Former Houston Rockets center Yao Ming, a transcendent 7-foot-6 Chinese icon, has been elected for enshrinement into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame’s Class of 2016, league sources told The Vertical.
Yao had been nominated and enters the Hall of Fame under a newly created Direct Elect International Committee. The formal announcement is expected to come at the NCAA Final Four in Houston this weekend.
Yao, 35, is largely responsible for the NBA’s massive reach into China and the Far East. Television ratings and merchandise sales exploded there upon Yao’s rise to stardom in the NBA.
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Included among the traditional North American Committee Finalists for the Class of 2016 are Shaquille O’Neal, Allen Iverson and Michigan State coach Tom Izzo.
