在第3個賽季，人們對姚明的批評不絕於耳，但這位謙謙君子寧肯用自己的努力和賽場上的表現來回答，而不是其他的什麼。
Yao Ming might be a gentle giant, but he is slowly learning the rough-and-tumble ways of the NBA.
國際在線報道：美國《體育畫報》3月2日發表文章說，在第3個賽季，人們對姚明的批評不絕於耳，但這位謙謙君子寧肯用自己的努力和賽場上的表現來回答，而不是其他的什麼。
文章說，進入第3個賽季，人們對於姚明能否在如此受關注的情況下達到人們的期望仍持懷疑態度。儘管他在許多方面有了進步，也參加了3次全明星賽，但人們對他的嘲諷卻要多於裏克·史密斯、奧尼爾和哈基姆·奧拉朱旺。姚明也許是一位文雅的天才，對NBA司空見慣的口水戰領會“遲鈍”。在面對這些批評時，姚明還是那麼地友善，他只會說類似於這樣的話——“不要在背後滴嘀咕咕，你們美國人不能關注點別的嗎?”然後他會說：“我所能做的`就是改進，我以前學習到的籃球理論和這裏不太一樣。”
如果姚明是一名普通的球員的話，那他的表現已無可挑剔，職業生涯平均得分18.6分，籃板8.3個，蓋帽1.89個，排名聯盟第11位。但現實是，這位中國的天才被認爲是聯盟的四大中鋒之一。火箭隊主教練范甘迪對媒體抱怨，說那些批評姚明的人根本就不瞭解他。他說：“姚明目前正處於一個很自然的階段，那就是人們更多地談論他的不足，而不是他的優點。他平均上場時間爲31分，有18分和8個籃板的表現，更重要的是，他是一個打球無私的隊員。”
也許姚明的一部分問題在於聯盟中的其他年輕球星，如詹姆斯、韋德和斯塔德邁爾等都很快融入了聯盟，進步也非常神速，而姚明的進步卻顯出不足。最近，姚明自己也表示對自己的進步感到不滿意，在到了芝加哥後他對記者說：“斯塔德邁爾的進步太讓人驚訝了，他投籃是那麼地輕鬆，我不知道他是怎麼做到的。上一賽季，我只要貼身防守就行了，可現在他能夠跳投或突破上籃，要防守他就很困難了。”
雖然姚明的侷限性是真實存在的：功守轉換慢，傳接球容易受到壓制，犯規次數過多過早，缺乏控制籃板的意識等等，雖然范甘迪也知道其中的一些指責並非空穴來風，但他始終認爲這就是一個隊員的兩面性，也是一個隊員能力平衡所在。他說：“他(姚明)最大的優點就在於他有能力將球放進籃框內。他並不是一個天生的籃板王，那不是他的特長。他是在進步，但對於他來說，要轉變一些東西確實不容易。再說，一些其他人的進步並不能說明他不能達到人們預先的期望。他在進步，在爲球隊而進步，爲自己進步。”
姚明意識到了自己的不足，對於他來說，要在NBA佔有統治地位也許比較困難，作爲一位22歲的年輕人來到一個完全陌生的國家打球，他甚至還不能講當地的語言，他需要更多適應的時間。姚明仍然很年輕，火箭隊也度過了賽季開始的困難時期，隊中的多名隊員的合同也將持續到下一賽季，火箭隊仍然有機會發生完全的化學反應，取得更好的成績。
Yao Ming might be a gentle giant, but he is slowly learning the rough-and-tumble ways of the NBA. Earlier this season, the 7-foot-6 Rockets center even engaged in a little friendly trash-talking with Bulls forward Tyson Chandler. "He told me he was going to make me swallow my mouthpiece," Chandler said.
If only Yao could do the same to his critics. Now in his third season, the former No. 1 overall pick still hears whispers that he hasn"t lived up to the hype. Despite solid progress in many areas of the game and three All-Star trips, Yao still is scoffed at by many for being more Rik Smits than Shaquille O"Neal or Hakeem Olajuwon.
"All I can do is try to prove myself," he says. "I"ve learned that my method of playing basketball is a little different from how it"s done over here."
As usual, Yao is being too nice. What he should say is something like: Get off my back! I"m only 24 years old! Can"t you Americans ever wait for anything?!
The reality is that while Yao might not be dominating the NBA, he is doing just fine by most reasonable standards. As of Wednesday he was averaging a career-best 18.6 points to go with 8.3 rebounds while ranking third in the NBA in field goal percentage (55.0) and 11th in blocks (1.89). While he still has many areas to improve upon, including on the backboards and in his overall aggressiveness, the Chinese phenom is generally regarded as one of the top four true centers (along with Shaq, Ben Wallace and Zydrunas Ilgauskas) in the league.
"He"s going through that natural period where people want to nitpick the very few negatives he may have instead of extolling all his positives," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy says. "And in a little over 31 minutes a game he averages 18 and 8. He comes to work every day. He"s totally selfless. Yet some want to badger the guy about whatever perceived shortcomings he has. I find that unfortunate because if they spent half the time looking at all his positives it would be a much better story."
Part of the problem for Yao is that other young NBA stars such as LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Amare Stoudemire have been able to come into the league and show more dramatic progress right away. It has made Yao"s development seem almost snail-like in comparison, especially as those players fill the SportsCenter highlights on a nightly basis while Yao plods along in more of a supporting role to Tracy McGrady.
Even Yao recently came out and said he wasn"t satisfied with his development. After his team"s shootaround Tuesday in Chicago he marveled at the improvement shown by Stoudemire, who edged him for Rookie of the Year honors in "03. "He can really shoot easier now," Yao says. "He can shoot it from 17-18 feet. I don"t know how he did it. ... When I played against him last year, on defense I just sagged back all the way to paint. This year you have to come out to contest his long-range jump shot and defend his penetration. It"s much harder."(：夏根建)
