China's star basketballer, Yao Ming, who plays for the Houston
Rockets, was named one of six candidates for the National
Basketball Association (NBA)'s Sportsmanship Award on Tuesday.
Other nominees include Shaquille O'Neal who plays with Miami
Heat, Elton Brand of the Los Angeles Clippers, Luol Deng of the
Chicago Bulls, Jacque Vaughn of the New Jersey Nets, and Russian
Andrei Kirilenko of the Utah Jazz.
The annual award is given to NBA players who best exemplify
sportsmanship on the court. The eventual winner will be selected by
five retired NBA legends, and the result announced after the
regular season, which ends on April 20.
Standing at 7'6", Yao, currently in his best NBA campaign,
averaged 22.7 points and 10.3 rebounds in his first 52 games this
season.
Incidentally, he also earned the Player of the Week honor in the
NBA Western Conference on Monday. In his three games last week,
Yao?made 62.5 percent of his shots,?averaging 33.3 points
and 12.3 rebounds to give the Rockets a 2-1 aggregate.?
LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers continued his hold on
the Eastern Conference award.
(Xinhua News Agency April 5, 2006)
