He was born in a small town called Bayan near Harbin, China, in the Heilongjiang province. Sun did not start playing basketball until he was 15, when he was 6 ft 7 in. Sun Ming Ming came to the United States in early 2005 to train for a possible career in the NBA. He was declared eligible in the 2005 NBA Draft, and had a brief tryout with the Los Angeles Lakers, but was not selected in the draft. After surgery, Sun played with several minor league basketball teams, including the USBL team Dodge City Legend, the Maryland Nighthawks of the ABA and the Grand Rapids Flight of the IBL.