It's a Ming thing

HOUSTON -- Growing up, Gordon Quan was the only Asian kid on his block, one of only a thousand in the entire city. But times have changed.

Three years ago, Quan, 54, became just the second Asian-American ever elected to the city council. But even Quan never imagined this:

Billboards all over Houston in Chinese; an entire arena breaking out in song, singing a Chinese name; a city embracing an Asian man as its hero.

The name they sing is Yao Ming, the self-effacing 7-foot-5 Chinese basketball player, star of the Houston Rockets, who has become the year's biggest sports story. He will start in Sunday's NBA All-Star game.

Asians in America have flocked to Yao, displaying a chest-thumping pride seldom seen in this group. But it's his popularity among non-Asian basketball fans that has many, including Quan, talking about broader change.

Thanks to Yao, they say, the Hollywood portrayals of Asian men as inscrutable and subservient -- and the popular stereotype of the Asian-American as the bookish, overachieving pre-med student, slight and unathletic -- are finally being dispelled.

Thanks to Yao, a growing minority that has been mostly absent from popular culture suddenly has a growing public profile.

Thanks in part to Yao, Quan said, people are urging him to run for mayor.

Sports bridges gaps

The world of sports has often been a bridge for minority groups into America's cultural mainstream. Jackie Robinson, who broke major-league baseball's barrier to blacks, and Hank Greenberg, baseball's first Jewish star, changed the face of America.

While Asian-Americans represent 4 percent of the nation's population and have flourished in this country, many complain they are still treated like outsiders. It usually is not the blatant racism African-Americans have fought against, but it still hurts.

"Asianness was never a big pride item," said Phillip Wu, 33, of Atlanta. "I always wanted to de-Asianize myself more so that I could fit in."

But last month, Wu was one of 500 of Asian descent who turned out to root for Yao against the Atlanta Hawks. One highlight: Yao's first technical foul -- for taunting, after a dunk.

"We love it!" cried one Asian-American Web commentator.

The scene was different on June 26, in New York's Madison Square Garden, when the Rockets made Yao, 22, the first pick in the NBA draft.

Some spectators jeered, "Go back to China."

But the Rockets were elated. Owner Les Alexander sensed Yao's impact would extend far beyond the court.

At 7-foot-5, Yao is one of the tallest players in league history. But unlike other freakishly big players, like Shawn Bradley and Manute Bol, Yao has remarkable agility, shooting touch and court vision. At 296 pounds, he has the thick trunk and sturdy thighs needed to set up in the low post.

Despite high expectations, Yao started slowly -- averaging just 3.3 points and 3.7 rebounds in his first six games.

Broadcaster Charles Barkley declared Yao a bust.

In a Nov. 15 game against Phoenix, Yao's feet got tangled as Stephon Marbury, the Suns' super-quick point guard, drove by him. Yao landed on his backside.

Every sports-highlight show that night replayed the moment, showing the Phoenix bench doubled over in laughter.

Across the country, Asian-Americans cringed.

"There was so much hype around him, if he blows it, it's my small internal battle magnified a thousand times," said Kevin Yen, 33, of Menlo Park, Calif.

Individual vs. team

In the past, a few Asian athletes, like Michael Chang, Michelle Kwan and Apolo Ono, have attained prominence, but in individual sports like tennis or skating. Several have starred in baseball, including pitcher Hideo Nomo and Ichiro Suzuki, last year's American League MVP from Japan.

But marquee players in basketball often command the most lucrative endorsements -- think Shaq, Kobe, Michael. Plus, basketball players are everything Asian males supposedly are not: big, tall, powerful.

Prior to Yao, two other Chinese 7-footers were already part of the recent surge in foreign players to the NBA: Wang Zhizhi, of the Dallas Mavericks, and Menk Bateer, of the San Antonio Spurs. But they played supporting roles.

Much more was expected of Yao.

