关于NBA的高中英语阅读

全美篮球协会--NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is the major professional basketball league in the world, with teams from the United States and Canada. With the addition of the Toronto Raptors and the Vancouver Grizzlies prior to（在……之前，居先）the 1995-1996 season, the NBA expanded to 29 teams competing in two conferences, the Eastern and Western, in four separate divisions. Each team conducts a training camp in October to determine its 12-player roster（花名册，执勤人员表） . Training camp allows each team to evaluate players, especially rookies (first-year players), to assess the team's strengths and weaknesses, and to prepare players for the upcoming（即将来临的）season through a series of on-court drills and practice of offensive and defensive strategy. After a series of exhibition games, the NBA begins its game regular season in the first week of November.
In the second week of February, the NBA interrupts its season to celebrate the annual NBA All-Star game, featuring the game's best players as selected by the general balloting（投票）of fans throughout the United States and Canada. After the NBA season concludes in the third week in April, a total of 16 teams qualify for the playoffs (8 teams from each conference). In each conference the two division winners are guaranteed a playoff（复赛，季后赛）spot. The remaining playoff spots in each conference are awarded on the basis of win-loss records to the six next- best teams, regardless of division. The playoffs start with the teams with better records playing the teams with worse records in a best-of-five series, in which the winner is the first team to win three games. In subsequent rounds best-of-seven series are played, with the first team to earn four victories winning the round. The playoffs continue in this elimination scheme until a conference champion is crowned. The champions from the Eastern and Western conferences then meet in a best-of-seven series to determine the NBA champion.
Every June the league conducts its amateur draft（业余选秀）, in which each team obtains the rights to the professional services of the best collegiate（学院的，大学的）and international players. Any player who has graduated from high school and is at least 17 years old qualifies for the NBA draft if that player renounces intercollegiate eligibility（合格，适任） . To determine the draft order the NBA uses a draft lottery, introduced in 1985. Those teams that failed to qualify for the playoffs the previous season are eligible for the lottery. The lottery determines the first three teams to select in the draft. The remaining teams draft according to their win-loss record of the previous season, so that teams with poorer records draft higher than those with better records. The NBA draft consists of only two rounds, with a total of 58 players chosen. Those players not selected in the draft can be invited to try out for（竞争，参加选拔） a team and are sometimes signed to playing contracts.
The NBA's official development league is the Continental（大陆的）Basketball Association (CBA). The league was founded in 1946 and now features 12 teams playing in two conferences. Many players, coaches, executives（主管，高管）, and referees（裁判员）have honed（磨光）their skills in the CBA before going on to NBA careers.
Yi begins his quest for NBA career
Apr.12 - China's latest NBA prospect Yi Jianlian left for the US yesterday for a crash course ahead of the league's annual draft in June, and hopes to emerge from the shadows of his Chinese predecessors in the league.
Yi would go through a few specially designed training camps under some of the most recognizable names in the game's history, possibly including the legendary Hakeem Olajuwon.
"We want to do everything we can to better prepare him for an NBA career, which is always hard, especially for an overseas player," said Liu Hongjiang, a member of Yi's management team and an official with Yi's old Guangdong Winnerway club.
"No previous Chinese NBA prospect went through such an orientation before. Hopefully, it would raise Yi's game that meets the NBA standards and eases his route to success in the US."
Both Wang Zhizhi and Menke Bateer were thrown into high-octane NBA games without any counseling when they joined the league (Dallas Mavericks for Wang and Denver Nuggets for Bateer) as free agents.
Yao Ming descended on the Houston Rockets as the top pick of the 2002 draft but he didn't even attend the career-defining draft meeting in person - his commitment to the Chinese national team left him watching the event on television in Beijing.
