AJ Neuharth-Keusch

USA TODAY Sports

His career averages — though an impressive 19.0 points, 9.2 rebounds and 1.9 blocks — didn't put him in the same category as some of the greats who came before him. And his eight-year career wasn't overflowing with awards and championship rings.

But when Yao Ming is inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Friday night, it will be well deserved.

At 7-foot-6, 310 pounds, it's no secret that he was one of the most physically imposing players the NBA has ever seen. And if it weren’t for a slew of injuries that forced him to be sidelined for all but five games over the course of his final two seasons, there's no telling what his NBA career could have been.

But even though he hung up his triple-XL, No. 11 Houston Rockets jersey for good at just 30 years old, the most beloved Chinese athlete in American sports history wasn't finished making an impact.

Off the court, he's been just as colossal.

After becoming the first international player to ever be selected with the first overall pick in the draft without having played college basketball in the U.S., Yao’s popularity quickly soared, expanding the NBA’s global impact to his home country of China. From massive television audiences (an estimated 200 million people watched his regular season showdown with fellow Chinese player Yi Jianlian in 2007) to millions in merchandise revenue to a far-reaching interest among the youth — Yao emerged as much more than just a basketball player. He became an international basketball icon.

Big game, big personality gets Shaq in Hall of Fame

Two years after Yao entered the league, the NBA became the first American professional sports league to compete in China, where Yao and the Rockets played two preseason games against the Sacramento Kings in Beijing and Shanghai. Twelve years later, we're just a month away from the 10th edition of NBA Global Games China, with the Rockets scheduled to take on the New Orleans Pelicans in early October, also in Shanghai and Beijing.

Following this year's Games, 13 NBA teams will have played 22 games in China since 2004.

“The game of basketball has been so good to me, and while I have left the court, I will never leave the game.” Yao said in a statement announcing a youth basketball partnership with NBA China in 2012. “I look forward to working with the NBA to give more youth the opportunity to play basketball at an elite level and help more people in need. I would love to see the next generation of Chinese players surpass the accomplishments of my generation."

A look back at Allen Iverson's Hall of Fame career with the Philadelphia 76ers

In 2014, Yao and NBA China opened the first-ever NBA Yao School in Beijing, providing after-school basketball training and fitness programs for children. It's just one of the many programs Yao uses to spread his love of basketball to China's youth, and there will likely be many more to come.

“(Yao’s) career was cut short, and I think he didn't achieve everything he wanted to on the floor,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said at last year's All-Star Weekend. “But I have no doubt that over a long life, he's going to end up probably having as great an impact on this game as anyone who has ever played.”

Follow AJ Neuharth-Keusch on Twitter @tweetAJNK