If 20 years ago you asked the average American basketball fan if a Chinese man could play center for an NBA team, his answer might have sounded something like this: “Ha ha. No, he'd be too short!” But now, the doubters are silent. Who closed their mouths? Houston Rockets, 2.26-meter-tall center Yao Ming, from China.
20年前，你问一般的美国篮球迷，中国人可不可能打NBA球队的中锋，回答很可能是：“哈哈，不可能，身高一定不够！”但是现在，心存怀疑的人都不说话了。是谁让他们闭嘴的呢？休斯敦火箭队身高2.26米，来自中国的中锋姚明。
Yao Ming grew up in a family of basketball players. When he was 12, Yao Ming started going to an athletics academy outside of Shanghai and later spent a lot of time studying NBA games televised in China.
姚明出身篮球世家。12岁时，姚明开始到上海市郊一所体育学院就读，后来还花了许多时间研究中国电视转播的NBA篮球赛。
All this has paid off. Yao's first NBA honor was his ranking as No.1 draft pick, and he's been elected for a Rookie-of-the-Month award. Yao Ming has a style different from those of tall centers in the past. He rarely goes for the flashy slams. He'd rather show off his silk-smooth free-throw shots, or use his height to pop in jump shots from the three-point line.
付出的一切都会有回报。姚明的第一个NBA荣誉是成为选秀排名第一的球员，并且曾获得单月最佳新秀奖。姚明的风格与过去其他高大的中锋不同。他很少做花哨的灌篮，而是展现如丝般顺畅的罚球，或是利用身高优势自三分线跳投。
