Yao Ming made his 7th NBA All-Star appearance. He received 2,532,958 votes to be the Western Conference starting center for the 2009 All-Star game. Yao Ming played about 12 and a half minutes of basketball, scoring 2 points and 3 rebounds. Most of the attention for the Western conference team centered around the reteaming of Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant, who both won the MVP award for the All-Star game.

2009 All-Stars: Yao Ming

Starting at center for the Western Conference: the Houston Rockets’ Yao Ming.

Pregame: Yao Ming and Tim Duncan

Craig Sager talks to two of the Western Conference starters.

Yao Ming talks with Craig Sage and Gary Payton about what an honor it is to be an All-Star.