CONGRATULATIONS to Yao Ming! The legendary 35-year-old basketball player will become the first Chinese person enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The Naismith center is a US museum that preserves (保存) the history of basketball. It honors not only NBA stars but also players who contributed (贡献) to the basketball industry. Big names like Michael Jordan are included in this museum. Yao’s NBA career was only nine years long, but he did a great job and contributed a lot to the NBA’s popularity in China. Yao scored an average of 19 points and 9.2 rebounds (篮板球) each game. He was also selected for the All-Star team eight times. 21ST