But Yi has been luckier than the rest as the Chinese basketball authorities allowed the teenager to skip the national team's summer camps and a series of friendly matches in their preparation for next year's Olympic Games.
"Yi getting off to a good start at the NBA is in our best interests ... He will definitely be allowed to attend the draft himself," Chinese Basketball
Association's deputy president Hu Jiashi was quoted as saying on the governing body's official Website.
"He will join the national team in July but in the next two months he can hone his skills at what is supposed to be the best training regimes in the world. We reckon that will help his stint with the national team as well."
Yi will be put through his paces under hall-of-famer Kiki Vandeweghe and former Portland Trailblazer's Chris Dudley, while talks are on to get Olajuwon in the fray as well, Liu said.
At 2.13 meters, it is inevitable that Yi draws comparisons with Yao Ming, a paint-dominating center. But Yi dismisses any such talk.
"I can play from very close and power my way to the basket but I feel more comfortable from the mid range," Yi told the Guangdong Winnerway Website. "Yao dominates as a center but I am more of a power forward."
Basketball 篮球
ABA和NBA的历史
The ABA, a former professional basketball league, lived for nine seasons (1967-1976). At the time of its inception, the NBA only had 10 teams. NBA expansion was needed but, due to enormous financial demands, wasn't happening. So, the ABA was formed.
The ABA had major style. The basketball was wild, with patriotic red white and blue colors, as thought of by George Mikan, the first ABA commissioner. The players were wild as well, showcasing cool moves,
fashionable (oft
en ridiculously so) clothes and a bad attitude (in a good way). Many NBA stars first played in the ABA - Julius Erving, Moses Malone, Connie Hawkins, Artis Gilmore, George Gervin and Dan Issel, to name an impressive handful.
Other ABA stars were: Rick Barry, Spencer Haywood, Bobby Jones, Maurice Lucas, Billy Cunningham and Steve Jones. The ABA coaches list includes such stars as Larry Brown, Hubie Brown, K.C. Jones, Lou Carnesecca, Al Bianchi and Doug Moe.
The ABA brought cool nicknames: Bad News. Slick. Dr. J. The Iceman. Fatty. The American Basketball Association had all the flair everyone wanted the NBA to have. ABA games were more wild. Lots of running. Fast breaks everywhere. The ABA had runners and gunners - guys would fly up and
down the court, attacking the basket one minute and firing 3-pointers the next (yes, the ABA had the
3-point basket while the NBA did not). The 3-point line tended to force defenders to step out and guard respectable outside shooters, opening up the lane for drives.
The NBA only had the two-point shot, so defenses tended to huddle closer to the basket, encouraging outside shots and not allowing as much to develop close to the basket. Also, there was no fouling out in the ABA. So, while NBA stars would sometimes be forced to sit down due to foul trouble, ABA stars were on the court as much as their bodies and coaches would allow.
ABA basketball was fun basketball.
The NBA, however, had all the money. And therefore, it could advertise, bringing fans and media coverage. The ABA lacked funds, and therefore lacked the means to draw fans and receive the attention it deserved.
The ABA was definitely not as good as the NBA when it was first created. Occasional ABA vs. NBA games were played, and NBA teams dominated. Over time, the quality of the ABA talent pool increased dramatically. While it's no longer a big deal for current NBA teams to draft high school players, NBA teams never did that years ago. ABA teams did, and therefore got the jump on a lot of talent that would have gone to the NBA if given the choice. In the later years of the ABA, ABA teams usually beat NBA teams in inter-league competition.
Despite the rise in quality of the American Basketball Association teams as time went on, the NBA still had all the fame and fortune. The ABA was struggling. The league managed to prove itself in many ways - competitive, exciting games, and top notch basketball stars, but it was unable to prove itself as a business. The logical solution - merge with the NBA.
The ABA - NBA merger took place in 1976, with four successful ABA teams - the San Antonio Spurs, New York Nets, Denver Nuggets and Indiana Pacers - joining the NBA. The rest of the ABA shut down for good.
Almost half of the players in the first NBA All-Star game after the merger were former ABA players.
ABA，以前的专业篮球队，有九年的历史。

