Yao excited to be reunited with Francis
Monday, July 23rd, 2007
by John
Raymond, our correspondent in China, has translated one of the first articles written about Yao Ming’s thoughts about getting reunited with former Rocket guard Steve Francis after he was acquired last Friday by Houston. Raymond says that many Chinese are extremely happy that Francis is coming back to play with Yao.
Raymond has also put together a collage of old photos of Yao and Francis in this YaoMania! forum to show how well they got along with each other as teammates.
Written by a Titan Sports writer and appearing on Tom.com, here’s Raymond’s translation with some interesting quotes highlighted:
Two days after the announcement that he had signed a 2-year $5 million contract (with a player option in the second year) with the Houston Rockets, Steve Francis finally returned to Houston where he originally belonged. He happily picked up the telephone, dialed Yao Ming’s number and yelled out loud to him who was far away in China: “Hey ! I’ve come back!!”
Steve Francis was ecstatic, and so was Yao Ming. “Lao Da (i.e. Big Brother) seems to be overwhelmed with ecstasy!! Even though he is not a resident of Houston, he has treated Houston as his home.” Yao Ming said. “He has kept and not sold his house in Houston. He also bought a piece of land in Houston. Whether he can return to Houston Rockets or not, he just wants to live in Houston. Now everything is going his way. He can now build a new house on that piece of land with the $5 million he just got.”
Yao Ming explained why he is also very happy about Steve Francis’ return.
“Ever since I arrived into the NBA, I just watched (helplessly) teammates after teammates traded away (at the end of every season). Teammates that I was familiar with got traded away, and in came some strangers, one after the other. You just have to go through such cycle of knowing new teammates, sending off acquainted teammates and then new teammates again. I have already got used to this kind of feeling, but this is not a good feeling at all. Now finally an old friend manages to return, and he is no one but my Lao Da.”
Raymond, our correspondent in China, has translated one of the first articles written about Yao Ming’s thoughts about getting reunited with former Rocket guard Steve Francis after he was acquired last Friday by Houston. Raymond says that many Chinese are extremely happy that Francis is coming back to play with Yao.
Raymond has also put together a collage of old photos of Yao and Francis in this YaoMania! forum to show how well they got along with each other as teammates.
Written by a Titan Sports writer and appearing on Tom.com, here’s Raymond’s translation with some interesting quotes highlighted:
Two days after the announcement that he had signed a 2-year $5 million contract (with a player option in the second year) with the Houston Rockets, Steve Francis finally returned to Houston where he originally belonged. He happily picked up the telephone, dialed Yao Ming’s number and yelled out loud to him who was far away in China: “Hey ! I’ve come back!!”
Steve Francis was ecstatic, and so was Yao Ming. “Lao Da (i.e. Big Brother) seems to be overwhelmed with ecstasy!! Even though he is not a resident of Houston, he has treated Houston as his home.” Yao Ming said. “He has kept and not sold his house in Houston. He also bought a piece of land in Houston. Whether he can return to Houston Rockets or not, he just wants to live in Houston. Now everything is going his way. He can now build a new house on that piece of land with the $5 million he just got.”
Yao Ming explained why he is also very happy about Steve Francis’ return.
“Ever since I arrived into the NBA, I just watched (helplessly) teammates after teammates traded away (at the end of every season). Teammates that I was familiar with got traded away, and in came some strangers, one after the other. You just have to go through such cycle of knowing new teammates, sending off acquainted teammates and then new teammates again. I have already got used to this kind of feeling, but this is not a good feeling at all. Now finally an old friend manages to return, and he is no one but my Lao Da.”
