Knicks GM Scott Layden, in leaping to a conclusion, thereby stumbled into the cultural divide that stands between 7'5" Yao Ming and an NBA career. Layden was told by officials from Yao's team, the Shanghai Sharks, that Yao would be free to participate in this summer's draft. Layden took this to mean Yao was free to play in the NBA next season.

Not exactly.

While the Sharks are not opposed to Yao leaving them and the Chinese Basketball Association, they don't consider sending him to the NBA as the no-brainer the average American hoops fan might. It could be a long time before the country produces another player of Yao's potential and they want several assurances before letting go of their Michael Jordan.

One is that he will go to a team that is committed to developing him. Another is that the team drafting him will assuage the Sharks' loss by playing an exhibition in Shanghai, develop a sister city program and provide coaching clinics. Bei Gengyuan, the head of Oriental Television, which owns the Sharks, has said Yao will be released to begin his NBA career "under the right conditions, with the right club, at the right time."

  The time, at least, won't ever be more right. Having seen Yao play earlier this month -- along with Layden, Bulls GM Jerry Krause and Sonics assistant GM Rich Cho -- I can assure the Sharks or the CBA or anyone else that if they want him to be successful in the NBA, he can't afford to wait. A silky turnaround J from both baselines, his blind over-the-shoulder pass after diving for a loose ball and his outlet passes are proof that he has the requisite skills. He's not a leaper but he runs the floor and is agile enough to compete under the new league rules that make size meaningless without mobility. For comparison's sake, think of a young Rik Smits.

  But he's clearly not challenged by the CBA talent level. There were times he didn't cross half-court after making an outlet pass or dunk when he had the chance and any contact around the basket draws a whistle. Considering that it will take him at least a year or two to adjust, and that by today's standards any player out of his teens is old, the clock is ticking on the 22-year-old Yao.

 

Chinese basketball officials seem to understand the gap between the CBA, which plays a 30-game schedule in unheated gymnasiums where foreign players are limited to two quarters, and the NBA. That's why they want "the right club," i.e., a team committed to developing him, fearful that if Yao is not a success it will be an embarrassment to Chinese basketball and a setback to its emergence as an international power.

What they may not understand is that making sure he's a top pick will go a long way toward assuring a team's commitment to developing him. And for that to happen, NBA teams need to be confident he'll be available to play next season. Competing against the Shaqs and Zos in the NBA is also sure to make Yao far more of a force in international competition than if he continues beating up on CBA opponents.

  Li Yao-Ming, the Sharks executive vice president, was unhappy to hear Layden's comments. It's understandable why Layden made his assumption, but something clearly was lost in the translation.

For everyone's sake, let's hope it wasn't Yao.

Ric Bucher covers the NBA for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at ric.bucher@espnmag.com.