在创建初期，只有十个队伍。

NBA的扩张虽然是有必要的，但是由于当时的巨大财政短缺，没有成立，所以，只成立了ABA。

NBA是National Basketball Association的缩写（国家篮球协会）。

成立于1946年6月6日。

成立时叫BAA，即全美篮协会（Basketball Association of America），是由十一家冰球馆和体育馆的老板为了让体育馆在冰球比赛以外的时间，不至于闲置而共同发起成立的。

BAA 成立时共11支球队：纽约尼克斯队、波士顿凯尔特人队、华盛顿国会队、芝加哥牡鹿队、克利夫兰叛逆者队、底特律猎鹰队、费城武士队、匹兹保铁人队、普罗维登斯蒸气队、圣路易斯轰炸机队和多伦多爱斯基摩人队。

1949年BAA吞并了当时的另外一个联盟（NBL），并改名为NBA 。

1949-50赛季，NBA共17支球队。

1976年NBA 吞并了美国篮球协会（ABA），球队增加到22支。

1980年达拉斯小牛队加入NBA。

1988年，夏洛特黄蜂队和迈阿密热火队加入NBA。

1990年奥兰多魔术队和明尼苏达森林狼队加入NBA。

1995年两支加拿大球队加入NBA，多伦多猛龙队和温哥华灰熊队，使NBA的球队达到29支。

篮球的历史History of Basketball
Basketball. The world's greatest sport ever. But of course, it hasn't been around since the world began. No, somebody had to have invented it. And that somebody would be James Naismith.
Born in Almonte, Ontario, Canada, this Canadian Gym Teacher and Physician would soon be the founder of basketball. It all started in December of 1891. Naismith was teaching in Springfield, Massachusetts and was asked by Luther H. Gulick, the Headmaster of the school for Christian Works to make a new sport. The main idea of the sport was mainly to be played inside when it was too cold to go outside. The new sport also had to keep athletes in their top conditions between the baseball and football season. Naismith began to work. The first game-ball was a soccer ball.
The first baskets were peach baskets that Naismith cleverly thought of hanging on the wall. From there, the legacy of basketball began. Originally, there was 9 men to each team, but the objective was still the same; to pass the ball to other players on your team and put the ball in the opposing team's net, or basket back then. From there, basketball caught on like a wildfire.
During 1885 highschools and colleges began to adopt the game, and by 1898, the first Pro League was founded. After the first game played, Naismith drafted 13 rules and regulations, but many more were yet to come. The hoops we know today were invented in 1906. They were steel, with a net hanging from it's rim.
篮球作为世界上最伟大的运动之一，并不是凭空而来，它一定有自己的发明者。

这个发明者，就是James Naismith。

James 出生于加拿大的安大略，他曾是一个体育教师。

在1891年他在马塞诸塞教授体育的时候，学校的校长让他为基督教的活动想出一种运动，而这种运动一定要在室内进行，因为室外很冷。

这种运动，按照校长的要求，一定要使运动员保持棒球和足球比赛时的激情。

于是，他就开始思考这项运动。

经过思考，他想出了一种方法：在墙上挂网子，然后把球扔向这个用网子做的篮子里。

从此，篮球得以产生。

本来，每个队伍有9个队员，但是规则是：把球传向自己队伍的队员，然后设法投向对方的筐子里。

从此，篮球就很快传播开来。

1885年，高中和大学都开始采用这种运动方式，到1898年，第一个篮球联盟成立。

第一次比赛后，James设计了13个比赛规则。

篮球筐子的边缘框架是在1906年设计的，材料是钢。

Dr. James Naismith is known world-wide as the inventor of basketball. He was born in 1861 in Ramsay township, near Almonte, Ontario, Canada. The concept of basketball was born from Naismith’s school days in the area where he played a simple child’s game known as duck-on-a-rock outside his one-room schoolhouse. The game involved attempting to knock a "duck" off the top of a large rock by tossing another rock at it. Naismith went on to attend McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
James 作为世界闻名的篮球发明家，出生于1861年的Ramsay小镇，位于加拿大的安大略。

