I once said I just wanted to be a basketball player, I didn’t want to be the face of a whole nation. But remember the movie Spiderman? Before the uncle dies, he says, “With great power comes great responsibility(责任).” I believe that. If I’m making a lot of money, I have a responsibility to play well and improve myself. I have learned that I can’t make everybody happy. My problem is that I want to try. I know the history of China and what it means to people there for me to be successful.
Stolen Uniform
The first thing to go wrong in the U.S. happened when I came over with the Chinese national team for the 2002 World Championships. Sports Illustrated(《体育画报》) wanted to take my photo in a Rockets uniform to put on the cover(封面) before the season started. The Rockets sent me my uniform.
That’s when things started to go wrong. On the second day of the tournament(锦标赛), after our morning practice, I came back to find my room cleaned and the uniform gone. I remember leaving it out on a table in my room. I didn’t think that much about it, because in China you would just make a call and whoever made the uniform would give you another one. I’ve learned it’s not like that in the U.S. The Rockets wanted me to pay for the uniform, and it was expensive.
Sports Illustrated still put me on their cover. I snuck(sneak的过去式，悄悄走) out my room and had my picture taken in my China national team uniform. Then SI used their computer to turn it into the Houston Rockets uniform. Technology is a great thing.