The sad part is, Yao Ming could only face Howard or Shaq,

obviously that Shaq is at the bottom of his long and great career. An even sadder part is, in the league there were only 3 true centers, and the rest are tall and relatively nimble Power Forwards. In a guard-oriented league, where you can double or front centers without ball, and you can mug/kill down low, but can't breath or look at the guards the wrong way, Yao was doomed.