The riveting story behind NBA giant Yao Ming, the ruthless Chinese sports machine that created him, and the East-West struggle over China?s most famous son.
The Chinese Sports Empire, American Big Business, and the Ma
Gotham
November 2005
352 pages ISBN: 1592400787 Hardcover Add to Wish List
The NBAβs 7β6" All-Star Yao Ming has changed the face of basketball, revitalizing a league desperate for a new hero while becoming a multimillionaire pitchman for Reebok and McDonaldβs. But his journey to Americaβlike that of his forgotten foil, 7β1" Wang Zhizhiβbegan long before he set foot on the worldβs brightest athletic stage.
Operation Yao Ming opens with the story of the two boysβ parents, basketball players brought together by Chinese officials intent on creating a generation of athletes who could bring glory to their resurgent motherland. Their children would have no more freedom to choose their fates. By age thirteen, Yao was pulled out of sports school to join the Shanghai Sharks pro team, following in the footsteps of Wang, then the star of the Peopleβs Liberation Army team. Rumors of the pair of Chinese giants soon attracted the NBA and American sports companies, all eager to tap a market of 1.3 billion consumers.
In suspenseful scenes, journalist Brook Larmer details the backroom maneuverings that brought Chinaβs first players to the NBA. Drawing on years of firsthand reporting, Larmer uncovers the disturbing truth behind Chinaβs drive to produce Olympic champions, while also taking readers behind the scenes of Americaβs multibillion-dollar sports empire. Caught in the middle are two young menβone will become a mega-rich superstar and hero to millions, the other a struggling athlete rejected by his homeland yet lost in America.
Media Buzz
All Things Considered - August 30, 2013 Marketplace - PRI - November 29, 2005
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