By Ray Bennett
Friday July 8, 2011
In his eight seasons in the NBA, Yao Ming extended the league's global reach to Asia and beyond. However, in his past few seasons, lingering injuries have put an end to his short NBA career.
Multiple league sources are reporting that the Houston Rockets 30-year-old Chinese-born center has decided to retire from playing basketball due to recurring foot and ankle injuries. The 7-foot, 6-inch Yao only played in 5 games this past season averaging 10.2 points and 5.4 rebounds. In his short time in the NBA, Yao left a lasting impact on the game and it's global presence.
Yao's playing career began in his early teens for the Shanghai Sharks junior team of the Chinese Basketball Association. With his seven-foot plus height, he managed to work his way up to the main team at the age of 17. In his first season on the Sharks main squad, Yao averaged 10 points and 8 rebounds in 21 games.
After missing his second season with a broken foot, Yao came back to lead the Sharks to to the first of three consecutive appearances in the CBA Finals, losing the first two to the Bayi Rockets. Yao led the Sharks to the CBA title in their third straight appearance, averaging 38 points and 20 rebounds in the playoffs. This was enough for Yao to take his game overseas to America.
Yao was the first ever internationally-born player without any American-college experience to be selected number one overall in the 2002 NBA Draft by the Houston Rockets. After getting off to a slow start in his NBA-rookie season, Yao averaged 13.5 points and 8.2 rebounds in all 82 regular season games and finished second in Rookie of the Year voting. He started every game in his sophomore season, averaging 17.5 points and 9 rebounds per game to lead the Rockets to his first playoff appearance, losing in a five-game series to the Los Angeles Lakers.
The next season, after the Rockets acquired Tracy McGrady from Orlando, Yao led them back to the playoffs only to exit the first round again, this time at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks. He also made the Western Conference All-Star team for the third straight year, breaking the record for all-star votes that was previously held by Michael Jordan with over 2.5 million fan votes.
However, by the 2005-2006 NBA season, Yao's injuries began to mount up. In that season, he ended up missing 21 games after having surgery on his big left toe. When he came back, he averaged 25.7 points and 11.6 rebounds in a 25 game span. He ended the season averaging a double-double for the first time in his NBA career with 22.3 points and 10.2 rebounds in 57 games. With his team out of the playoff picture, he ended up breaking his left foot near the end of the season that required surgery.
The next season, he was well on his way to the best season of his career averaging nearly 27 points and 10 rebounds per game before breaking his right knee in a game two days before Christmas. He ended up missing 34 games, including what would have been his fifth career All-Star game. When he returned, he helped lead the Rockets back to the playoffs, only to lose in the first round again, this time to the Utah Jazz in seven games.
The 2007-2008 season saw Yao and the Rockets start a huge winning streak that reached 12 games in mid to late February. However, it was reported that Yao had a stress-fracture in his left foot and would have to miss the rest of the season. After Yao was shut down, the Rockets won ten straight games, stretching their winning streak to 22 games, the second longest in NBA history. His recovery time was long enough for him to play for his native China in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
The following season in 2008-2009 had Yao playing in his first full year since 2004-2005, playing and starting in 77 games, almost averaging a double-double with 19.7 points and 9.9 rebounds. The Rockets made it back to the playoffs and finally got past the first round, beating the Portland Trail Blazers in six games. Houston lost in seven games to the Lakers in the Western Conference Semi-finals, with Yao suffering a hairline fracture in his left foot in Game 3, missing the rest of the series.
The injury forced Yao to undergo another operation on his left foot and resulted him to sit out the entire 2009-2010 season. When he came back the following season, the Rockets tried to limit his playing time to 24 minutes a game and to not play him in consecutive games in order to keep him healthy. However, midway through the month of December, the Rockets announced that Yao suffered a stress fracture in his left ankle, forcing him to end his season and his career in the process.
In his eight NBA seasons, Yao averaged 19 points, 9.2 rebounds and 2 blocks in 486 career games. He was also voted a starting All-Star in all of his eight seasons, only playing in five. In 28 career playoff games, Yao averaged 19.8 points and 9.3 rebounds. He also won three FIBA Asian Championship Gold Medals for China in 2001, 2003 and 2005.
When Yao first broke onto the NBA scene, he opened the door for other Chinese-born players to enter the league. In 2007, a game that featured Yao's Rockets and fellow country-man Yi Jilanlian playing for the Milwaukee Bucks was broadcasted on 19 different networks in China and viewed by over 200 Million people. This made it one of the most viewed regular season games ever in NBA history on an international level. His outreach has helped the NBA grow their influence in Asia and made Yao the most popular athlete in his native country.
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