Yao Ming out indefinitely...is his career over?

[nickagneta]

I don't think the following news surprises anyone but it's still sad:

HOUSTON -- Yao Ming has a stress fracture in his left ankle and the Houston Rockets said there is no timetable for the return of the 7-foot-6 center whose NBA career may be in serious jeopardy after a series of injuries.

Yao has been out since Nov. 10 with what had been called a bone bruise in the same ankle. An MRI performed Thursday revealed the stress fracture.

Yao
Yao

"This is very sad," Rockets owner Leslie Alexander told KRIV-TV in Houston. "This is a very disappointing moment in the history of the Rockets organization, for our wonderful fans, for the city of Houston and for everybody in our organization. I feel terrible for Yao."

Yao, a seven-time All-Star, sat out last season after surgery to repair his broken left foot. The Rockets said his current injury is related to the old one, and was discovered during his current rehabilitation.

Yao was the top overall draft pick in 2002 and first began to have injury problems in the 2005-06 season.

His left foot has been the main problem. He first broke a bone in the foot with four games left in the 2005-06 season.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5926989

[PosImpos]

First Greg Oden and now Yao.  Not a good time to be a freakishly huge big man.

I'd say Yao is officially done.  At least this gives the Rockets clarity in terms of their rebuilding effort and what kind of team they want to construct.

On the bright side, the Rockets have a pretty decent team even without Yao, and they have plenty of assets moving forward, and a genius GM to make the most of them.

[indeedproceed]

There he goes. One of God's own prototypes. A high-powered mutant of some kind never even considered for mass production. Too tall to play, and too famous to retire.

Its funny, because with all the nationalist sentiment building in the country today, and the corresponding animosity towards China..you get the feeling everyone, everywhere, was kinda pulling for Yao.

[Josh88]

Sadly it looks like his career is over. He'll probably retire and if he doesn't he's never going be anywhere near the player he was.

It's such a shame, if he'd stayed healthy he'd be the best center in the league right now. His combination of height, shot blocking, rebounding, post moves and shooting touch is unmatched by any center this decade. His only weakness was conditioning.

I was a huge Tracy McGrady fan and had high hopes for the combination of him and Yao in Houston but it just never worked out how most people expected.

[GreenEnvy]

What a shame.

Great player, great person. Did so much for the growth of the game.

I hope he gets to play again someday, even if it is for his country.

[xmuscularghandix]

I think Yao is done. But if he could work hard to play one more time in the Olympics it’d be a nice ending to his career.

[Mike-Dub]

Awfully sad news.

[mmbaby]

I don't see this ending his nba career, but the team he bought in China might take up a large portion of his time and he might prefer to retire. There would be less potential injuries to himself to deal with.
But why does everyone think this is career ending?

[nickagneta]

I think everyone had to expect this once Houston came out with the news they were going to limit him to  a certain amount of minutes no matter what and that their one goal was to get him to April healthy at all costs.

[Spilling Green Dye]

I had honestly assumed his career was over 2 years ago

[Josh88]

I don't see this ending his nba career, but the team he bought in China might take up a large portion of his time and he might prefer to retire. There would be less potential injuries to himself to deal with.
But why does everyone think this is career ending?

Because he said before the season that if he wasn't healthy this year he would consider retirement.

[slamtheking]

it's a shame.  a lot of potential to be a dominant center ruined by foot problems.  reminiscent of Walton and Bowie.  skilled big men who's careers were cut short by injury

[hpantazo]

it's a shame.  a lot of potential to be a dominant center ruined by foot problems.  reminiscent of Walton and Bowie.  skilled big men who's careers were cut short by injury

It's too bad, I was really pulling for Yao. The Rockets could have been a serious threat out west if he had stayed healthy. The Lakers always luck out in everything somehow.

[Josh88]

I wouldn't go that far, they still have San Antonio and Dallas to contend with and overall their conference is stronger.

[guava_wrench]

Don't forge Big Z. Sometimes guys can be plagued with injuries but turn out fine when everything finally gets healed.