Breaking Into Asia’s Top 10! Is Yang Hansen Set to Surpass Battier? Don’t Judge Him by Yao Ming’s Standard

When Yang Hansen calmly dropped in 4 points against the Grizzlies, his NBA career total quietly climbed to 34. With this數字, he officially entered the Top 10 all-time scoring list among Asian NBA players, sitting just behind Japan’s rising star Yuki Kawamura.

What’s even more exciting is the road ahead. Hansen is now only 122 points behind China’s Great Wall, Mengke Bateer (156 points), who currently sits seventh on the list. Based on the remaining games this season, surpassing Bateer is no longer a distant dream—it’s a realistic target well within reach.

Asian NBA Players – All-Time Total Points

1. Yao Ming (China) – 9,247 points – Retired
2. Rui Hachimura (Japan) – 4,609 points – Active
3. Yi Jianlian (China) – 2,148 points – Retired
4. Yuta Watanabe (Japan) – 895 points – Active
5. Wang Zhizhi (China) – 604 points – Retired
6. Hamed Haddadi (Iran) – 339 points – Retired
7. Mengke Bateer (China) – 156 points – Retired
8. Ha Seung-Jin (Korea) – 70 points – Retired
9. Yuki Kawamura (Japan) – 36 points – Active
10. Yang Hansen (China) – 34 points – Active

Despite this impressive progression, the 20-year-old has faced intense criticism on the domestic front. Many may not realize that, from a wider Asian perspective, he is already one of the most promising active big men in the region. The harshness of local criticism largely stems from the lingering “Yao Ming Effect”—a tendency to evaluate every Chinese NBA prospect under the enormous shadow of Yao’s legacy.

Yao Ming was a generational superstar, a No. 1 overall pick who dominated the league with peak averages of 25 points and 9.4 rebounds. Over time, fans became accustomed to using “the next Yao Ming” as the benchmark. But Hansen’s path is entirely different. He has yet to secure a stable rotation spot, and his playing time often falls under 10 minutes per game. Even so, he has performed better than the average rookie selected in his draft range.

Stepping back to look at the broader landscape, among active Asian players, only Rui Hachimura and Yuta Watanabe currently score more than Hansen. Hachimura was a top-10 draft pick, while Watanabe spent years grinding in the G League before solidifying his role. Hansen, at just 20, is the youngest of them all, and his unique playmaking ability and defensive versatility have already earned him the coaching staff’s confidence.

If Hansen continues receiving consistent minutes—as he did in his last outing—he could realistically finish the season with over 150 total points, surpassing Bateer before the playoffs. Looking ahead to next season, if he breaks into the regular rotation, Hansen has the potential to average 8–10 points per game. At that pace, he could eventually pass Haddadi and Wang Zhizhi and break into Asia’s all-time Top 5.

Basketball development never happens overnight. Even Yao Ming endured a rookie adjustment period. Hansen is now taking his first steps toward building his own legacy. In an era where Asian basketball is eagerly awaiting new stars, every bit of progress this young center makes is a crucial building block for China’s return to the NBA spotlight.