Mystery Player #6
Saturday, July 11, 2026 · already played
The answer
Spoiler for the puzzle of Saturday, July 11, 2026. Today's puzzle is not revealed anywhere on this page.
Yao Ming
C · 2002–2011
Yao Ming's career
Yao Ming played 9 seasons between 2002 and 2011, all of it with the Rockets. Over 486 regular-season games he averaged 19 points, 9.2 rebounds and 1.6 assists, finishing with 9,247 career points. He was 8× All-Star and 5× All-NBA.
He entered the league in the 2002 draft, taken first overall, with everything that expectation carries. That makes him a product of the 2000s, and his career totals should be read against the pace and rules of that period.
Across a solid career of 9 seasons he was a consistent starter at 19 points per game. On the glass he was among the players a team could build a defence around.
- Games
- 486
- PPG
- 19
- RPG
- 9.2
- APG
- 1.6
- Points
- 9,247
- Rebounds
- 4,494
- Assists
- 769
- 3PM
- 2
Teams
- Rockets · 2003–2009
- Rockets · 2011
Honours
8× All-Star · 5× All-NBA
How the clues read
Every guess that day was scored against Yao Ming across nine categories. These were the values behind the grid.
- Position:
- C
- Debut season:
- 2002
- Status:
- Retired
- Nationality:
- International
- Teams:
- Rockets, Rockets
- Points per game:
- 19
- Championships:
- 0
- All-Star selections:
- 8
Why this was a fair answer
Answers are never obscure by design: the pool is every NBA All-Star who debuted in the 1969-70 season or later, plus current players carrying a real scoring role. Yao Ming qualifies on the first route, with 8 All-Star selections — a perennial selection rather than a one-off.
A one-franchise career made the shared-team clue brutal: it stayed grey for almost every guess, and went green only for players from that same roster. He never won a title, which quietly rules out a large share of the most-guessed names.
Play it yourself
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