Top 40 Yao Ming Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “A good leader must be fair.”

— Yao Ming

2. “When the buying stops, the killing can too.”

— Yao Ming

3. “It will take time to adapt, but I think I can handle it.”

— Yao Ming

4. “Sports teach you how to be quick. Injuries teach you how to slow down.”

— Yao Ming

5. “Friendship first, competition second.”

— Yao Ming

6. “Endangered species are our friends.”

— Yao Ming

7. “Sport is the best means of communication between people from different religions and countries.”

— Yao Ming

8. “When I was young, we were taught not to dunk. We were taght not to stand out from the rest of the team. It’s different now.”

— Yao Ming

9. “Basketball, in America, is like a culture. It is like a foreigner learning a new language. It is difficult to learn foreign languages and it will also be difficult for me to learn the culture for basketball here.”

— Yao Ming

10. “Hometown is like my quilts. Sometimes when you are in sweet dreams, you don’t feel it’s comfortable.”

— Yao Ming

11. “If you’re going to learn a new language, you can’t try to be perfect. You’ll stop yourself from talking. You just have to let go.”

— Yao Ming

12. “All of the Chinese people, the Asian people say, “Oh Yao Ming, you are all the Chinese, all of Asia’s hopes.” That’s a lot of pressure. I’m just a basketball player.”

— Yao Ming

13. “It’s always nice to start the season with a win.”

— Yao Ming

14. “Fortune cookies are a good idea. If the message is positive, it can make your day a little better.”

— Yao Ming

15. “I don’t really have anything to say. Basketball is not a game that you can play with your mouth. It needs action to prove yourself.”

— Yao Ming

16. “I’m just one of the 1.3 billion Chinese.”

— Yao Ming

17. “Embarrassed journalists ask me embarrassing questions, and they get embarrassing answers, and then hand out embarrassing stories to the embarrassing editors, who put them to the front pages of newspapers. When is this going to end?”

— Yao Ming

18. “My American strength coach said he liked me better before I could speak English.”

— Yao Ming

19. “There is a phrase in Chinese, ‘Resolve is victory.’”

— Yao Ming

20. “To miss one year is a long time. I’ve never been in this situation before, and I’m getting as much information as I can about my foot, to see what’s the best for me and best for the Rockets.”

— Yao Ming

21. “Is there a choice in life? It’s always been like this. I am jealous that you have a lot of leisure and free time. You are jealous that I have a lot money.”

— Yao Ming

22. “The NBA is a big family, and I think of all these rookies as my brothers. I still believe I am blue collar among the All-Stars.”

— Yao Ming

23. “Please don’t let the illegal ivory trade orphan even more baby elephants.”

— Yao Ming

24. “To me, first and foremost, basketball is a fun sport. It is a hobby, an interest. And second, it is a profession. I feel that I am very fortunate that I can find a professional job that I really, really love.”

— Yao Ming

25. “No matter whether you are new or an old team member, you need time to adjust to one another.”

— Yao Ming

26. “I finished my high school. I think an educate is very, very important.”

— Yao Ming

27. “Westerners respect privacy, and they are very competitive in terms of work and personalities. My teammates in China and I can talk about everything. But with my Houston Rockets teammates, even though we’re friends, we cannot ask each other about everything.”

— Yao Ming

28. “Others are improving very fast, and I’m not improving as fast, and that bothers me.”

— Yao Ming

29. “First of all, I’m not buff enough. I got pushed away from the basket. And even when I didn’t, I couldn’t get anyone to throw me a pass.”

— Yao Ming

30. “I am a basketball player, and I would like to focus my energy on basketball. The other things, I would rather not do. It is not something I am greatly interested in, but I know it is my responsibility.”

— Yao Ming

31. “I think I am upsetting the coach.”

— Yao Ming

32. “I think I’ll stick to what I’m used to, my principles, and that is team Number 1 and individual Number 2.”

— Yao Ming

33. “Everybody is improving but I am improving slowly, which seemingly widens our distance.”

— Yao Ming

34. “I only want to play basketball, and play it well and be happy about it. But I realize that with being famous, comes a lot of demands.”

— Yao Ming

35. “I feel that the All-Star game is more like a party because its made up of a lot of elements. However the core of All-Star is still the 48 minute-game and all the fans will pay all attention to the showcase of the players excellent skills. The result of the game is not much of a concern.”

— Yao Ming

36. “Kobe’s heart is as strong as his muscles.”

— Yao Ming

37. “Moving to the US was quite a transition for me, to say the least! There were, and still are so many new things to get used to: the language, food, culture, even the style of basketball is different here!”

— Yao Ming

38. “Be a journalist. I can’t get away from you guys, then I just mingle with you guys.”

— Yao Ming

39. “One is taller. The other is shorter.”

— Yao Ming

40. “The Olympic Games is holy. Athletes from around the world, including myself, of course, dream to participate.”

— Yao Ming

41. “Putting our ecosystem in great peril is certainly not a part of Chinese culture that I know.”

— Yao Ming

42. “I can see well enough on the 28-meter basketball court.”

— Yao Ming

43. “The journalists are poking me all the time. It’s impossible for me to stop even I want to.”

— Yao Ming

44. “Sometimes it can feel like there are a billion people on my shoulders.”

— Yao Ming