Yao Ming has been elected into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame’s Class of 2016.

Yao is largely responsible for the NBA’s massive reach into China and the Far East. Television ratings and merchandise sales exploded there upon Yao’s rise to stardom in the NBA.

In a career cut short because of chronic injuries – including a third left foot fracture in 2010 –Yao retired in 2011. 

Yao was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft.