Shaquille O’Neal arrived in the NBA in 1992 and was an absolute terror. He was more or less unstoppable inside and had ridiculous dunks, including one that collapsed the hyrdaulics on a goal.
He was almost impossible to deal with early in his career.
Then, in 2002, along came Yao Ming from China.
Unfortunately, O’Neal welcomed Yao to the NBA with some racially demeaning comments, saying ‘[t]ell Yao Ming, ‘Ching-chong-yang-wah-ah-soh,’” something that provoked a massive backlash. That included his stepfather, who demanded O’Neal apologize and show Yao some respect. O’Neal did, going so far as learning to apologize in Chinese.