Yao Ming was a standout in the NBA during his years with the Houston Rockets, known for his massive 7’6” frame and dominant presence. During that era, he often went head-to-head with Kevin Garnett, who later shared a hilarious anecdote from the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games while playing for Team USA.
“So listen, we had a bounty out on Yao Ming. First cat to dunk on Yao Ming? A million dollars,” Garnett recalled during a February 2025 interview on All The Smoke. “Man, we all said, we all put our hand. Listen, I think it was (Antonio) McDyess, myself, it was like six other people that had that. You know what I’m saying? Like, if we catch him, it’s a million. Cool.”
Very early in the Olympics, Team USA had the chance to face Ming, as their tournament debut was against China. At that point, the center was just 19 years old, still playing for the Shanghai Sharks, and two years away from being selected first overall by the Houston Rockets in the 2002 NBA Draft.
“Everybody was trying,” KG recalled of that game. “But man, Yao Ming wasn’t playing that (expletive). Boy, Yao Ming was laying people out! You hear me? Trying to lay your (expletive) out. He knew, he felt it, like, ‘Yeah, y’all trying to (expletive) on me out here.’ He fired his (expletive) out.”
Kevin Garnett won the gold medal with Team USA at the 2000 Sidney Olympic Games.
Team USA won that game comfortably—as they did most games in that tournament—and Yao Ming had a rough performance: he scored just 5 points, grabbed 3 rebounds, handed out 2 assists, and blocked 2 shots in 16 minutes on the court.
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After no one managed to cash in on the Yao Ming bet, Team USA found motivation in other challenges. “Vince (Carter) caught the boy in France (Frederic Weis),” Garnett said. “He didn’t want any problems, so I thought he was actually going to challenge it. You know, he’s 7’4”! And he curled!”
KG later theorized that Weis’ performance against Team USA played a role in his failed NBA career, despite being a first-round pick by the New York Knicks in the 1999 Draft. “When I say he wiped his (expletive) in real time, boy. He wiped his (expletive) with the Frenchman, man. I was like, ‘Ooooh.’ That man never made it after that. We never heard about that man. That man buried.”
That Rudy Tomjanovich-coached squad featured NBA icons like Ray Allen, Tim Hardaway, Jason Kidd, and Gary Payton. They had little trouble marching to the gold medal, defeating every opponent in their path—including Russia in the quarterfinals, Lithuania in the semifinals, and France in the final.
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