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Basketball great Yao Ming slams China 'slackers' after Asian Games flop

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Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Former NBA player Yao Ming of China watches from the crowd during the 2022 FIBA Women" s="" Basketball="" World="" Cup="" Quarter="" Final="" match="" between="" China="" and="" France="" at="" Qudos="" Bank="" Arena="" in="" New="" South="" September="" James="" EPA-EFE="" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/sports/10/07/20231007-yao-ming_epa.jpg"/><figcaption>Former NBA player Yao Ming of China watches from the crowd during the 2022 FIBA Women&#x27;s Basketball World Cup Quarter Final match between China and France at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, September 29, 2022. <em>James Gourley, EPA-EFE/File.</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>HANGZHOU, China -- Basketball great Yao Ming branded China&#x27;s team &quot;slackers&quot; and warned they will struggle to qualify for future Olympics because of the &quot;huge gap&quot; with the world&#x27;s best.</p><p>The eight-time NBA All-Star, now president of the Chinese Basketball Association, slammed China&#x27;s performance after they lost to the Philippines in the semi-finals of their home Asian Games in Hangzhou.</p><p>They settled for bronze after defeating Taiwan on Friday, but it was far less than fans and Yao wanted.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/10/05/23/china-basketball-fans-pile-in-after-latest-loss">&#x27;A form of pain&#x27;: China basketball fans pile in after latest loss</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/10/04/23/gilas-rallies-past-china-progresses-to-gold-medal-game">Brownlee plays hero anew as Gilas stuns China, progresses to gold medal game</a></li></ul><p>China also flopped at last month&#x27;s World Cup, missing out on a qualifying spot at next year&#x27;s Paris Olympics after losing four of their five games.</p><p>Yao said China found it &quot;hard to adjust quickly&quot; after their World Cup disappointment but warned they would have to face reality.</p><p>&quot;There are two types of slacking -- one is the indisciplined kind and the other is wanting to eat your opponent in just one bite,&quot; he told Xinhua news agency.</p><p>&quot;This is also a type of slacking.&quot;</p><p>China lost to Serbia, South Sudan, Puerto Rico and hosts Philippines at the World Cup and missed out on a place in the final qualifying tournament for Paris.</p><p>Yao said wholesale reform would be needed for China to qualify for the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.</p><p>&quot;We have to conduct a major operation -- this is not something that small tweaks will achieve,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;From the make-up of the national team to league reform, this is a major operation covering the entire basketball community.&quot;</p><p>Yao, who starred for the Houston Rockets from 2002 to 2011, said other countries were &quot;progressing very fast&quot;, noting that regional rivals Japan had qualified for Paris.</p><p>He said China needed &quot;an open platform&quot; to discuss their shortcomings but warned that the road ahead will not be easy.</p><p>&quot;The pain comes from the huge gap between China&#x27;s basketball and world basketball,&quot; he said.</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2830908" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

Yao Ming branded China's team 'slackers' and warned they will struggle to qualify for future Olympics because of the 'huge gap' with the world's best.