Yao Ming was born on 12th September 1980, in Shanghai, China. He is a former professional basketball player which has been the major source of Yao Ming‘s net worth. Yao is considered to be one of the most successful basketball players of Asian ancestry. Among various career highlights and awards, he was been selected as an NBA All Star eight times and All-NBA Team five times. Ming was also distinguishable for his height, being 2.29 m during the final season he played; Ming was the tallest active player in the whole league. Yao played basketball professionally in the NBA from 2002 to 2011.
How rich is this exceptional basketball player? It has been reported that the outright size of Yao Ming‘s net worth currently stands at $120 million. Initially, he received a salary of more than $3.8 million per year (2002) whereas at the end of his career it was more than $17.6 million per year (2010). More, he added huge sums for his endorsement deals with such companies as Nike, Reebok, Apple, Visa and others. Currenlty, he is the owner of the club he played for in his youth, Shanghai Sharks (since 2009).
Yao Ming Net Worth $120 Million
Some background facts are that both parents Fang Fengdi (1.90 m) and Yao Zhiyuan (2.01) were professional basketball players. When born, the “little“ Yao Ming was twice as large as the average Chinese baby. He began playing basketbal when he was nine years old, and it was doctors predictions that the boy would grow very tall, which eventuated, which was one of the factors which led him to pursue a professional basketball career, that added considerable finances to the net worth of Yao Ming.
Yao joined the Chinese Basketball Association being 13 years old, at that time his training and practice took more than ten hours a day, which was another factor in achieving the highs of Yao Ming‘s career and accumulating fantastic net worth. The player was the member of the junior team until 1997, later joining the senior Shanghai Sharks team.
In the 2002 NBA draft, he was picked the first overall in the first round by Houston Rockets team, which set the record as being the first Asian player to be selected first pick. It should be mentioned that Yao subsequently played in the position of center for the Houston Rockets team his entire NBA career. Almost all the seasons except the last one, he played not less than 30 minutes per game, managing to score from 14 to 25 point per game, acheiving an average of 19 points per game during his career. Furthermore, he was a very successful player from the very begining of his professional career. In 2003, he won the Laureus Newcomer of the Year Award and was named the Rookie of the Year by Sporting News. However, due to multiple injuries, Ming decided to retire in 2011. A year later, he was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame for his contributions to the sport, as well as lifetime achievements. Clearly, his NBA career has been the major source of Yao‘s net worth.
Yao Ming also represented China at the World Basketball Championships in 2001, 2003 and 2005.
No wonder that such a dedicated and talented personality became the main subject of the documentary film “The Year of the Yao“ (2004) directed by Adam Del Deo and James D. Stern. More, Ming is co-author of his autobiography “Yao: A Life in Two Worlds“.
In his personal life, in 2007, Yao married his high school sweetheart Ye Li. The family has a daughter.
Well worth it – but in no way accurate ! RIP