I'll probably get bashed by the chinese/asian population on this board but oh well...I remember Yao saying several months back that he is probably done playing in National competitions for China. I hope this is true and he acutally follows thru with those intentions. If he is out for the 8-12 week time table, that would make him elgible to come back in august. They rushed him back last year for the Olympics. Are there any national team games scheduled for this summer? I guess this is a silver lining to Yao's injury. He will be well rested this summer for the Rockets season next year. I think Yao realizes his window in the NBA is closing and he wants to concentrate on winning a championship in Houston. He basically said that in an interview a few months back. Even though playing for his country is important to him, I think his priorities have changed. The Olympics in his country last summer hopefully fulfilled his committment to the national team and now he can fully commit to us (Houston Rockets). Get well Big Yao....rest up..take the summer off and come back healthy to us next season...
China should give him an honourable discharge. I want cba officials to ask themselves: If there is no yao left, how can he promote the greatness of China? It sucks that guys like yao and manu had to suffer the same fate. R.I.O rest in offseason
I dont think majority of chinese care about the national team performance. They are the proven best team in asia for a long time. Mostly i think it's the chinese basketball association officials who want yao to play.
The silver lining of Yao ironically getting rest cuz of his injury has been mentioned before and hasnt done much.
YOU CAN NEVER underestimate the power of bureaucratism in this country… IF YAO doesn't play for the national team, he would propagandize as a betrayer as WangZhizhi did several years ago.
Portraying China as the big bad bully has been pretty overdone..China would not treat Yao Ming like that
I hope so. Look, he started playing for China (last summer) when he wasn't even 100% healthly. AFter that he had a long 82-game season in the NBA and than 8 games in the postseason. I think it was too much for his boddy/leg to handle. I understand. though that Olimpics in CHina was the most important event in his carrer and he HAD TO play.
as a chinses ,china is not so bad as you think we also hope yao rest but you never know how important is yao ming for us he is the son of chinese
Haha it's pretty safe to say that even the chinese population (myself included) agree that he shouldn't be playing for the national side anymore. There is nothing to gain from that team. He has got D-league guards and soft bigs. I think last years Olympics may have been a reason why he was injured again this year on the same foot. He rushed rehab just to be a part of the Olympics and truth be told, he was no where near ready to compete. Doesn't it usually take 9 months for a fractured bone to heal but he played in the games 6 months later anyway? If he is done playing for hte national side, this means a WHOLE lot more rest time during the offseason and i do believe that he'll have a healthy season next year and for the years to come. But back to the question, i also heard that he said that the 2008 olympics would be the last time he'd be wearing the Chinese jersey and that his main focus was on winning a Championship for the rockets. Too bad half the fan base want him gone.
sorry,my english is not very well hope yao will have a perfect carrer in NBA i think he need's the champion not the money,he also likes staying houston whether yao is in rockets or not next season,we will continue supporting houston i like rockets for seven years
Don't get extreme there. The bureau has showed their understanding if Yao decides not to play the Asian tournament this year. As regards the Olympic Game last year, Yao wasn't forced to play for the team, instead he was eager to play in Beijing as he is such a patriotic person.
American houston fans hope that rebuild the team ,let yao out why?he is not the best ,but he is not expensive too also yao has the biggest market I cant understand the reason you said not beautiful memory in houston i think,until now only to the second round in yao's seven years
I'm so sure Yao doesn't want to play the China National Team games, it sucks. But, he know HUGE amount ppl are watching him and he doesn't want to be said as Wang ZZ or Liu Xiang.
I think china without yao is strong enough to beat any team in Asian, so, let yao have a rest in this summer. many people want rockets trade yao, it is not a bad news for yao, he need the champion but not the money in NBA
you know what? I'm Chinese, but I don't give a darn about the meaningless asian games. I just hope Yao can win a championship with the Rockets. Sadly, it is unlikely to happen.
i think the reason why they were playing Yao so much is the Olympics in china last year. Now that is over, I don't think they'll require him to play but time will tell