It will be Yao Ming's first appearance and probably Michael Jordan's last as basketball's rising star and its fading genius take center stage at the NBA All-Star game today.
While Yao and Jordan will grip the spotlight in a weekend of slam dunks and hype, the NBA's All-Star extravaganza will offer up a little something for everybody around the world.
The mid-winter showcase will be televised live to 212 countries in 41 languages and reach a global audience of 3.1 billion people.
PHOTO: AP
For the second consecutive year, five international players will take part in the All-Star classic, underlining the globalization of the sport and the NBA's ever-increasing worldwide penetration.
Dallas Mavericks' Dirk Nowitzki provides German fans with a reason to tune in and Cleveland Cavaliers center Zydrunas Ilgauskas becomes the first Lithuanian to play in the NBA showcase.
Maverick's guard Steve Nash will hold Canadian interest while San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan of the US Virgin Islands along with Yao complete the foreign contingent.
Saturday's Rookie Challenge will add to the international flavor with Memphis Grizzlies forward Pau Gasol of Spain, Spurs Tony Parker of France, Utah's Andrei Kirilenko and Denver Nuggets Brazilian Nene Hilario, all in the lineup.
The presence of Los Angeles Lakers dynamic duo of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal has also helped ensure Philips Arena, home of the hapless Atlanta Hawks, will enjoy its first sellout for a basketball game this season.
Yao is the first rookie selected to start an NBA All-Star Game since Grant Hill in 1995.
The Houston Rockets' towering center received the fourth highest number of votes in the All-Star balloting (1,286,324) behind only Bryant (1,474,386), Orlando Magic's Tracy McGrady (1,316,297) and Toronto Raptors' Vince Carter (1,300,895), out polling O'Neal by over 200,000 votes.
A record four Chinese broadcasters (CCTV, Beijing TV, Guangdong TV and Shanghai TV) will be on-site to chronicle Yao's All-Star debut, allowing the NBA's advertisers and sponsors to tap into the world's most populous country and emerging market place.
Yao Ming's commercials are popular, his story is well-chronicled in national magazines and on Friday the NBA's most popular rookie got his first taste of All-Star attention.
Cameras lined up two deep in a ballroom to await his arrival at an interview session, creating such a logjam as flashbulbs popped that a path had to be cleared just to get him to a table where he could begin answering questions.
"This is just one element of the pressure I'm in. This is really special," Yao said, sporting a dark basketball shirt with Chinese lettering on the front.
"Everything is happening too rapidly, too fast."
That's the understatement of the first half of the NBA season for the 2.26m Houston Rockets center, who beat our Shaquille O'Neal to be the starting center for the West.
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