![shaq and yao ming shaq and yao ming](https://defpen.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/allen-iverson-shaquille-oneal-yao-ming-hall-of-fame.png)
"Finally, when I reached here, it's (fulfilling.)" "I haven't had a chance to walk around yet, but I heard of this place for many years," Yao said. He did hope to get a better look at the Hall of Fame and museum, including the portrait of former teammate and friend Dikembe Mutombo, just a few feet from his.
![shaq and yao ming shaq and yao ming](http://en.people.cn/200301/19/images/yaoming2.jpg)
Yao had said he never imagined himself a Hall of Famer, and even months after his selection had been announced in Houston last April, it seemed unbelievable to him. The tallest player to become a Hall of Famer - giving the Rockets the tallest and shortest (Calvin Murphy) Hall members - Yao looked up at the portraits of Hall of Fame members that ring the inside of the dome and was humbled by the company he keeps. With all those pictures up there, I can't stop myself to think how small I am." I feel so small when I look to the rooftop (at) all the pictures around here. "When walking in this Hall, for the first time, I feel I'm so small," Yao, 35, said. Yet, moments after Yao slipped on his new, orange blazer, and despite 7 feet, 6 inches of evidence to the contrary, he looked around the Hall and felt the way so many had in his presence. Shaquille O'Neal jumped up to take on the duties with a flourish before he and Yao could begin a weekend sharing reminders of their battles and at least one interesting, if largely apocryphal, story of the start of their friendship.