2002 NBA draft
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The 2002 NBA draft was held on June 17 2002, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden. In this draft, National Basketball Association teams took turns selecting 57 amateur college basketball players an
Yao Ming was selected 1st overall by the Houston Rockets.
Nenê was selected 7th overall by the New York Knicks (traded to the Denver Nuggets.)
Amar'e Stoudemire was selected 9th overall by the Phoenix Suns.
Caron Butler was selected 10th overall by the Miami Heat.
Yao Ming
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Yao Ming is a Chinese basketball executive and former professional player. He played for the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association, and then spent his entire nine-year National Basketb
2002 NBA draft
…was relatively weak outside of the top prospects. Several players selected early had promising careers that ended prematurely due to injury, including Yao Ming, Williams and Dajuan Wagner. Nevertheless, Yao was named a Hall of Famer—a selection predicated as much on his role in popularizing basketball in China…
Yao in 2014
Yao prepares to shoot a free throw with John Stockton in the background
Yao (fourth from left) standing with the Sophomores team during the 2004 Rookie Challenge game.
In his fifth season, Yao averaged a career-high 25 points per game.