他发明篮球的点子是来自他小时候玩的一种游戏，叫“duck-on-a-rock”。

这种游戏就是用一块石头把另一块石头打掉。

James 后来转去了魁北克的Montreal大学教授课程。

Yao no longer NBA's big man in China as Kobe rules
Houston Rockets center Yao Ming is China's top basketball player, but when it comes to National Basketball Association souvenir jersey sales in his homeland, Kobe Bryant rules.
NBA sales figures in China from the start of the season through last month's NBA All-Star Game were released here Tuesday and showed Los Angeles Lakers playmaker Bryant was the most popular with China's buying public.
Exact numbers on how many jerseys were purchased were not released, although the league said more than 400 million NBA products were sold in 20,000 retail locations in China and were expected to jump by 50 percent.
Allen Iverson of the Denver Nuggets was second with Yao's Houston teammate Tracy McGrady third. McGrady was number one a year ago with Iverson second. Iverson's trade from Philadelphia to Denver might have helped his cause.
Yao, who ranked third last year in NBA jersey sales in China, slumped to sixth this year, passed by Miami's Dwyane Wade and LeBron James and possibly undone by prior years of success among Chinese shirt buyers.
Bryant was fourth in sales a year ago. James remained fifth while Wade leaped six spots after sparking the Heat to last year's NBA crown.
Minnesota's Kevin Garnett, San Antonio's Tim Duncan, Denver's Carmelo Anthony and Washington's Gilbert Arenas rounded out this year's top 10.
Duncan and Arenas replaced Miami's Shaquille O'Neal and two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Steve Nash of Phoenix on this year's list.
Ten NBA Stores are expected to open by year's end in China, which boasts 300 million people playing basketball, one in every five visitors to the NBA's web site and 83 percent of people aged 15 to 24 saying they are NBA supporters.Basket-NBA-CHN
Quake teen in hoop heaven - thanks to Kobe
Li Anqiang is a hero in his school and his community for saving the life of a classmate during the Sichuan earthquake.
He has a hero, too: NBA star Kobe Bryant.
And even though the 17-year-old student of Beichuan High School in Sichuan has lost both legs, he hasn't lost the passion for basketball because he admires the Los Angeles shooting guard's skills.
Now, he has a basketball signed by Bryant - and words of admiration and encouragement from his idol.
On February 27, Li emailed Bryant through the popular portal , expressing his admiration and asking for a signed basketball.
He asked if "Uncle Kobe" had heard about the quake that claimed nearly 80,000 people - and said he still loved basketball because of Bryant.
"I can no longer stand up or run but I can still shoot hoops from my wheelchair…
"I will not give up, but will keep on playing because you are my idol."
Li sent a picture of himself playing basketball from his wheelchair, saying: "I will keep the basketball in my room and look at it everyday. It will give me strength… I want to be a real man, a man useful to society."
In his reply, Bryant said he was moved, hailing Li as a "strong boy whose attitude toward fate was amazing".
He said he was happy that Li still loved basketball and added Li looked cool shooting a hoop from the wheelchair.
Bryant said he knew about the earthquake and hoped that all the people in the quake zone could be as strong as Li.
The teen's resolve is there for all to see.
"I have to study harder to enter a good university to support my family. We are poor. I have a grandmother in her 80s and a younger sister who is in sixth grade," Li told China Daily.
"And I can never do heavy, manual labor," Li said.
He comes from the mountainous ethnic Qiang village in Xiaoba town. He lost his legs in the 8.0-magnitude quake that struck the region on May 12 last year, when he made room for a classmate who was trapped with him under the rubble. She was unscathed as a result of his act but during aftershocks, Li's legs were buried under the rubble and had to be amputated.
Li was good at sports like table tennis and swimming before he lost his legs.
Standing 1.74m tall before the quake, the teen now reaches 87cm without his artificial limbs - but that has also not stopped him.
"He plays basketball and table tennis very well in his wheelchair," said Wang Zhihang, 53, a volunteer from Chengdu, capital of Sichuan, who has helped look after Li since last July.
Li's mother Wang Fengqiong, 36, told China Daily her son has been in high spirits ever since receiving Bryant's letter and autographed basketball.
With his mind on good grades, Li gets up at 5:30 am every day to prepare for school.
School principal Liu Yachun said: "After a hectic schedule in school, Li, who has never met a foreigner, also studies English before going to bed."
That's because Li has heard that Bryant might visit China this year, said Huang Peng, an editor at .
"He is studying English so that he can talk to Kobe," said Li Yong, the student's 38-year-old father. "Kobe told him that like playing basketball, one has to practice to become perfect."
Questions:
1. Li Anqiang sent what with a letter to NBA star Kobe Bryant?
2. How did Li lose his legs?
3. Why is Li eagerly learning English?
Answers:
1. A picture of him in a wheelchair playing basketball.
2. When he saved a student in the quake, aftershocks led to his legs being buried in the rubble and they had to be amputated.
3. So that he can talk to Kobe as he might visit China this year.
CBA chief praises women's coach Maher
Fans should send China's Australian basketball coach Tom Maher thank-you notes after he led the women's team into the semifinals, Chinese hoops boss Li Yuanwei said Tuesday.
"I want to write him a thank-you note. He's done a brilliant job," Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) chief Li said after China outclassed Belarus 77-62 Tuesday. "We have trusted Maher 100 percent no matter how difficult our situation has been. Today he paid back my trust in perfect fashion."
Maher's side has been in sizzling form at the Games, wrapping up the preliminary stage with four wins and one loss. Li admitted Maher is the driving force.
"He showed us his depth in coaching," Li said. "He brings the team a lot of new stuff - new training methods, new tactics and the most important thing is a new attitude.
"The team has caught up to international powerhouses not only on the court but also in training. That's very important for us."
Maher, 55, is entering his fourth season as China's coach.
He was recruited by the CBA after the women's team finished ninth at the Athens Olympics in 2004, following a failure to qualify for the Sydney Games in 2000.
Maher earned his stripes coaching the Australian national women's team - another former underperformer - to a bronze medal in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and a silver medal in Sydney.
Life for Maher in China has not always been so easy. Local media questioned his merits after China finished a humiliating 11th at the 2006 World Championships in Brazil.
He finally started to deflect some of the criticism when he guided China to victory in the "Good Luck Beijing" International Invitational four months ago.
Li acknowledged the hard work Maher has put in over the past four years.
"Some moments were so tough for him," Li said. "It is a lot of pressure to move to a foreign country, listen to a different language and deal with media that has lofty expectations of their athletes.
"I am very happy to see him overcome all these difficulties and honor his commitment to our players."
Maher's down-to-earth personality has also won the respect of his players.
"He changed everything," said Miao Lijie, who had a game-high 28 points against Belarus. "In addition to his great ideas about modern basketball, he makes us mentally stronger. He pushes us to believe in ourselves, I am very appreciative."
But it is not time to celebrate just yet, as China faces Maher's former team Australia tomorrow in the semifinals. The Boomers routed Czech Republic 79-46 in their last game.
"We are not afraid of them," Miao said. "As long as we play tough basketball like this, we can beat any team on the planet."
China was a women's basketball powerhouse in the 1990s, winning silver medals at the Barcelona Olympics and the World Championships in Australia two years later.
你了解NBA吗？
从乔丹到“小巨人”姚明，从芝加哥公牛队到底特律活塞队，这些闪亮的名字都离不开这个组织NBA，而随着篮球运动在世界范围内越来越普及，我们的身边也不乏热爱这项运动，喜欢这些球队和球员的忠实球迷，
可是你知道这个组织的历史吗？今天让我们来了解一下NBA吧。

