Unlucky NBA fans ‘pay US$4,235 to look at the back of Yao Ming’s head’ as basketball legend sits courtside for Brooklyn Nets game
- Social media sees funny side after 2.29-metres Chinese basketball chief watches the Nets’ home loss to Cleveland Cavaliers in front row
- Clip of two fans seated behind former Houston Rockets star goes viral, with the broadcast commentary team quipping ‘they just want pictures of Yao’
Fans on social media had some fun at the expense of Yao Ming after the NBA legend sat courtside for the Brooklyn Nets’ home game against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Nets lost 114-113 at the Barclays Centre on Wednesday night, with Yao – who stands 2.29 metres (7ft 6in) tall – in the front row.
Chinese Basketball Association president Yao, a former star with the Houston Rockets, was introduced to the crowd before tip-off and was shown on the giant screens at the arena.
He received a warm welcome from the spectators – with the possible exception of the two unlucky fans behind him in the second row.
“Imagine paying all that money to look at the back of Yao Ming’s head,” PHYLY Sports host Renee Washington posted on X.
One eagle-eyed social media user seemingly worked out exactly how much the two fans would have had to pay for that honour – US$4,235 for two floor seats, to be precise, according to a screenshot the user posted on X from online ticketing outlet Ticketmaster.
“Yeah … sitting behind Yao Ming has to be brutal,” another fan noted on the platform, formerly known as Twitter.
The commentary team for the regional YES Network broadcast also had some fun with the situation.
“Hall of Famer Yao Ming is here. So there are a couple of things happening,” one of the commentators said, while the cameras showed the two fans, a man and a woman, laughing behind Yao.
“You tell your partner, ‘I’ve got second-row seats to the Nets, it’s gonna be awesome’. ‘Oh yeah, we’re in!’ Then you show up, and you’re behind Yao Ming, and all you can do is take pictures of his head.”
“I’m not going to lie, I feel like those fans find it more valuable to have those pictures and videos of the back of Yao’s head,” the commentator’s broadcast partner added.
The cameras later panned back to the two fans in the second row, after Yao had left his seat.
“Now he’s taking pictures of the court. This is your window of opportunity,” the first commentator said.
“She didn’t care. She just wanted the shots of Yao,” the second commentator replied.
Huang Ping, the Chinese Consul General in New York, was seated alongside Yao at the Brooklyn Nets game on Wednesday.
“What a pleasure to watch the game with former Houston Rockets superstar Yao Ming at Barclays Centre,” Huang wrote on X. “Yao was easily recognised and warmly greeted by the audience.”
Yao travelled to New York this week for the first time in nearly four years as part of a near-30-person Chinese delegation, and met NBA commissioner Adam Silver.
The 43-year-old Yao was also a speaker at a gala dinner for the National Committee on US-China Relations (NCUSCR) on Tuesday alongside fellow NBA Hall of Famer Tracy McGrady.
The NCUSCR is a non-profit organisation and advisory body founded in 1966 to enhance understanding and cooperation between the United States and China.
International participation in the NBA is also at an all-time high, and Yao predicted bright things for the league’s latest star import, Victor Wembanyama of France.
“I never see a big guy [who] can do such a thing like he does,” said Yao, an eight-time NBA All-Star who stands 5cm taller than Wembanyama.
“In a scout report where we say, ‘This guy is … how old he is, his height, his wingspan and his capabilities,’ … and ‘he looks like, let’s say, a former somebody’. For him it’s like, I don’t know who shall I put up … no comparing.”
