At just 24 years old, Yao Ming is already one of the most popular and respected players in the NBA. But Yao's road to professional basketball wasn't clear-cut until just a few years before he joined the league. In this excerpt from his new book, "Yao: A Life in Two Worlds" (written by Yao Ming with Ric Bucher), Yao recounts the winding and often humorous road he took from China to the NBA. Here's how Yao and others remember his journey to sports stardom.
<<我的世界我的梦>> 'A Life in Two Worlds' 作者： 姚明
I left China for the first time in 1997 to go to the Nike camp in Paris. That’s where I met my first NBA star, Tim Hardaway, who was one of the camp counselors. He looked like the rest of us—two hands, two legs, one head—but he was quicker than anybody I’d ever seen, especially the way he dribbled the ball. His footwork, his hands—all quick. He would challenge everyone to play one-on-one until he was too tired to move. I don’t remember who the best player in camp was because I didn’t know what good basketball was then. There were eighty-five players at the camp, and I wore number 85. I wasn’t worried about how good Hardaway was because at that time I was just thinking I’d play in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). I didn’t think I’d see anyone like Hardaway again.
1997年我第一次出国，去耐克的巴黎训练营。蒂姆·哈达威是我见到的第一个美国球员，他后来成为NBA的明星。他看上去和我们其他人都一样———两只手、两条腿，一个脑袋，只是，他好快，尤其是运球的时候，他的步伐和手都很快。他会挑战每个人和他一对一，直到他累得打不动为止。我不记得他是不是营地最好的球员了，因为那时我不知道篮球打成什么样才算好。营地有85个球员，我的编号是第85，你自己想那意味着什么吧。那时候我不担心蒂姆·哈达威有多好，因为我想的是在CBA打球，反正以后不会再碰到蒂姆·哈达威那样的人。
Yao at a recent book signing at the NBA Store in New York.(Jennifer Pottheiser
NBAE/Getty Images)
Buy a copy of the bookYAO ZHI YUAN (Yao Ming's father): The trip to Paris made a big impression on Yao Ming. He was there for only six days, but he learned a lot—not just about basketball, but maybe about himself and his place in the world of basketball. He found out there are a lot of great players outside of China and how good a player could be. He knew for the first time where he stood among the best young players in the world. He thought, “I’m not that good, but I’m not that bad.” When he went to Paris, he learned what was possible. There was no way to really know that until he left China. Then when he went to the U.S., it was more about learning how to improve his game and reach the level he’d seen in Paris.
姚志源（姚明父亲）:巴黎之行给他留下了最深刻的印象。他只去了6天，但学了很多。
不是关于篮球的，而是关于自己，以及自己在篮球世界的位置。他发现，中国之外还有许多优秀球员，而且他们打到了那样高的水平。他第一次知道自己和世界上最好的年轻球员相比位置怎样。他想，“我是比上不足，比下有余。”去了巴黎，他知道了什么是可能的，踏出国门前是不可能知道的。他在巴黎发现了篮球的境界，去美国的时候，他做得更多的就是改进自己以达到在巴黎看到的水准。joozone.com