It may have taken him a lot longer than it should have, and he admitted that he considered quitting many times along the way, but former NBA star and basketball hall of famer Yao Ming finally graduated from China’s Shanghai Jiao Tong University on Sunday.
The 37-year-old looked thrilled as he posed for photographs with his parents wearing the traditional gown and mortarboard following the ceremony where he was awarded his degree in economics fulfilling a promise he made to his parents when he was 17.
Yao Ming speaks during his jersey number retirement ceremony in 2017. Photo: AP
The 2.29-metre star also gave a speech to his fellow graduates at the ceremony in which he joked about the length of time it took him to complete his course.
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“At a certain stage in the future, you should try to combine your future with the future of the society, because that’s how you can find larger space for yourself to explore,” Yao said.
“Let me quote a famous conversation that happened on a basketball court 11 years ago, ‘This is going to be your league in a little while.’ Trust me, when a man spends seven years in university to graduate at age 38, he knows what he’s talking about!”
