quentinYao Ming Will Retire
July 9th 2011 12:31
After nine seasons in the NBA, Yao Ming will retire. His contract had expired this past season with the Houston Rockets. The Rockets played without Yao, nearly all of the time when he was battling with various injuries. He was limited to five games last season after missing of all 2009-10. The new coach, Kevin McHale, said, “We'd all be really happy if Yao comes back to play, and I hope he can.” In May, Yao Ming had lower body injuries in the second half of his career. He said his surgically repaired left ankle was healing properly and he wanted to remain with the Houston Rockets. The Rockets said they were interested in re-signing him if Ming came back healthy. Yao Ming had surgery in January and would not know if he would be able to play again. Yahoo Sports reported that Yao Ming has informed the league's office he is retiring. Shaq O' Neal had sent in an online video, saying congratulations to Yao Ming. He also added, “We're going to miss you, bro. You're one of the greatest players ever to come out of China.” The Rockets did not say anything about the report, because of the lockout; the NBA has not received official retirement paperwork from Yao. John Huizinga, one of Yao's American agents, would not confirm the report during a phone interview on Friday.
The eight-time all-star, Yao Ming, averaged 19 points and 9.2 rebounds in eight seasons. Ming had single handedly expanded the NBA's reach throughout Asia, spiking merchandise sales and TV ratings for games after the Rockets made him the top pick in 2002. Marc Ganis, the Chicago-based consultancy SportsCorp, said about Yao Ming, “He was the embodiment of the cultural aspirations of the Chinese society.” Ming has donated $2 million dollars and set up a foundation to rebuild schools in the wake of the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan. He was already larger than life in China when he joined the Rockets. He played for the Chinese national team in six summers before joining the Rockets. Yao Ming made the All-Rookie team after averaging 13.5 points, 8.2 rebounds, 1.74 blocks in all 82 games. He was the only rookie to lead his team in both rebounds and blocks; the only rookie to rank in the top 20 in three statistical categories. In 2008-09, Yao played 77 games, and helped the Rockets to reach the second rounds of the playoffs for the first time since 1997. Yao broke his left foot in the postseason game against the Lakers and underwent surgery that made him miss the entire 09-10 season. Yao, who will turn 31 in September, missed a total of 250 regular season games over the past six season due to injuries to his left foot and leg.
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