Colin Pine was walking through the streets of Baltimore, when he got the call. He had been selected as the interpreter for Yao Ming, the Houston Rockets' rookie center from China.

"I'm 5-foot-10 and he's 7-foot-5," said Pine, 28, who works for the U.S. government translating documents from Chinese to English. "I think my neck is going to hurt because I'm constantly going to be looking up at him and maybe his ear will hurt because he'll have to cup it since I'll be yelling up there."

	Yao

After posting the job description -- which required the interpreter to speak English as a first language, speak fluent Chinese and have knowledge of basketball -- on university Web sites and Chinese language aficionado bulletin boards, Yao's distant cousin and agent Erik Zhang said he received about 350 letters and résumés.

Yao, the top pick in the NBA draft last June, is expected to sign a three-year deal for $12,442,680 in the coming days. The deal is expected to include an option for a fourth season which will bring the contract's total value to about $18 million.

Pine applied for the interpreter job, but said he didn't expect to hear back.

"It wasn't hard to figure out that there would be a lot of people applying," said Pine, who is a lifelong Maryland Terrapins fan. Now he will be in the middle of conversations Yao will be having with Steve Francis, the Rockets' guard and a former Terp.

Halfway through the process, Zhang said he had to eliminate the 20 to 30 percent of applicants because he wasn't sure that hiring a woman would be appropriate in certain settings like the team's locker room. But Zhang said Pine, who honed his skills by playing pickup basketball in China while studying at the National Taiwan University, was clearly the best candidate.

"He knew all these basketball terms in Chinese -- traveling, zone defense and press," Zhang said.

Agents and players often take it upon themselves to hire the interpreter, though teams are responsible for paying for their services and expenses. According to estimates by league sources, a interpreter costs an NBA team about $70,000, including expenses like food and lodging during some 60 days on the road during the season.

Interpreters have become common in locker rooms. In baseball, Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Kaz Ishii conducts interviews with the American media through Scott Akasaki, while Seattle Mariners reliever Kaz Sasaki uses Allen Turner. Last season in the NBA, the Dallas Mavericks hired Sary Benzvi as an assistant coach to help translate head coach Don Nelson's words into Mandarin for Chinese center Wang ZhiZhi. The Denver Nuggets had Tong Li to help Chinese center Mengke Bateer.

Although Yao speaks some English, Zhang said Pine will be expected to be near Rockets head coach Rudy Tomjanovich during games should Yao need a quick translation. He also will be present at practices and public appearances.

"Yao's translator has the dual role of translating as well as helping him get acclimated to American society," Zhang said.

Darren Rovell, who covers sports business for ESPN.com, can be reached at Darren.rovell@espnpub.com