This week, Bleacher Report redrafted the 2002 NBA Draft Class and replaced Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Yao Ming with Amar'e Stoudemire as the first select of that year. The media outlet said that it's reselecting "for basketball reasons" and hinted that Yao Ming might enjoy advantage of "global impact."

Well, the truth is, Yao Ming deserves to be selected with the No. 1 pick in the 2002 Class for his game alone, just like he was named a Hall of Famer as a player.

Numbers:

Yao averaged 19 points, 9.2 rebounds per game in his career with a 0.2-win-shares per 48 minutes, better than Dirk Nowitzki and Manu Ginobili.

In his seven healthy seasons, Yao was named two-time All-NBA Second Team and three-time All-NBA Third Team. By the time he was inducted into the Hall of Fame (2016), there were in total 70 players in NBA history that were named five-time All-NBA Team.

By the way, Tony Parker, Paul Pierce, Chauncy Billups and many other great names were only named four times. The five-time honorees included Clyde Drexler, Grant Hill, Ben Wallace, Chris Webber – either already Hall of Famers or having been nominated in consecutive years. 

Moreover, only the following 12 centers had more All-NBA selections than Yao: George Mikan, Patrick Ewing, Moses Malone, Dwight Howard, David Robinson, Wilt Chamberlain, Hakeem Olajuwon, Shaquille O'Neal, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell, Elvin Hayes and Dolph Schayes.

Yao's best playoff result as team leader was Conference Semifinals, so was that of Chris Paul and Dominique Wilkins. Neither Pau nor Marc Gasol ever did that when they were leading their teams alone.

Game:

Though Yao's career was relatively short, at his best, he was the NBA's best center.

We can divide his career into three parts.

From 2002 to 2005, Yao played a total 242 games averaging 16.4 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.9 blocks. During this period, he was way more agile than he was later on and already impressed the league with his skills and shooting range. He was a very threatening mid-range catch-and-shooter.

Of course, Yao still lacked power so it was not easy for him to post up deep and that made him a bit inconsistent in offense. Moreover, with less strength than others, Yao was not a solid enough defender and could work more on his defense.

Starting in 2005, Yao gained weight and strength, increasing his power. In the following three seasons, he averaged 23.1 points, 10.1 rebounds and 1.9 blocks in 160 games.

During this period, Yao had his signature isolation attack: posting up with the left elbow. He became one of the league's best go-to guys on offense. It took at least two big men to stop him from scoring or drawing fouls.

Meanwhile, Yao was also dominant in defense as the Houston Rockets were the sixth-, third- and the second-best rated teams in defense in the league in 2006, 2007 and 2008.

Of course, Yao still had problems dealing with double teams. He was not fast enough to cover speedy rivals like Stoudemire. Furthermore, Yao was vulnerable to injuries but averaging 35 minutes per game was simply too much for his size, not to mention that he played too many meaningless national team games.

Then there was 2009. First, Yao reduced his time and possessions – that's why he was able to play 77 games. However, 19.7 points, 9.9 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game was not an indicator of how great he was.

The Rockets won all the games in which Yao scored over 25 points and only lost one time when he had 20+points. The opponents had to choose between double or triple teaming Yao to leave the Rockets number, or watch Yao destroy their defense alone with his isolation attack.

He was named the Second Team that season while Howard was in the First Team. Nonetheless, in the two games between the Rockets and the Orlando Magic, their numbers were: Yao: 22+13, 20+16; Howard: 13+9, 13+10. The First-Team center was totally bullied by Yao on the court.

Yao led Aaron Brooks, Luis Scola, Ron Artest and Shane Battier to claim 53 wins entering the playoffs. Then they knocked out the Portland Trail Blazers led by Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge to challenge the future champions, the Los Angeles Lakers that had the league's best big-men partnership, Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom, plus Kobe Bryant.

In the three games Yao played before injury forced him out, he averaged 19.7 points, 11.3 rebounds. In Game 1 and Game 3, he played 40:24 and 39:50 respectively. Yao's return with a knee injury turned the Toyota Center all red and gave the team what they needed to struggle until Game 7.

If Yao comes to small-ball era

Many would argue that Yao, a big man he is, could not adapt himself to today's NBA which is faster and attaches more importance to 3-point shooting.

Hold on.

Then explain why the Golden State Warriors always started with giants like Zaza Pachulia, Andrew Bogut and JaVale McGee when they won three NBA Championships? Why was Marc Gasol so important to last year's champions Toronto Raptors? Why do strong teams, namely the Milwaukee Bucks and the Denver Nuggets rely on Brook Lopez and Nikola Jokic?

Because a seven-footer who can protect the rim is always needed. When he can score like Yao, only insane head coaches would bench him. Besides, the most important thing in the small-ball era is spacing. Since Yao could dominate the paint in the crowded 2010s, think what would happen when a team's center must face Yao alone because Yao's teammates already stretch the space out for him?

As for the problem of speed: first, Yao was quick enough before gaining weight; second, when he could score in most of the possessions, there would be no rebound for the opponents to launch a fast break. As for 3-pointers, Yao could shoot it in FIBA games and considering his free throw shooting performance, it's only logical for him to develop that skill in the NBA.

For a center like Yao, it's not about him fitting the era, because the era must fit him, that's how great of a player he is.