The Towering Twosome: Yao and Yi's Road to Success

No place is the old adage of two better than one more justified than in professional sports.

In the NHL, there are the Niedermeyer brothers.

In professional tennis, the Williams’ sisters.

And for years, boxing’s had the behemoth Russian imports, Vladimir and Vitali Klitschko.

Now, the NBA has their foreiegn relations coup and titanic tandem in 7’6” Yao Ming and 7’0” Yi Jianlan, who, although they are not biological brothers, share that irrepressible familial bond that grows from being in a select few whose NBA dreams became more than just.

 Add to the mix  the collective hopes and fears of a nation whose population will soon be in the multi-billions, and you see how the two must stay very much aware of each other’s rarified and highly publicized  air.

Yao and Yi both grew out of a world starved of human ambition and spirit in the aftermath of the ugly regime of Mao Zedong that  left millions out of work and starving. 

But, if  the legacy of Communism has one beacon of light it may be in athletics, where the already intense nationalistic pride of the Chinese couples well with the inclusive, super-focused core of Marxism to produce other-worldly athletes, just think Russian ice hockey or Cuban weightlifers.

This brutally nuturing atmosphere made Yao and Yi soldiers of the game, absorbing hours and hours of game tape from mid-80s Finals followed mind-numbing workout routines

Making the ultimate sacrifice, Yao and Yi blazed a  trail for international Asian players, especially those from the oft-underappreciated Chinese Basketball Association, to follow, and although they weren't nos. 1 & 2 coming out of Chinese, that distinction goes to Wang Zhizhi and Yao respectively, they represent the standard of fortitude that all others must follow.

Yes, it’s true that Yao is several year's prior the forerunner to Yi’s blossoming. But he is in many ways another "chosen one," whose potential is as vast as Yao's arm length.

The intangibles are born in both men, who possess shooting touches unnatural-for-a-big-man (unless your name is Olajuwon, Ewing or Smits), and both bring a level of grace to their respective positions that belies the combined expanse of their frames.

Their fiery competitive drives have placed them at the highest level of the fastest growing sport in China, and have made them legends in their own country for leading their teams in the Chinese Pro

It is known that Yao helped Yi in his transition to a game schedule much longer and grueling than 30+ games in the Chinese professional leagues.

As the predominant Asian ballers in the NBA, Yao and Yi will stand as revolutionary bridge-builders, with the stature of the Nixon trip or ping pong.

Just look at the All-Star ballot.  The billion Chinese fans may push the vote in his Yao’s, and soon Yi’s, favor, but ask any fan around the NBA and player in the league and they’ll tell you, “The man deserves it.”

Yao is like a mixture of Nowitski and Smits, without all the herky-jerkiness of Gheorge Muresan or Manute Bol, and Yi, a full 6” shorter, provides even more dynamic – a pure shooter who has the scoring potential of a Nowitski and is better than Bargnani.

Yao puts up 22 and 10, Yi, 10 and 6, and the numbers would probably be higher if there teams needed it, but like their own inextricable bond, the mystic duo are selfless teammates and role models of no equal.

Given all this, is it too much to ask for the other, “Other Yao Ming?”