Mao and Basketball’s Revolution with Yao
November 18, 2005
MU: How did Chairman Mao become Chairman Yao?
Mao: Practice, knowledge, again practice and again knowledge. Yao has a lot of game.
MU: They say China’s relation to the world will be the defining factor of the 21st century, and that Yao Ming symbolizes this equation. Any thoughts?
Mao: I saw it coming. There is constant interaction between the peoples of different countries. In the era of capitalism … the interaction and mutual impact of different countries in the political, economic and cultural spheres is very great.
MU: Does that make Yao the child of globalization?
Mao: Sure. There is an old Chinese saying, “How can you catch tiger cubs without entering the tiger’s lair?” That’s what Yao is doing — showing how China can compete with the rest of the world.
MU: In one 1992 survey, a group of Chinese schoolchildren ranked Michael Jordan as a more important historical figure than you. Do you agree?
Mao: There’s room for us both. When Sun Wu Tzu said in discussing military science, “Know the enemy and know yourself, and you can fight a hundred battles with no danger of defeat,” he was referring to the two sides in a battle. I’m kind of a Chinese communist Michael Jordan myself. Jordan had to keep changing his game, until he peaked. Then he tried to come back from retirement over and over, but those old legs, you know how it is …
MU: But is it Yao’s world right now? His regular season games command 30 million viewers in China, making his Houston Rockets the world’s most watched NBA team.
Mao: He’s doing things his own way, representing communist China in a Nike ad … selling shoes, entertaining the PRC, practicing his footwork, hanging with his teammates to maintain camaraderie on the court –– it’s all a part of Yao’s game. … This is what I had in mind when I said all individual character is relative.
MU: Is Yao the opposite of Mao? If so, isn’t Yao also similar to Mao?
Mao: It is so with all opposites. Yao is similar and different from Mao. … Yao is complicated like me, juggling so many national, corporate and pro sports interests, along with his personal life. But I wasn’t a very good ballplayer …
MU: Although Yao plays for the Chinese National team, he has said, “I have to find a way to balance the two sides,” because he doesn’t spend enough time practicing with his NBA peers. What advice would you give to Chairman Yao?
Mao: We Chinese often say, “Things that oppose each other also complement each other.” That’s kind of like our communism with Chinese characteristics, a blend that is ultimately our own way. So I would tell Chairman Yao, take things as they come. Like when he’s on the court, his game is different when he plays against Shaq, or against Tim Duncan. He already knows that …
MU: Thank you Mao, for commenting on Yao. I’m sure you and I both have our fingers crossed for Yao’s first championship run, maybe this season, huh?
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