Yao excited to be reunited with Francis
July 23rd, 2007by 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.”
Steve Francis left the Houston Rockets 3 years ago, but Yao Ming still refers to him as his “Lao Da.” There is only one Lao Da in Yao Ming’s heart, and that will forever be Steve Francis. Even though situations and circumstances are no longer the same as before, Yao Ming’s nostalgia and feeling about Steve Francis just won’t change regardless of time and space, because Steve Francis had already engraved into Yao Ming’s initial memory and impressions about NBA.
Yao said, “Even though he is my Lao Da, he never treated me the way other Lao Da would have treated the rookies.”
“Almost every rookie new to NBA had the experience of having to carry bags or tug the luggage for the Lao Da of his team; sometimes they even had to run errands like buying newspaper, dim sum (i.e. dessert) or drinks. But I never had to do such things. The deepest impression Steve had left in me in my rookie season was he only called me “rookie” once in the entirety of my first season. I still remembered at that time, we played away from Houston, we were all very happy as we won. When we walked out of the plane after landed into Houston middle of the night, he yelled out at me: “Hey, Rookie. Take care of this for me.” He took off his scarf, and threw it into my hand, and then walked away tugging his own luggage.”
“Moreover, if it was not Steve, I would not have been picked to come to Houston (Francis represented the Rockets at the 2002 NBA Draft Lottery where the Rockets won the rights to the #1 pick in the draft), and I would not have everything that I have now. Maybe to say something like this now, you would think I’m too nostalgic or hypocritical, but it was Steve that had given me a start, and everything of mine started from that beginning,” Yao Ming said.
So come October in Houston — in that player changing room in Toyota Center which will be no longer familiar to Steve Francis — here will be no sight or trace of teammates (or people) that Steve Francis once knew. Rudy Tomjanovich is no longer a consultant of the Rockets, and Carroll Dawson has already stepped down as the General Manager. Yao Ming will be the only one that remains and the most sincere one that will welcome him with open arms. The situation compared to Yao Ming’s rookie year will be completely reversed. It will not be the small Steve Francis to greet and welcome the big Yao Ming. It will be the other way around. The big Yao Ming welcoming the small Steve Francis (in open arms).
“I’m not worried a single bit about how he will play upon his return,” Yao Ming said. “If your memory is good, you should know what kind of big personal sacrifice he made in his last season (2003-04 season) with the Rockets. He indeed made great sacrifice then (playing with severe headaches). So you think he can’t do the same now?”
“At that time, people always said Steve Francis and Yao Ming were competing for something (Lao Da) in the team. Actually that was basically impossible, something made out of the blue. He is an extremely pure and simple person…..just too pure and simple.”
When Steve Francis was speaking over the phone, Yao Ming could conceive Steve Francis speaking with his eyebrows jumping on his forehead. Steve Francis exclaimed: “So you’re getting married !!! OH AH ……..”