Basketball Fans Confused By Unexpected Yao Ming Sighting At Olympics

Yao Ming has been a huge supporter of Chinese basketball for a long time now, but on Sunday in the 2024 Olympics, he took on a completely different role with the team instead of just being a fan in the bleachers.

The former NBA superstar was spotted with the Chinese women's basketball team, serving as an assistant coach. Several photos of Yao Ming went viral showing him conferring with his fellow coaches as they played Spain.

Sure enough, the unexpected sighting confused and surprised a lot of hoops fans, especially since the news of Yao Ming's role with the team wasn't widely reported.

"Coach Yao Ming is crazy. He’s part of the coaching staff for the China Women’s Basketball Team at the Olympics," a commenter noted.

"Wait is that Yao Ming on the sideline as an assistant for the China national team ?!" a confused fan added.

Another surprised viewer said, "Yo is that Yao Ming on China’s bench???"

"Yao Ming on China’s women staff crazy," a fan furthered.

Many others noted how "dope" it is to see Yao Ming be heavily involved with the Chinese women's national team. Some also shared their delight to see the former Houston Rockets star get back to the game as a coach to share his experience.

For what it's worth, China played a sensational game against Spain. While they ended up losing 90-89, they forced overtime and played hard from start to finish. Indeed, they can be proud of their performance.

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