Leslie Wine

Yao Ming is here to stay, at least as long as he has any hope whatsoever of returning to the court for the Rockets. There's just too much money in China for Les Alexander to ignore.

Here's a small example of what I mean. Les bought property in North Fork, Long Island in 2001 and has been cultivating grapes and making wine there ever since. He brought in some high-powered wine advisers to get just the right French vines for the climate and to plant and nuture them correctly. To exemplify his love of the wine, in his divorce settlement from his wife Nanci, they split 600 bottles of the wine and he got his half in 100 bottle increments only when he made his annual divorce settlement payments. I said all that to say this: he is selling Leslie Wine exclusively in China.

Leslie Alexander is one of the 400 wealthiest people on the planet, with a net worth of $1.2 billion. He knows where money is and how to get it - and Yao Ming is the door to the mine. If not, maybe Les would be giving away a case of wine with every Rockets season ticket sold.