Written by David Barron at the Houston Chronicle.com
Rockets center Yao Ming and Comets forward Sheryl Swoopes, who were among the towering figures of a memorable decade for Houston basketball, will stand side by side among the newest inductees into the Naismith National Basketball Hall of Fame.
Yao and Swoopes were among the headliners of the 10-member group introduced at the downtown Hyatt Regency, joining two others with Texas connections: Shaquille O’Neal, who began his career as a high school standout at San Antonio Cole, and the late Zelmo Beaty, who led Prairie View A&M to the 1962 NAIA title before a career in the ABA and NBA.
Other recipients to be honored Sept. 8-10 at the Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., include the late NBA referee Darell Garretson, 11-time NBA All-Star Allen Iverson, Michigan State coach Tom Izzo and the late Tennessee State coach John McLendon.
Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf was selected as a contributor, and Cumberland Posey, who played in the early 1900s through the mid-1920s for Duquesne University and the professional Loendi Big Five, was selected by the early African-American pioneers committee.
Yao was not present for the announcement but said from his hometown of Shanghai in an interview with ESPN, which announced the class members, that he was surprised and honored to be selected by the hall’s international selection panel for induction.
“I know who is on this list as far as Shaquille O’Neal and (Iverson) and other great guys from basketball history,” he said. “That is why I feel really honored”
‘A big moment’
Although he frequently was limited by injuries during his eight seasons with the Rockets between 2002 and 2011, Yao was accepted as a worthy Hall of Fame peer by O’Neal, who said Yao was one of the few players whose talents forced him to study film.
“The first time he played me he blocked my shot four times, so the next time I had to check out his tendencies. I hadn’t done that with anybody in a while,” O’Neal said. “I went into the locker room and said, ‘Let me see a tape,’ and they said, ‘You want to see a tape?’
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