Category profile
- Dominance
- 72
- Peak
- 84
- Longevity
- 60
- Honours
- 74
- Statistics
- 82
Career timeline · Points per game
| Season | Points per game | Share of career |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 13.5 | |
| 2003 | 17.5 | |
| 2004 | 18.3 | |
| 2005 | 22.3 | |
| 2006 | 25 | |
| 2007 | 22 | |
| 2008 | 19.7 | |
| 2009 | 0 | |
| 2010 | 10.2 |
Data sources
- NBA
- Basketball Reference
- FIBA
Figures come from public records and are normalised per sport. See the methodology for category weights. Method
Why Yao Ming ranks #101 in Basketball
Yao Ming ranks 101st among Basketball athletes on GOAT Rank and 934th of 1063 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 73.9 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 72, Peak 84, Longevity 60, Honours 74, Statistics 82. Those categories are normalised against the full Basketball reference universe of 399 records, not a shortlist, so the position reflects the whole sport rather than a handful of famous names.
The record covers 1997–2011 with 9 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 2006, which sets the Peak component at 84. Peak is the defining strength of the profile at 84 out of 100, and it carries 20% of the final score. The underlying career record includes all-star selections 8, points per game 19, rebounds per game 9.2, all-nba selections 5.
Immediately ahead sits Anthony Edwards on 76.7, a gap of 2.8 points. Directly behind is Victor Wembanyama on 75.1. The position moves whenever the verified record moves: new titles, new seasons or a corrected source all feed straight back into the same formula, and every change is dated on this profile.
Yao Ming GOAT Score explained
- Dominance72/100 · weight 25%
- Measures how far Yao stood above the field while competing. Scored 72/100 against the full Basketball cohort.
- Peak84/100 · weight 20%
- Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 2006. Scored 84/100.
- Longevity60/100 · weight 20%
- Rewards staying at that level over time: 14 years of competition and 9 recorded seasons. Scored 60/100.
- Honours74/100 · weight 20%
- Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 74/100.
- Statistics82/100 · weight 15%
- Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 82/100.
Top Yao comparisons
Yao Ming — frequently asked
- Is Yao Ming the GOAT?
- Not on the current data. Yao Ming ranks 101st in Basketball with a GOAT Score of 73.9, behind LeBron James on 95.6.
- What is Yao Ming's GOAT Score?
- 73.9 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 72 (25%), Peak 84 (20%), Longevity 60 (20%), Honours 74 (20%), Statistics 82 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
- Where does Yao Ming rank all time?
- 934th of 1063 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 101st within Basketball.
- Yao Ming vs Anthony Edwards: who ranks higher?
- Anthony Edwards, on 76.7 against Yao Ming's 73.9 — a margin of 2.8 points.