YaoMingMania.com

The passing of the torch: Yao and Michael Jordan meet before tip-off in MJ's final All-Star game and Yao's first.

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as of 2/10/03, 4:40 a.m. Eastern time

ATLANTA - For those of you who watched the NBA All-Star game on Sunday night, it wasn't that eventful for Yao on the court. For some reason, the "star" (proclaimed by the media) of All-Star weekend didn't get much playing time as he only played 17 minutes, scored 2 points (1-for-1 from the field) on a spectacular dunk from a Steve Francis ally-oop pass. He also racked up 2 rebounds. The lack of playing time and shots taken are par for the course for Yao since he has endured much of the same as a Rocket. You get the feeling that since this was Yao's first All-Star game, his time in the All-Star highlight reels will arrive soon. That may not be much consolation to the millions of Chinese, Asians and Asian-Americans who were watching and looking forward to Yao representing on one of the world's biggest basketball stages. Because of the lack of playing time Yao had and the very short amount of time to get this report submitted, I have not done a Detailed Yao Analysis like I have done with other games (like the Cleveland game below). He's a fan, too We get the feeling Yao was enjoying all of the stimulation of being in the electric atmosphere of Atlanta's Philips Arena. Yao (as well as other players) was taking in all of the entertainment held during time-outs, like those NBA mascots who used trampolines to launch themselves into the air to dunk a ball acrobatically. You've got to think Yao enjoyed being in the presence of such great talent, too. In fact, the talent was so great, that's what might have kept him from being able to excel. His Western Conference teammates were hardly missing their shots, so it didn't give him much of a chance to grab rebounds and score some buckets up close. During the pre-game introductions, the atmosphere in Philips Arena was electric when Yao was introduced. He received a very loud reception by many of the fans (most seemed to be from Atlanta), only to be exceeded by Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan. Before the game I checked out the sold-out NBA Jam Session. Of course it was packed, and attendance figures over the All-Star game weekend totaled over 65,000. First, I can tell you I could count the number of Asians I saw there on two hands. I guess Atlanta does not have much of an Asian community, or if it does, they were not compelled to come out. That's okay, though. Yao's influence was evident as seen by many large posters and exhibits (see some of them in the special photo section). At the Jam Session, I had a chance to talk to NBA TV anchor Mark Morgan. Very down-to-earth and cool guy. We talked about Yao and the issues he has faced being a Rocket this season. I know he doesn't have much to do with Yao, but I also ran into CNN's Wolf Blitzer and his family later on at an Atlanta hotel. He had interviewed a few players, one being Dirk Nowitzki, on television earlier in the day. I really enjoyed talking to Wolf and his family. Very nice people. I also spoke briefly with Rockets' GM Carroll Dawson. I told him how much I appreciated his eye for talent and all that he has done for the Houston franchise. Even though I had never met him before, I felt like I had known him all my life. Overall, it was a busy, but fun, trip to Atlanta and I hope it's the first of many in covering Yao as he makes more All-Star teams in the future.

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as of 2/8/03, 7:40 p.m. Eastern time

ATLANTA - It's amazing how many luminaries I ran into within a couple of hours of covering NBA All-Star weekend in Atlanta. On Saturday afternoon, I ran into Dallas Maverick owner Mark Cuban at the CNN Center as he was buying a newspaper. As much as the Mavericks are a rival to the Rockets, I had to give the guy props for not having an entourage around him or bodyguards: he was all by himself. He was also a pretty nice guy. I told him about this Web site, and he seemed to be very respectful of it. He also was very accommodating to the small crowd that gathered around him after we finished our conversation. I also saw but didn't speak to Fox Sports analyst and former NBA player Jack Haley, as well as TNT analyst Craig Sager. Later on at a nearby hotel, I met ESPN NBA analyst David Aldridge. We had a brief conversation, and he also was very friendly and didn't give me the brush-off. I respect Aldridge's work, and now respect him as a person. Part of covering NBA All-Star weekend requires a trip to the fan-oriented Jam Session at the Georgia World Congress Center. Before heading over there, I spoke with a news crew from a television station, and they were completely exhausted. They said it was packed with more people than they had ever seen. I headed over there to take it all in, but amazingly it was sold out. This was a surprise because I attended another Jam Session a few years ago and it was very easy to walk-up and get tickets. In addition, tens of thousands of people can fit in the expansive GWCC, so it must be a madhouse inside. As a result, I don't have any photos to share in this update, but I did get a ticket for tomorrow's session. I'll take on those crowds tomorrow...kind of like how Yao will take on Eastern Conference All-Star centers Ben Wallace and Brad Miller. ;-) Since I will be away from an Internet connection most of Sunday circulating around downtown Atlanta, that means I won't be able to update the site until early Monday morning. Thanks for bearing with me.

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Yao is surrounded by tons of media at a Friday press conference at the Hyatt.

as of 2/8/03, 12:30 p.m. Eastern time

ATLANTA - I'm here for All-Star weekend to cover all the "hoop-la." I arrived at the Atlanta airport Friday afternoon, which is decked out with all kinds of All-Star banners hanging from the rafters, many airport personnel wearing the official NBA All-Star T-shirt, and lots of chauffeurs holding up signs in the terminal area to catch the attention of VIPs arriving on flights. Things got off to a good start for me when I ran into James Posey in the baggage claim area. I think he was surprised someone recognized him outside of Houston. I told him I really liked his game and mentioned how he seems to be taking over Glen Rice's starting job! He was a really nice guy and expressed his appreciation for my compliments. Friday night the area surrounding the Buckhead area (party district) of Atlanta was jam-packed with cars. If you think Houston's traffic is bad, Atlanta had H-Town beat this night. I couldn't even get off the freeway leading into Buckhead because there were so many cars. I'm not sure if it was All-Star related traffic, but I understand there are alot of other things going on this weekend in Atlanta. Needless to say, I wasn't going to spend my entire night in the car, so I bagged it. However, click here and here for a run-down of what was happening in ATL Friday night and why celebs love to follow the NBA. I'm going to the NBA Jam Session at the convention center on Saturday, so hopefully I'll have some good photos to post later on Saturday evening. cYao John P.S. I don't know if you've read the 2/7/03 article by Fran Blinebury from The Houston Chronicle, but it's one of the most questioning of Rudy T.'s performance as Rockets head coach. The link to that article is posted in the "Latest articles" section entitled "At least they talk a good game", or you can read the entire article in our Discussion Forum and vote on the question "Should Rudy T. be replaced as the Rockets head coach if Houston doesn't make the playoffs this season?" (requires free registration to vote)

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