On this day: Yao Ming goes first in NBA draft – from ‘disaster waiting to happen’ to All-Star
- Houston Rockets take No 1 pick after prolonged journey to the draft for Shanghai Sharks star
- Pundit Bill Simmons guaranteed that China star would go down as one of the ‘great draft day blunders’
By the time that the 2002 NBA Draft took place at Madison Square Garden on June 26 of that year, most had predicted that China’s Yao Ming would go as No 1 pick.
The 7-foot-5-inch big man came with a big reputation but not all NBA analysts were convinced about the Chinese star.
Bill Simmons, writing for ESPN, was among the most vocal. “Years from now, we will remember ‘Yao Ming over Jay Williams’ the same way we remember ‘Bowie over Jordan’, ‘Traylor for Nowitzki’, ‘Carroll for McHale and Parish’, ‘Aguirre over Thomas’ and every other great draft day blunder in NBA history. I’m not just predicting it, I’m guaranteeing it.”
“This is a disaster waiting to happen. Repeat: This is a disaster waiting to happen,” Simmons concluded.
One indication that Yao was going first was that Duke’s Jay Williams, the top-ranked US college player and Simmons’ Michael Jordan comparison to the Chinese player’s Sam Bowie, cancelled his workout with the Houston Rockets in the week leading up to the draft.
