Yao Ming supports China’s basket after “abuse attacks” – Al-Ittihad

Beijing (AFP)

Yao Ming, Chinese basketball legend and president of the local federation, considered that the criticism directed at the men’s national team had exceeded the limit, after some players were subjected to abuse on social media sites, due to a series of disappointing results.
Basketball is very popular in China, but the national team has failed to live up to expectations, and the latest disappointment was the loss to the Philippines in the semi-finals of the Asian Games on home soil last month.
China won over Taiwan to win the bronze medal, but the campaign was considered a failure, and it came weeks after it ranked 29th out of 32 teams in the Basketball World Cup and was absent from the Paris Olympics next year.
The anger of fans who have attacked national team players on social media has not dissipated in recent weeks, including Zhang Shenlin, who defends the colors of the Liaoning Flying Leopards team.
“Here I am representing the federation to make a statement,” said Yao Ming, 43, the former Houston Rockets star in the NBA, who participated in the All-Star Game eight times, during a ceremony organized by the Basketball Hall of Fame in Beijing.
“Regardless of whether we play well or poorly on the basketball court, we will face the result,” state media quoted him as saying.
He added, “Some criticism regarding technique and tactics is welcome, but some things have gone beyond basketball, and we do not agree with that,” stressing, “We always support our players to defend their rights and interests, and in this regard (abuse via social media), we will provide all necessary support.”
After the defeat by the Philippines team 76-77 on the latter’s way to win the gold medal in the last edition of the “Masters”, Chinese fans reprimanded the players and mocked them on social media.
“Watching you play basketball is a form of pain, isn’t it?” asked one of the most prominent tweeters, while the national team was not spared criticism from Yao Ming himself, who described the players as “lazy” and warned of the existence of a “big gap” between them and the best teams in the world.