NBA: Asians If You Aren't At Least 7 Feet Tall You Aren't Welcome Here

Ming

Let's face it, if you're Asian and you don't play center and you cannot block shots or you can't at least change shots in the paint, and if you don't have a decent jump shot or you can't shoot free throws, then you aren't going to be welcome in the most prestigious men's basketball professional league in the world -- the NBA.

If you want to be reminded, the only Asians of note who have played in the NBA all stand 6 feet 11 inches and over and they play the center position. Let's see, the Chinese are over a billion people, the Indians are over a billion, and the other Asians also total a billion more, so that's roughly half the population of the entire planet and yet Asians only comprise less than 1% of NBA players.

So let's see who these "special" Asians are:

Mengke Bateer (Chinese/Mongolian) 6 feet 11 inches, played for the Spurs and the Raptors in the early 2000s, winning a ring with the Spurs in 2003.

Wang Zhizhi (Chinese) 7 feet, drafted by the  Mavericks in 1999 and also played for the Clippers and the Heat. He was the first Chinese to play in the NBA.

Yao Ming (Chinese) at 7 feet 6 inches is definitely the most successful Asian to have played in the NBA (so far). During his playing career in the league which spanned from 2002 to 2011, he was the tallest player in the NBA. He played for the Rockets for nine years. He was the number one pick of the draft. He was an eight time NBA All Star, He is second in the Rockets’ all-time blocks list and sixth for total points and total rebounds. And did I forget, he was in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2016.

Ha Seung-Jin (Korean) 7 feet 3 inches, Ha is probably one of the lesser known Asian centers to have played in the NBA. He is the first Korean to play in the league and he played for the Trail Blazers from 2004 to 2006.

Yi Jianlian  (Chinese) listed at 7 feet tall. Yi played for the Bucks, Nets, Wizards and finally for the Mavericks from 2007 to 2012. Yi is probably the second most important Chinese player to have played in the league, second to Yao.

Hamed Haddadi  (Iranian) 7 feet 2 inches, Hamed played for the Grizzlies from 2008 to 2013 and then for a short time with the Suns.

Sim Bhullar (Asian Indian) 7 feet 5 inches, Sim is among the tallest players ever to play in the NBA. In 2014 Sim joined the Kings by signing a 10 day contract, thus becoming the first Indian to play in the league, He played a total of three games.

Satnam Singh (Asian Indian) 7 feet 2 inches, was drafted by the Mavericks in 2015, thus becoming the first Indian to be drafted in the NBA although he is yet to play a single game in the league.

Zhou Qi (Chinese) 7 feet 2 inches, was drafted by the Rockets in 2016.

Linsanity

Now if you are Asian and you are no where near 7 feet and say you play the guard position, and by some freak of nature you manage to get into the NBA and stay there, here is what you should expect.

A bloody nose

Bloody lip

Bloody head

And a welt the size of a ping pong ball

And no calls will go your way. Now if you are to sneeze on a player on the opposing team, then you will be whistled for a foul. Don't believe me, watch this video:

Yes seriously and totally no respect. (Yes, you can shake your head).

But luckily, Jeremy Lin can fall back on his other talent (being Asian).

And yes, but still lose out in the end. No respect, I tell you.