According to a report from Yahoo! Sports columnist Adrian Wojnarowski citing sources, Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets is expected to announce his retirement from the NBA after a nine-year career. Due to the ongoing NBA lockout, the retirement has not been made official.
Yao, 30, was selected by the Houston Rockets with the first overall pick in the 2002 NBA draft. He spent a couple years playing alongside Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley before the Rockets acquired Tracy McGrady, and sent Steve Francis and Mobley to the Orlando Magic in the summer of 2004.
Yao went through many ups and downs during his years with the Rockets, but started to become a force on both the offensive and defensive ends of the basketball court, helping the Rockets in multiple ways.
But, as time went on, injuries limited Yao from contributing on a regular basis and started the spiraling of his NBA career. A foot injury that required surgery caused him to miss the entire 2009-2010 season, and all but five games in the 2010-2011 season. The big man himself said that if he is not healthy, then he will opt for retirement rather than attempting to play through another grueling NBA season.
Overall, it is sad to see Yao’s career end with foot problems, and one can only wish him the best. Counting his missed season, his career lasted eight years, and one can only wonder what type of player he would have become if he was able to stay healthy.
As far as the Houston Rockets are concerned, they can now move in another direction, something the team was juggling with the past two seasons.
There was speculation about possibly trading Yao and his contract to find another big man to complement Kyle Lowry, Kevin Martin and Luis Scola. Now, the next step for the team is to find a replacement big man, something I am sure GM Daryl Morey has been looking into the past two years.
The Rockets will have to open a new era in their team’s history.
Read more NBA news on BleacherReport.com
Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/762344-yao-ming-injuries-lead-chinese-big-man-to-retire-from-nba
Rick Barry George Gervin Dirk Nowitzki John Havlicek John Stockton
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