Alright, some recap... Ric Bucher was on, and he said that he "spoke with Yao Ming" last night and Yao told him that he was "glad the season is over", although he's not happy about how it ended (i.e. with a broken foot). He said that Yao will have a surgery on Friday and then won't be able to walk on it or do anything for four weeks. Then, the boys (that would Greg Anthony and Tim Legler) discussed how horrible and "disasterous" the whole season has been for the Rockets, and then evaluated the "new Yao" and they all liked what they saw, but both relayed concern that Yao would "go back to his old self" and be more passive once McGrady gets back on the court next season, saying the Rockets coaching staff need to make sure that T-Mac and Yao's roles "are defined" so that there's no confusion as to whom the game would run through. The more concerning part was Tim Legler talking about how "extremely careful" the Rockets have to be with Yao's injury because "many big men in the past have had their careers altered due to foot injuries, from Big Z to Big Red to Smits, among others). He also voiced concerns about Yao likely going back after this season is over to China and not having sufficiently rested and rehabed to get ready for the next season, saying "The only thing the Rox organization have to be concerned with is Yao's health come October". Not sure if I recaped everything here, but will add to it if realize that I failed to mention other key points in the discussion...
That doesn't necessarily mean it has top-rated specialist(s) in every discipline. No medical center can claim that. "Podiatrists are sometimes referred to as foot doctors, foot and ankle surgeons, or podiatric surgeons." link
A total of 6 months would mean that he would be back at the start of the next season. I hope we will see a healthy and active Yao back like we have been seeing in the 2nd half of this year.
No 4 weeks to heal enough to finally begin to bear weight on it. 4-6 months to fully heal. It's consistent with information regarding "jones fracture" recoveries. I can't believe we had a bunch of folks earlier thinking this was not serious when we had already heard that it was a jones fracture last night. They checked it out on a x-ray last night in Utah after it happened and had an MRI done today.
Bucher said Yao won't do any activities for four weeks, but the recovery will take much longer, no doubt. EDIT: I see Tango covered it.
If I am understanding this correctly, he will not be "healed" until training camp, which means he will miss the entire Chinese CBA season, correct? And, he will hardly be ready for the Rocket's season. I have a very bad feeling about this. Just too much.
I have no idea about feet. But (speaking from personal experience) Houston has world class hand surgeons. Many years ago, I had a tendon re-attachment similar to Hakeem's. Drs. James Benett and Thomas Mehlhoff were nothing short of miraculous. IIRC, Dr. Melhoff is also the team surgeon for the Astros. The choice is ultimately Yao's but my guess is that Keith Jones is "wired-in" to the best available anywhere.
Yao is not playing in CBA once he joins NBA. The only obligation with the Chinese basketball program is to train with and compete for the national team in WCs and Olympics.
That's exactly right. There's no silver lining here folks. The 4-6 months to heal means that it's going to take that long before he's can fully work on any of his post moves that have any cuts, laterals, or pivots associated with them.
Podiatrists are self-claimed doctors. They do not have any formal medical training. They certainly are not qualified to fix broken foot. Orthopedic surgeons are the ones you'll need to call to fix broken bones. There are subspecialists within orthopedic surgery like hand and spine, etc.
