How good could Yao have been?

[SteelersFreak]

I was watching some old clips of Yao from a few years ago and its easy to forget just how dominant he was when he was healthy. Unfortunately he wasn't healthy particularly often and with his height it would be difficult to play through a career without significant injuries, but hypothetically, I think he could've been the greatest center to ever play the game. He played defense, he had a low post and high post offensive game, he had a sweet stroke for a 7'6" center and he could shoot free throws. He was the consummate professional and seemed to be a team-first guy. Really is a shame how his career ended up.

[VDusen04]

I strongly disagree with the notion that he could have been the best center of all-time. I find such hypothetical speak to be a fun thing to toy around with when a player never received an opportunity to participate on the highest level (Len Bias, Arvydas Sabonis) but in Yao's case, it's not as if he never had that opportunity.

Yao was a great center. It didn't seem he was built to play heavy minutes. However, even when he did, he wasn't consistently dominating games like many of the greatest centers did throughout history. Yao only missed 2 games in his first three seasons (where he continued to acclimate himself to the NBA). I think his lack of mobility was his biggest deficiency (aside from his health). To be 7'6'' and only average more than 10 rebounds per game twice and never average over 2 blocks per game. . .the greatest center of all-time that does not make.

And again, just to make sure this is understood, I thought Yao was great. He definitely wasn't perfect but yeah, he was quite good indeed. However, I just don't think he'd be anywhere near "All-Time Greatest Center" talk, even if he were healthy his whole career and still playing today. Statistics surely aren't everything, but they're usually pretty good indicators. Would I start a team with 19, 9 and 2 immobile Yao Ming or would I go with a 26, 13, and 4 athletic freak David Robinson? I'd go with David every day, and he's not even in the discussion for best center of all-time.

To get away from the greatest talk, I think we got a pretty solid feel for how good Yao would have been. Again, we saw a lot of healthy Yao. It was impressive. It's unfortunate we won't get to see more, but it's not as if we saw nothing at all.

[Drewski]

Too many amazing talents through the years at that position.

Wilt, Kareem, Hakeem, the Admiral, just to name a few.

Amazing player though, without question. As it happens with bigs, the injuries are sometimes too much to overcome. Very professional, great ambassador for the sport, but I don't think he could rank above any of those guys above.

[SteelersFreak]

Good points, it just seemed like every time Yao would build up a lot of momentum and have a great run of just playing great ball and, at times, dominating, he would go down, especially later on.

[SuperChargers]

Thought this was funny and somewhat relevant

[st0rmb11]

Quote: Originally Posted by SteelersFreak

I was watching some old clips of Yao from a few years ago and its easy to forget just how dominant he was when he was healthy.

I would never use the word dominant to describe what I saw when I would watch Yao. Only a few centers come to mind when I think "dominant" - Chamberlain, Jabbar, young Walton, Olajuwon, Shaq. That's it. I wouldn't throw Yao anywhere near that list. I'd put him a step below Ewing, Robinson, & Parish. He was a very solid big man in an otherwise very weak big man era.

Yao could have been a very good center on a great team had he ever been in the right situation. I never watched him and said, "wow, this guy is great!" It was always more along the lines of, "wow, this guy is tall as ****, but why doesn't he do more defensively or on the boards?" He was one of the 5 best centers of the past decade (as if that says anything...). I just can't help but look past the fact that a 7'6" guy averaged under 10 rebounds for his career, under 2 blocks per game (I mean hell, even Shawn Bradley averaged 2.5 for his career), & somehow only shot 52% from the field. I am, however, very impressed that he shot 83% from the foul line, going to show that centers have no excuse for not being able to shoot free throws.

Still, I do think that somewhere down the line, he would have found his place as a solid starting center on a championship team. (likely a 3rd or 4th option on offense). I don't think he was ever going to be a franchise center, and that he would need great talent around him to win.

I will say that I am shocked to see that he averaged over 23 points and 10 rebounds per game from 2006-2008, including averaging 25 points per game in 2007.