, many observers walked away with positive reviews of the Chinese center with a fluid of skills, who was tagged as the Walking Great Wall together with Wang Zhizhi and Mengke Bateer, the other two Chinese in the Dallas Mavericks and the Denver Nuggets.

The 89-kg center averaged 10.5 points, 9.0 rebounds and shot 64 percent in the 2000 Olympics. Yao said after his workout that "it 's been a dream of mine to play in the NBA ever since the first

time I saw a game on TV. To almost touch that dream today fills me with a sense of joy that words simply cannot describe."

Hopefully, Yao might to be drafted as the overall No. 1 pick in the June 26 draft against Jason Williams of Duke. And the most likely club for the first pick will come from the Golden State, Chicago, Memphis, Denver and Houston, which will be determined by a lottery draw on May 19.

Currently, there were 51 international players in the NBA this season, including Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki of Germany, the leading scorer in the playoffs with 33.3 points per game, and Memphis' Pau Gasol of Spain, the rookie of the year.

Gasol was the third pick in last year's draft, the earliest a foreign player has been selected.

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