The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
HOUSTON — The Houston Rockets officially retired Yao Ming’s No. 11 jersey during the halftime break of their game against the Chicago Bulls at the Toyota Center on Friday night with the presence of Yao Ming and his family.
During the grand ceremony which was nationally televised, Houston Rockets owner Leslie Alexander called Friday night “a great moment in Rocket history, to honor a man of such magnitude” and described Yao as “a really great basketball player”.
“Yao was a really, really great player. I wanted him to be viewed as more than that, as an ambassador to the world and especially into China, and what a great person and humanitarian he is,” said Alexander, who donated USD100,000 to the Yao Ming Foundation.
The 36-year-old Yao Ming said, “When I first came to town, Houston was no different than any other city in the United States. But as time passed by, all the faces came into memory. Remember this, that Houston for me from now on is not just a word. Every time they mention it, your faces are in my memory, in my brain.” PNA/Xinhua