A legendary basketball player that cemented himself as an icon in the NBA.
Standing at a staggering height of 7 feet and 3 inches is the second tallest player that ever set foot on the courts of the NBA.
Yao Ming is now a Chinese basketball executive after playing the sport for Houston Rockets for several years.
He emerged as one of the favorite fan players due to his personality and attitude on the court, and he is an icon in the 2000s era of basketball.
He has his roots in the Chinese Basketball Association CBA and made his way into international fame.
Yao Ming’s Parents’ Love Life
The basketball player’s parents have a surprising and quite exciting love life.
Yao Zhiyuan and Fang Fengdi are both very successful athletes in their respective basketball fields. Not to mention that the two of them are the country’s tallest men and women. At first, the couple did not have any plans to be together, but the Chinese government had different plans.
This idea enticed the government to meddle with their personal lives.
The government then encouraged the two to get married.
This is because they want to create a mighty athlete—someone towering with height and someone who can utilize that height to give the country pride. After Yao was born, he was given special training so that his natural gifts would not go to waste.
Yao Ming’s Father Yao Zhiyuan Biography
The basketball player’s height came from his parents; however, this gift is something that runs within the family.
Yao Zhiyuan was Yao Ming’s father and was considered the tallest man in China.
He also inherited his height from his father, one of the tallest guys in Shanghai, which he then passed unto his son Yao Ming.
There is little information available surrounding him. However, it is confirmed that he was also a former professional basketball player in China.
Yao Ming’s Mother, Fang Fengdi Biography
Couples are either short and tall, vice-versa, or both short, or both tall. But when you combine the two tallest people in a vast country such as China, you get one of the NBA’s iconic players.
Fang Fengdi also has a separate dominance within her. At one time, she was also the tallest woman in the country.
This was the main reason she was encouraged by the government to be wedded to her husband, Yao Zhiyuan.
She was in a different league; aside from being a professional athlete, she was also an active movement leader.
During the Cultural Revolution of infamous communist revolutionary Mao Zedong, there was an uprise in student-led revolution.
Fang was one of the women captains of the Red Guards, a student-led coalition that was guided and supported by Chairman Mao.
Yao Ming’s Siblings
Since the athlete results from what people may deem a scientific experiment, he does not have siblings.
The government was fixated on making him a great athlete, and his parents were not totally in love. Therefore, he is the only child that the couple had.