Yao Ming is getting married.
According to AFP (Agence France-Presse), the Houston Rockets’ all-star center from China will wed his teenage sweetheart from Shanghai in August, after an eight-year courtship, state press reported Monday.
Yao will marry Ye Li in a private family ceremony possibly in Shanghai, the Titan Sports Weekly said.
According to the story, the 2.29-meter (7-foot-6) post player met Ye in 1999 when he was playing for the Shanghai Sharks men’s team and the 1.9-meter Ye was with the club’s women’s team.
The newspaper played down widespread rumors on the Internet and in the Chinese media that Yao’s wedding would be broadcast live on TV, with China’s Olympic gold medal-winning hurdler Liu Xiang acting as the master of ceremonies.
Oh, by the way, 1.9 meters is 6-feet-3.
