Sometimes, the goal a person pursues will be incredibly simple. Just like Yao Ming when he was fifteen or six years old, he played not to win a championship, let alone to play in the NBA. Training is just to have a pair of shoes that fit your feet. "I must work hard. If I join the team, I won't have to worry about running out of shoes." Yao Ming often tells his "lofty ambitions" to Liu Wei, his friend from the youth team who lives in the same room. He has a pair of feet that are as "crazy" as his body. At first he wore his mother Fang Fengdi's shoes, and then his father Yao Zhiyuan's shoes. Soon, his big feet surpassed Yao Zhiyuan's, so he had to go to the street to buy some. Yao Zhiyuan wears size 46 shoes, and the largest shoe available on the market is size 48. Slowly, the size 48 can no longer accommodate Yao Ming's feet. Fang Fengdi could only go to Beijing Bayi Team's old teammates to get some shoes. The Bayi Team had many big men and left some shoes. In Shanghai, each member of Yao Ming's youth team could receive two pairs of Jai Alai brand sneakers each year. There was a big man in the Shanghai team, and the Jai Alai shoe factory also had some big shoes in stock, so they gave them to Yao Ming to wear. “At that time, after we wore out two pairs of shoes every year, we had to buy our own shoes,” Liu Wei recalled. He remembered that Yao Ming's shoes were covered with patches and were so rotten that he was reluctant to throw them away. Shanghai Oriental Men's Basketball Team Leader Yu Xiaomiao still laments when talking about Yao Ming's shoes: "Fang Fengdi really racked her brains to have a pair of shoes that fit her son." In 1996, Fang Fengdi entrusted her pro-American Zhang Mingqi (later) to Yao Ming's success in playing in the NBA is inseparable from his successful operation.) He bought a pair of white Nike sneakers for US$92; for the Yao family, whose income is not high, these shoes are undoubtedly a luxury item. Yu Xiaomiao remembered that the clothes Fang Fengdi wore back then were also patched. Fortunately, Yao Ming's unparalleled height has attracted the attention of the Shanghai Sports Commission. As a member of the youth team, Yao Ming is still a training player and has not yet been formally established. However, the Shanghai Meilong training base where the basketball team is located has begun to provide Yao Ming with preferential policies and key support. When Fang Fengdi later bought Yao Ming a pair of Nike shoes from the United States, Han Jingying, then director of the base, reimbursed Yao Ming for the cost of purchasing the shoes. The Shanghai Oriental Men's Basketball Club, established in early 1996, received sponsorship from Nike, but it was limited to the first-tier team. Yu Xiaomiao found Qian Anke, an employee of Nike, and "asked" for Yao Ming's shoes; Qian Anke rummaged through the box and finally found a pair of large blue shoes. For Yao Ming, these shoes did not fit his feet and were too tight. But Yao Ming was quite satisfied. After putting his big feet into these "public shoes", he was extremely happy. Life in the youth team is very difficult, with few games and endless training every day. "I practice four times a day, in the morning, in the morning, in the afternoon, and in the evening. Anyway, my hair is not dry all day long," Liu Wei said. Oriental Men's Basketball Assistant Coach Lu Zhiqiang was the coach of the Shanghai Youth Team back then. He still remembers that when Yao Ming first joined the youth team, he was puffy, full of fat, had little strength, wasn't very good at playing, and even "couldn't even run." However, Yao Ming, Liu Wei and others are very sensible and have to practice by themselves, and they use their brains when practicing. "If you don't want to practice, it's useless no matter how hard the coach works. Yao Ming has never been a vague person in training." He said that among the dozen or so people from Yao Ming's group, only Yao Ming, Liu Wei, A few people including Jia Xiaozhong and Hai Rui were eliminated. "Those who make it to the first team can endure hardships that others cannot." The more intense the training, the faster the shoes will wear out. Even Yao Ming can't remember how many pairs of shoes he has worn out. When he finally needed a pair of extra-large shoes, size 53, he no longer had to worry about finding the right shoes. By this time he had already joined the first team. From then on, Nike began to make special sneakers for him.

"Yao Ming's shoes are so big!" Shen Peihong, a worker at Meilong Training Base, described that in the past, Yao Ming's clothes and shoes were washed here. "He trains really hard, and he sweats so much in the winter - shoes The water is pouring out, and the towel is so sweaty that it makes me sweat. "Shen Peihong, who is small, has always thought that Yao Ming is a "good old man" (in Shanghai dialect, means very good). She washes Yao Ming's shoes, although washing his shoes is equivalent to washing them. Others get two pairs, but she always only charges for one pair