The National Basketball Association (NBA), with teams from the United States and Canada, is the major professional basketball league in the world. The 29 NBA teams in the US are divided into two conferences, the Eastern and Western, each of which has two divisions. Each NBA team conducts a training camp in October to determine its 12-player roster. Training camp allows each team to evaluate players, especially rookies(first-year players), to assess the team's strengths and weaknesses, and to prepareplayers for the upcoming season through a series of on-court drills and practice of offensive and defensive strategy. After a series of exhibition games, the NBA begins its 82-game regular season in the first week of November.
In February the NBA interrupts its season to celebrate the annual NBA All-Star Game, featuringthe game's best players as selected by the general balloting of fans throughout the United States and Canada. After the NBA season concludes in April, a total of 16 teams qualify for the playoffs (8 teamsfrom each conference). In each conference the two division winners are guaranteed a playoff spot. The remaining playoff spots in each conference are awarded on the basis of win-loss records to the six next-best teams, regardless of division. The playoffs start with the first teams with better records playing the teams with worse records in a best-of-five series, in which the winner is the first team to win three games. In subsequent rounds best-of-seven series are played, with the team to earn four victories winning the round. The pIayoffs continue in this elimination scheme until a conference champion is crowned. The champions from the Eastern and Western conferences then meet in a
best-of-seven series to determine the NBA champion.
Every June the league conducts its amateur draft, in which each team obtains the rights to the professional services of the best collegiate and international players. Any player whose high school class has graduated and who is at least 18 years old qualifies for the NBA draft. Generally, players attend at least one year of college before turning professional. To determine the draft order the NBA uses a draft lottery, introduced in 1985. Those teams that failed to qualify for the playoffs the previous season are eligible for the lottery. The lottery determines the first three teams to select in the draft. The remaining teams, including those that qualified for the playoffs the preceding season, draft accordingto their win-loss record of the previous season, so that teams with poorer records draft earlier than those with better records. The NBA draft consists of only two rounds, with a total of 58 players chosen. Those players not selected in the draft can be invited to play for a team and are sometimes signed to playing contracts as free agents.
奥尼尔：姚明的新娘很漂亮
NBA superstar Shaquille O'Neal will give Yao Ming 24-inch car rims as a wedding gift when China's Houston Rockets star celebrates his third wedding ceremony later this year.
O'Neal, the Miami Heat's All-star center, is currently on a tour of China organized by his sponsor Li-Ning.
"I've heard the news that Yao has married a beautiful basketball player," the famous 34-year-old giant said.
"If you let me choose a wedding gift for him, I would give Yao four 24-inch customized rims at his wedding ceremony."
A number of NBA stars are crazy about custom cars- and big, shiny rims top their wish lists. But Yao is not so enamored of the four-wheeled sport, preferring to drive a BMW 7-series rather than more extravagant rides like Ferrari roadsters or SUVs. In fact, the only customized feature of Yao's car is a "Y&Y" logo - for Yao and his wife Ye Li - on the rear. The 27-year-old Yao, a 2.26-meter center for the Texan NBA franchise, married his girlfriend of eight years last week.
The couple held two ceremonies, one in Yao's hometown of Shanghai and another in Beijing where China's national team is based.
The wedding of Yao and Ye, a former Chinese National Team player and current University of Houston student, attracted huge media attention in China.
Some reports have claimed the center will celebrate another wedding in Houston in autumn, where O'Neal believes he will be among the guests.
"I am sure he has sent the invitation to me," he said.
"I haven't checked my mailbox recently because I travel a lot, but I am sure he did."
Having witnessed Yao's NBA evolution in the past five years, O'Neal has changed his tune on the Chinese player after questioning Yao's ability during his rookie year.
"Obviously Yao has grown into one of the best centers in the league," O'Neal said.
"He is awful (to play against) on both ends. I have to be well prepared before the games against the Rockets.
"The other kid (Yi Jianlian) is also impressive, I know he can shoot, dunk and spin. I am sure he will make his place in the league.
"I am happy to see more and more Chinese players coming up - it is very good for the league as a whole."
O'Neal is widely regarded as the NBA's most dominant centre after winning four NBA championships, three with the Los Angeles Lakers between 2000 and 2002 and one with the Heat last year.
He signed a sponsorship deal with China sportswear manufacturing giant Li-Ning last year and has worn its shoes ever since.
NBA巨星“大鲨鱼”奥尼尔将在姚明今年晚些时候在NBA摆喜酒时送给这位火箭队球星几个24英
寸的汽车轮，作为结婚礼物。

