The End Of An Era: Yao Ming

I've been so far out of the news-o-sphere that while you may have known this - well - I just found out:

A large scroll behind the player who brought China to the NBA and the NBA to China summed up the occasion.

"Ming xie," it said in large Chinese characters that, loosely translated, mean "Yao Ming, thanks, the end."

Yao, with teary eyes at times and dressed in an equally somber black suit, closed the book Wednesday on his eight-year career with the Houston Rockets, conceding that injuries finally got the best of him.

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"My past six months were an agonizing wait. I had been thinking (about my future) over and over," the 30-year-old Yao said in comments translated into English. "Today I am announcing a personal decision: ending my career as a basketball player and officially retire. But one door is closing and another one is opening."

Yao said he would return to work with his former Chinese team, the Shanghai Sharks, with the possibility of becoming general manager. He already owns the club and wants to contribute more.

"My playing career started with the club. I hope I can do something for it," Yao said.

Yao's wife, Ye Li, and their 14-month-old daughter, Yao Qinlei, and Yao's parents, Yao Zhiyuan and Fang Fengdi, were in the room. Qinlei was dressed in a red qipao, a traditional Chinese dress.

He later appeared with his family on the stage to the applause and cheers of the crowd.

"I will be always with you," he said.

Read it in full.

Agree Or Disagree? SLAM Online Gives Yao No. 38 In Its Top 50 Definitive Ranking Of NBA's Best Players

Since I just caught this, I'm not really quite sure what to think - should he be higher or *gasp* lower? I think I'll have to sleep on this one.

You don’t understand Yao Ming. Admit it. You don’t understand where he came from as a rookie from Shanghai. You don’t get hard he has worked to transcend cultures and basketball philosophies, and you certainly can’t begin to grasp the pain he has endured to recover from foot surgery. All you need to understand is this. Yao MinYao Mingg, when healthy, is the best center in the NBA and the Houston Rockets’ title hopes rest on the success or failure of his return.

Critics of Yao Ming say that he is a finesse player, lacking the killer instinct it takes to carry a team to a deep playoff run. That couldn’t be further from the truth. In Game 1 of the 2009 playoff battle against the Los Angeles Lakers, Yao came back from an injury to score 8 points in the final minutes of the game on way to a 100-92 win in L.A. The career-threatening injury Yao is recovering from? He got that by playing through pain in Game 3 of that playoff series. Don’t get it twisted. Just because Yao doesn’t mug for the camera every time he dunks doesn’t mean he isn’t hungry.

Check out the article and the rest of 50 down at SLAM ONLINE.

You Might Actually See Yao Play This Year

Just in case you didn't know (even though it's a couple weeks old) according to reports, it seems that Yao Ming might actually see some playing time this year - even if limited and even if the chance is miniscule - team doctors no longer consider his injury career threatening:

"Yao Ming is progressing well. I don't think that [a career-ending scenario] is something that will happen, based on what I'm hearing from the doctors," Morey said in an interview for ESPN The Magazine. "They do know that the bone will heal and he'll get back on it. And they have not actually ruled out [his return] this season. I think that's less likely than likely, but they haven't ruled it out."

Although if it were up to Menk Bateer he'd have Yao stay out for the whole season:

Bateer, who played for Xinjiang Guanghui in the domestic league, was quoted as saying by the Oriental Sports Daily, "Yao was too tired to sustain such a bad injury on his foot. He is higher and heavier than most of the NBA players and has more duties during the off season. It's better for him to take a rest next season."

And that's your NBA update for the day.

Yes Yao Ming, You've Made It To The Promised Land (Or At Least The Second Round)

While everyone's talking about the Celtics/Bulls Series (Game 7!) and you kind of have to feel bad for Tracy McGrady - even though it may not be a championship - at least we finally get to see Yao getting out of the 1st round of the playoffs.

Pau Gasol And The Lakers?

Meet Yao Ming And Ron Artest.

Please note that now's not the time to bring up the fact that technically they've already met each other and that the Rockets haven't beaten the Lakers one time this year.

Just let me enjoy the moment people.

And Yao Should Be Fine

Well maybe not fine "fine" - he'll miss a few games - but at least it's not looking like he'll be out for the season, so we can all exhale - at least for now.

Don't rush back too soon big guy.

Yao Ming's Got PER

With the NBA season getting into full swing I've been checking into projections, who's on top - who's slated to fall - and one of the interesting stats that has come about in the last few years is called PER (the Player Efficiency Rating) which is based on lot of formulas to calculate a player's per-minute productivity.

So where does Yao stand in the projected PER list for this year?

Right at #4 just below Chris Paul, LeBron James, and Amare Stoudemire:

If his country isn't going to take care of Yao, then the Rockets need to redouble their efforts. With the talent on board there isn't any question about this team making the playoffs or earning a high seed, so the goal should be to preserve Yao so that he can play extended minutes when Houston needs him most -- in the playoffs.

With that in mind, it wouldn't surprise me at all to see Houston cut his minutes substantially this season. If that doesn't work, and if China insists on having him spend future summers competing in insignificant tournaments in far-flung places, then the Rockets may need to resort to more draconian measures -- like telling him not to bother showing up until Christmas, for instance.

Hopefully it will never come to that. He's one of the most talented players of his generation, and when healthy he rivals Dwight Howard and Tim Duncan as the best center in the game. But the "when healthy" part is getting increasingly problematic.

View the full outlook and report down at ESPN.

Survival Training With Yao Ming

While at first I actually did want to laugh a little (because for some odd reason the thought of Yao Ming helping to do a PSA for survival training conjured up a lot of thoughts) - since the broadcast across China does talk about what to do in earthquakes, it really is a serious PSA (although giggling a little is probably still O.K. when you first hear about it, especially if you thought of Yao being in the woods and trying to find his way home with some tree branches on his head so he could blend into the wilderness):

About 7.5 million Chinese households tuned into a program on emergency survival presented by basketball star Yao Ming and other members of China's Olympic team on Monday, China Central Television said on Tuesday.

It was considered a ratings success for an educational program broadcast during prime time and it would be aired three more times during peak viewing hours at the weekend in response to public feedback.

Jointly produced with the Ministry of Education, "The First Class" featured was divided into four units. Yao Ming and 17 national basketball players presented one lesson, helping an elderly paralyzed man and four children escape flooding by climbing onto a five-meter high vine frame.

Check out here for the full story.

Yi and Yao News

In what's looking to be a busy summer for the NBA, one of the trades that just happened was the swap of Yi Jianlian and Bobby Simmons for New Jersey's Richard Jefferson which gets Yi into a bigger market (and he can at least say he lives close to New York, at least closer than Milwaukee):

In a deal first reported by ESPN.com's Marc Stein, New Jersey sends forward Richard Jefferson to Milwaukee for forwards Yi Jianlian and Bobby Simmons. No draft picks are involved in the trade. The swap creates an estimated $10-plus million in long-term savings for the Nets as they continue to reshape their team after trading another mainstay -- point guard Jason Kidd -- to Dallas in February.

In Yao news, apparently he's set to start training with the Chinese national team and seems adament on playing (there was a collective sigh in China):

With pressure on Yao to perform, some have questioned whether he would be pushing himself so hard were the Olympics not being held in Beijing. Yao dismissed such speculation, saying that there were "no 'ifs' about the Olympics, there are no 'ifs' about me."

Yao said he would start light training with the national team on Friday, giving him time to learn tactics and strategies worked out by China's Lithuanian-born coach Jonas Kazlauskas. The Chinese men's team is in a tough group at the Olympics, facing the United States in its first game.