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Operation Yao Ming: The Chinese Sports Empire, American Big Business, and the Making of an NBA Superstar | 
 enlarge | Author: Brook Larmer
Publisher: Gotham
Category: Book
List Price: $26.00
Buy New: $1.49
You Save: $24.51 (94%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  15 reviews
Sales Rank: 528436
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.3
ISBN: 1592400787
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.323092
EAN: 9781592400782
ASIN: 1592400787
Publication Date: November 3, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
The riveting story behind NBA giant Yao Ming, the ruthless Chinese sports machine that created him, and the East-West struggle over Chinas most famous son. The NBAs 76 All-Star Yao Ming has changed the face of basketball, revitalizing a league desperate for a new hero while becoming a multimillionaire pitchman for Reebok and McDonalds. But his journey to Americalike that of his forgotten foil, 71 Wang Zhizhibegan long before he set foot on the worlds brightest athletic stage. Operation Yao Ming opens with the story of the two boys parents, basketball players brought together by Chinese officials intent on creating a generation of athletes who could bring glory to their resurgent motherland. Their children would have no more freedom to choose their fates. By age thirteen, Yao was pulled out of sports school to join the Shanghai Sharks pro team, following in the footsteps of Wang, then the star of the Peoples Liberation Army team. Rumors of the pair of Chinese giants soon attracted the NBA and American sports companies, all eager to tap a market of 1.3 billion consumers. In suspenseful scenes, journalist Brook Larmer details the backroom maneuverings that brought Chinas first players to the NBA. Drawing on years of firsthand reporting, Larmer uncovers the disturbing truth behind Chinas drive to produce Olympic champions, while also taking readers behind the scenes of Americas multibillion-dollar sports empire. Caught in the middle are two young menone will become a mega-rich superstar and hero to millions, the other a struggling athlete rejected by his homeland yet lost in America.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 10 more reviews...
 Interesting even for non-sports fans March 1, 2008
The story of Yao Ming--the NBA's tallest-ever player who stands 7'6''--is necessarily the tale of the "sports machine," of politics, and of international business deals. Caught up in the forces of history, Shanghai's own homeboy has emerged as a symbol of the love-hate, push-pull relationship between China and the West. In Operation Yao Ming, award-winning journalist Brook Larmer has penned an enlightening and somewhat controversial account of the factors that shaped Yao's life, paved his way to the NBA, and rendered him a bridge to and eventually a symbol of East-West relations.
Tension is the key operative word in this story. There is tension between Yao's life as a basketball player and what it might be otherwise, between Yao's life as the star on a Chinese basketball team and as 2002's number one draft for the American NBA, between American basketball training methods and the Chinese sports training system, between communism and capitalism, between the concept of sports as a way to glorify a nation and sports for their own sake. As a pawn in the center of all of this, Yao served as the key to unlock the treasure chest in many high stakes games--sports and otherwise.
While the book is intriguing for its presentation of research on the Chinese basketball system and how its star player winds up in the NBA, a few faults must be mentioned. Operation Yao Ming was derived from a series of articles written for Newsweek between 2000 and 2003. While that means that the book displays the merit of much research, it also unfortunately succumbs to the hazards of allowing all that information to be hastily thrown together. The result is that the reader faces some abrupt topic changes and must suffer egregious repetitions--at times Larmer even uses the exact same adjectives, metaphors, and phrases. It is surprising that a seasoned journalist would not have done a more thorough job editing his material or hired someone to do it for him.
The book also gives nearly equal billing to Yao's idol and rival, Wang ZhiZhi. Though some people may find this annoying, others--especially basketball fans--will enjoy the way Wang and Yao's paths to and experiences with the CBA and the NBA are compared and contrasted, with the tension of one man's successes measured against the other's hard luck and occasional role reversals. I, however, found myself distracted by the extra plotline.
Overall, Operation Yao Ming is both entertaining and interesting. Those who find the inner workings of the Chinese sports machine, international politics, basketball training, the business of basketball, international business, or above all Yao Ming, appealing will enjoy this book.
Solid Read March 18, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I first saw Yao Ming in a Marriott Courtyard lobby during an AAU tour in '98. I was wowed by the secrecy around the guy at the hotel. Since then, I've been waiting for the real story...No fluff. Well, Larmer captures the story of Yao Ming and the rise of basketball in China with his research. Even better, he coorelates the rise of basketball to the development of the Chinese economic boom. Major props...
Now, will critics of Yao please read this book about the environment that surrounded Yao and Shanghai during his development? Will they please realize that Yao would be better suited for a team concept? It's just unfortunate that he started off his NBA career by landing into a thug party in Houston.
Critics have been killing Yao for becoming too soft or for not stepping up to the mantle. Yet, what they don't realize is that Yao is from entirely different culture that professes team not the "I" like the majority of today's NBA superstars. He's a team player and a product of Soviet Training who places the group's interests above personal accolades...Does anyone remember the late '80s version of Arvydas Sabonis?
Larmer touches on all of the subjects surrounding the development of Yao Ming by detailing politics, the reign of Mao, alternative health and herbs, Soviet training methods, Nike, academies, agents, the NBA and sports marketing. Tie this in with 'World is Flat', and you'll see a glimpse of sports in the 21st century.
Yao story interesting; broader Chineses history is fascinating October 14, 2006
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I am NOT a huge sports nut...you know the kind who rattles off stats and knows all the players, but I really enjoyed this book. The story of Yao Ming was very interesting especially as it interlaces with China's history. I think it gives a very interesting look into the evolution of Chinese sports, politics and government. It kept me interested and I really looked forward to picking it up again every evening to read.
Good But Hardly Profound Bio of Yao Ming June 3, 2006
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
This book is a very readable biography of Yao Ming.
But I had been led to hope that it would inform me about China's future. I'm disappointed at how little it tells me about that subject. It provides some moderately interesting tidbits of information about China's recent history, but the book doesn't attempt to provide the kind of understanding of China that would tell us whether those tidbits are a glimpse of a past that is being abandoned or whether they contain useful indications of China's future.
 Unsubtantiated Racist Drivel May 19, 2006
5 out of 11 found this review helpful
This book is full of unsubtantiated racist drivel. The premise is that the Chinese can't play basketball. Lamaar does not source his claims - it's just like that he's making up stuffs from thin air.
Regarding his claim that Yao was somehow bred. An Sports Illustrated (SI) article asked why is there only one Yao Ming.
Why didn't they "created" more Yao Ming's if what Lamaar claimed is really factual? In case people don't know. Yao is the only child.
If you look at other NBA caliber Chinese basketball players such Sun Yue, Yi Jianlian, Tang Zhengdon, Xue Yuyang (drafted by Denver), and even Wang Zhizhi. Their parents were not basketball players.
There is no logic to Lamaar's unsubstantiated drivel.
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