NBA star carries China's hope for an Olympics win

TALL ORDER: At 7 feet 6 inches, NBA all-star Yao Ming is most likely one of the tallest athletes at the Beijing Olympics.

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Keywords: China, Yao Ming

Hangzhou (China): At 7 feet 6 inches, NBA all-star Yao Ming is most likely one of the tallest athletes at the Beijing Olympics.

But these days millions of Chinese fans are relying on the Houston Rockets star centre to inspire their currently out-of-form basketball team to glory. He even carried the Chinese flag at the opening ceremony of the Athens Olympics.

Ming, who is recovering from a stress fracture, recently made his return to the court in a friendly match against Serbia.

Ming played just 12 minutes against Serbia but made up for it by scoring 11 points. But he'll have to do much more than that if his team is to give a good account of themselves in their own backyard.

“The match was really not that intense. The Serbian and the Russian teams are both young teams. Only the Angola team will be playing in the Olympics. The next match against Angola will be more of a real test. As far as how my body feels, there's no way to tell if the challenge isn't that great," Ming says.

"It all depends on what kind of opponent you're up against, and what kind you will be against in the Olympics," Ming adds.