迈阿密热队的全明星中锋奥尼尔目前正在中国参加李宁公司组织的“侠客中国行”活动。

这位34岁的著名球星说：“我听说姚明娶了个漂亮的篮球运动员。

”
“如果让我为姚明挑选一个结婚礼物，我会在他的婚宴上送他四个24英寸的定制车轮。

”
很多NBA球星都喜欢定制车，又大又炫的车轮是他们的最爱。

但姚明对此并不十分感兴趣，他更喜欢开宝马7系列，而不是像法拉利和SUV那些较为奢华的车。

其实，姚明的车唯一“特别定制”的地方就是车后方的“Y&Y”（Yao Ming & Ye Li）标志。

上周，27岁的姚明与相恋八年的女友结婚。

这位身高2米26的球员是NBA得克萨斯火箭队的中锋。

姚明和叶莉在国内办了两场婚宴，其中一场在姚明的家乡上海，另一场在中国国家篮球队的大本营北京。

姚明和叶莉的婚礼引起中国媒体的高度关注。

曾为国家女篮队员的叶莉现在休斯敦大学读书。

一些报道称，姚明将于今年秋天在休斯敦宴请队友，奥尼尔相信姚明一定会邀请他。

他说：“我相信姚明一定给我发了请柬。

”
“因为近来我到处跑，没空查邮箱。

但我相信他一定会邀请我。

”
奥尼尔见证了姚明在NBA五个赛季的成长，他在姚明刚加入NBA时，曾怀疑过他的能力，之后他改变了对姚明的看法。

奥尼尔说：“无疑，姚明已经成长为NBA最好的中锋之一。

”
“他攻防都很厉害。

在和火箭队打比赛之前，我得做好充分的准备。

”
“另一个小将（易建联）也很不错，能投、能扣，转身过人的速度也快。

我相信他能在联盟立足。

”
“我很高兴看到越来越多的中国球员加入联盟，这对于整个联盟来说十分有利。

”
奥尼尔被认为是NBA最具统治力的中锋。

他曾带领球队四次夺得NBA总冠军，其中三次是在洛杉矶湖人队，夺得2000年至2002年赛季的冠军，一次是去年在热队夺冠。

去年，奥尼尔与中国的李宁体育用品公司签署了广告代言协议，自此，他就穿李宁牌的运动鞋了。

姚明高薪续约火箭成NBA顶级巨星
北京时间8月31日，姚明正式与火箭队续约，新合同为一份为期五年的最大工资合同，将从06-07赛季开始，一直到2010-2011赛季。

按照规定，姚明新合同预计总价值将在7600万到8000万美元左右，这也使得姚明N B A顶级巨星行列。

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