Yao Ming Forever

Yao Ming, basketball’s "biggest" star was recently unveiled — in wax — for the first time in the U.S. and welcomed by a troupe of Chinese acrobats performing a gravity-defying gymnastic slam dunk at Madame Tussauds New York.

Ming’s figure – dressed in his Houston Rockets uniform and wearing sneakers donated by the NBA – is so tall that Merlin studio artists had to utilize scaffolding in order to sculpt the 7’6” wax likeness of the NBA’s tallest player. On loan from Madame Tussauds Shanghai for six months, Ming’s figure is posed as if he is about to shoot a basket. Ming is one of the most popular and beloved players in both China and the U.S.

Ming’s figure will be in good company in the attraction’s all-new “Sports Zone.” This new interactive area dedicated to the love of sports features wax-immortalized athletes from past and present.

Other athletes immortalized are Derek Jeter, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Billie Jean King.