This Just In: Yao Ming Says Nothing of Importance, Nothing Ensues.

by Tom Martin on Jun 19, 2009 4:28 PM CDT in Discussions about Badasses

Must have missed the latest addition to Roget's Thesaurus. Apparently, the word "unknown" is now synonymous with "Going to Cleveland." Stupid dysfunctional e-mail alerts.

For the record, this is what Yao Ming told a Shanghai TV station when asked about a possible move to the Cleveland Cavaliers: "This is all an unknown."

Oh, Lord. He must be packed and ready to go. You can tell by the excitement in his response.

Yao did what he was supposed to do. He answered a question without really answering it. That's how you treat rumors like this. While each and every one of us would have liked to hear Yao downplay the speculation or describe its absurdity, The Great Wall has ties to both parties - to his own team and to his fellow countrymen in Cleveland.

For Yao to anger either side would be an unnecessary action. Yao did not say "yes" to anyone, nor did he say "no" to anyone. He instead stated the obvious, that the situation is unknown.

Though devoted to the Rockets, Yao is currently China's national hero. Prominent businessmen from his country are now trying to build up a Chinese fanbase in Cleveland. He will have two primary options come June, 2010. That is a whole year from now. By next December, this could either blow up into a disturbing situation for Houston, or it could wash away in the wake of another stellar regular season by Yao's current team. And even then, there would be six more months left for things to further change.

By the way, the Rockets have a say in this too. Nothing has altered our desired course. We want Yao to stay, and we are going to pay him a lot of money. I'd be shocked if we didn't make him the largest offer of anyone come next summer. Les will open up the wallet, and not just because of Yao's on-court play, but because Yao brings with him a billion, jersey-buying international fans and a dozen Chinese sponorship deals.

We're way too far ahead of this, people. Go back to talking about Tracy McGrady - his ultimatum is only seven months away.

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From the Baseline post MisterTerrific linked to:

Then again, if James could end up staying in Cleveland because he feels at home, maybe the Cavs do make a run at Yao based on the idea that these new owners will rebuild downtown Shanghai in some burned-out corner of Cleveland. Having lived in Houston, I can tell you this strategy would leave them with a lot of catching up to do.

Christ, I love this city.

Your friendly neighborhood Dreamshake mod.

by Only_A_Lad on Jun 19, 2009 5:01 PM CDT reply actions

Alright, everyone.

Cut out the racist crap. That’s two posts in a row I’ve had to delete.

Your friendly neighborhood Dreamshake mod.

by Only_A_Lad on Jun 20, 2009 12:41 AM CDT reply actions

aw man

I missed the action!

contributing nothing substantial to your blog, since 2008!

by misterterrific on Jun 20, 2009 12:43 AM CDT up reply actions

meh

it was pretty tame, all things considered.

Your friendly neighborhood Dreamshake mod.

by Only_A_Lad on Jun 20, 2009 12:47 AM CDT up reply actions

honestly

i don’t like the spanish.

or the italians.

or the chinese.

or slovenians.

or the americans.

or anyone else that wears a purple and yellow uniform. the congo is cool cause they gave us one of the houston’s most upstanding citizens, even if they did screw up by exporting a future laker.

by flipasta on Jun 20, 2009 8:34 PM CDT up reply actions

Yao in Houston

Thats the way it should stay

by mutombo4life on Jun 20, 2009 12:49 PM CDT reply actions

This is just the sports media having nothing better to do...

Clearly, we are in that terrible lull between the end of the NBA season and the beginning of football. Although I played baseball growing up, I’ve never been big into watching it.

So lots of people in the sports media are looking for anything they can write up as news.

This isn’t news. They’re playing, in part, on the fact that Yao is not a native English speaker. So this is either Yao, with his passable English, saying, “This is unknown” or its Yao’s Mandarin imperfectly translated into English.

The bottom line, Yao simply said that the whole Cleveland thing was unknown to him; that he doesn’t know about some wealthy Chinese businessmen hatching a plan to send him to Cleveland.

The article put it perfectly. Unknown = Going to Cleveland!

Hey guys, Yao is going to Cleveland!

by johnsmithdc on Jun 20, 2009 3:43 PM CDT reply actions