Operation Yao Ming: The Chinese Sports Empire, American Big Business, and the Making of an NBA Superstar

by Brook Larmer

The riveting story behind NBA giant Yao Ming, the ruthless Chinese sports machine that created him, and the East-West struggle over China’s most famous son.

The NBA’s 7‘6" 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 McDonald’s. But his journey to America—like that of his forgotten foil, 7‘1" Wang Zhizhi—began long before he set foot on the world’s 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 People’s 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 China’s first players to the NBA. Drawing on years of firsthand reporting, Larmer uncovers the disturbing truth behind China’s drive to produce Olympic champions, while also taking readers behind the scenes of America’s multibillion-dollar sports empire. Caught in the middle are two young men—one will become a mega-rich superstar and hero to millions, the other a struggling athlete rejected by his homeland yet lost in America.

Genres: Sports, Basketball, China, Nonfiction, Biography, Business, History

352 pages, Hardcover

First published November 3, 2005

Reviews

[James B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easily one of the best book of all time. It definitely exceeded my expectation of a basketball biography. It is a book of Chinese history and culture, particularly reflected in its sports system. Through the "making" of Yao Ming to his rising status as a global star, the book narrates the clash between Chinese and American culture, as well as the internal struggle of many Chinese who were painfully growing out of the Maoist China and rapidly transforming into a more capitalistic and global nation with "Chinese characteristics".

[Logan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fascinating look at the journey to the NBA by two of China's biggest and most popular sports heroes, Yao Ming and Wang Zhizhi, and the impact this journey had on the social and economic development of China and the Chinese sports system. Wow, that's a long sentence.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eye opening view of how Communist China works.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

I knew I’d be interested in this book, but I didn’t think I’d be SO interested. I love sports, I love the business of sport, and I love history. This has all a perfect cocktail of all of that. I learned so much about Chinese culture, sports in China and as a Westerner, found it hard to believe due to my own cultural bias. I was pretty captivated by Yao’s upbringing, the red tape, and his emergence as having more control over his image/career. Really recommend for sports fans - you don’t even have to be a basketball fan.

[Ian LeBlanc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great basketball biography with emphasis on Chinese history and culture.

[Eveline Chao · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was fantastic. Initially I was annoyed by the hyper-dramatic writing -- it's non-fiction but feels more like you're reading a crime thriller or something, and there are adjectives galore -- but in the end I got really caught up in it and couldn't put it down. I have some reservations about the way the author directly quotes people in historical situations he obviously did not actually witness, where it's like, umm, dude you weren't there, don't you feel a little funny about making up this dramatic dialogue and attributing it to all these real-life people? And there were a few other things he took a lot of creative liberties with. But overall, this was an amazing book, and as much about China and history and politics as it was about basketball...I guess that's the point, really, is that they are all tied up w/ each other when the state controls athletics.

I originally had all kinds of much deeper things to say about why this book was amazing, but let too much time go by since I read it and can't remember anymore. Oh well.

[Carson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book “Operation Yao Ming” by Brook Lamar was great. It was about the life and development of Yao Ming as an athlete raised in the Chinese athletic system. The author also discussed the professional career of Yao Ming as a jumping point from which the NBA has expanded its role and presence in China. Of course, China has hundreds of millions of people who play basketball. That was always in the back of my mind, but I found myself returning to this book with the emergence of Jeremy Lin’s professional career with the New York Knicks and his signing with Yao’s old NBA team, the Houston Rockets. Lin is an American of Taiwanese descent, but he has a large following in China. However, Jeremy Lin might pass up Yao’s popularity one day, especially in the hearts of those who had already favored other stars like Allen Iverson over Yao previously. This book was great as it talked about Yao Ming growing up playing basketball in China and the political and economic system of China. I would recommend this book to any sports enthusiast.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very fascinating as it not only explores Yao Ming's story but the entire evolution of the China sports system. It is pretty long and some parts are slower than others but I found it incredibly interesting. It helps that I'm a big Yao Ming fan!

[Anthonyguerreso · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned that 40 percent of Yao Ming's career salary, including endorsements, ends up going back to the Chinese government. I also learned that his dad was 6'10".

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

good book to read

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent book....very well written and very detailed.

[Janine Barzyk Ackerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this fascinating book while I lived in Shanghia as part of a book club I belonged to there. I will never look at Yao Ming the same.... or Communist China.

[Brad Kennes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written and interesting.