On Nov. 17, he delivered. It was two days after the embarrassment in Phoenix, and Yao scored 20 points against the Lakers (without Shaquille O'Neal). Four days later, Yao had 30 points and 16 rebounds against the Mavericks. On Dec. 3, against the Spurs and two of the NBA's most prominent big men, David Robinson and Tim Duncan, Yao dazzled again: 27 points, 18 rebounds, 3 blocks.

Suddenly, Yao was huge.

Web site creator

John Takahashi, 35, a Japanese-American and lifelong Rockets fan, could feel it through his computer screen.

Takahashi, a project manager at a Houston tech firm, is the creator of YaoMingMania.com. The Web site generates more than a half-million hits per month.

The biggest draw is Takahashi's game summaries -- minute-by-minute analyses of Yao's games. Every Yao shot, rebound, assist and block, complete with color-coded diagrams.

To get that level of detail, Takahashi watches each game, then replays tapes, jotting notes. It can take him seven hours to post a game summary. Often, it's an all-night marathon.

An exhausted Takahashi contemplated giving it up at one point, or scaling back, but he sensed something profound was happening.

"I realized the site was tapping into something that has been in the closet a long time, especially for Asian-American males," he said. "You go on the discussion board, and these guys are really thumping their chests."

Discussions of Yao often stray into race and the status of Asians in America.

"The guy's a starting point for a lot of Asian-Americans to talk about the positive and the negative," said Jon Chang, 35, a freelance writer from Los Angeles. "It just shows you how hungry these people are for representation."

Sensing a potential boon, Kevin Yen quit a six-figure job at Netscape to launch an Internet company that sells T-shirts, hats and other gear with the logo, "Got Yao?"

During Rockets road games, Asian faces are invariably prominent in the stands. Franchises have begun reaching out to the Asian market.

Houston is home to more than 225,000 Asian Americans, about 4 percent of the city's population.

Accommodating new fans

The Rockets have worked hard to accommodate their new fan base, taking their staff through sensitivity training, hiring three Mandarin-speaking staff members, even introducing a weekly radio show in Mandarin.

Team billboards show Yao's face with the slogan, "Be Part of Something Big," in Chinese characters.

Asian groups now account for 12 percent of group sales tickets, compared to 1 percent last year. The unofficial Yao Ming Fan Club was started by a group of area Chinese-Americans.

Lihua Guan, 39, an assistant principal at an area Chinese-language weekend school, is a typical member. Guan, her husband and two children have donned their Yao T-shirts for six Rockets games. "We did not even know where the Compaq Center was located before," she said.

More than 1,300 fan club members were on hand for a sold-out game earlier this month on Lunar New Year.

During player introductions, a pair of colorful dragons pranced around the Rockets' "Power" dancers and team mascot, "Clutch," while Asian drummers beat a tattoo. Fans got traditional red envelopes, hongbao, with coupons inside.

With Yao, the Rockets' television ratings are up 64 percent, attendance is up 1,200 a game, and many around Houston are humming, "It's a Ming Thing," a peppy song, penned by a pair of Houston natives.

Andy Yao, 26, who hosts the weekly radio program, says he knew that Yao had arrived when he saw a black woman at a game, dressed in a traditional Chinese qipao dress, jumping and waving a sign in Chinese: yaoming jiayou -- "Go Yao Ming!"

Basketball fans of all backgrounds have embraced Yao's work ethic and humility, seeing him as an antidote to the league's petulant superstars.

Team Yao has rushed to capitalize on his appeal.

His first two television ads -- one for Apple Powerbooks that paired him with Verne "Mini-Me" Troyer, and a Super Bowl ad for Visa -- were both hits.

Yao has handled the media attention with aplomb. With his translator, Colin Pine, he patiently answers each question, often with a touch of humor. He's a reluctant symbol, those close to him say. He declined an offer to address fans before the Lunar New Year game.

Speaking in the locker room afterward, he paused when asked about the fact that people see him as a symbol for Asians in America. Then he said: "This is something that can't be avoided. But it is a lot of pressure."