Yao to undergo surgery to repair hairline fracture (UPDATE: Surgery successful)

What are the insurance ramifications of this?

I guess we can save money from his salary then. Honestly if I were Morey, I would try to make him opt out next summer and resign another contract for less money but over a longer time frame. Sorry Yao, but you are no longer a max salary player and not worth the investment of a large contract. This is just pure business, try to dump Yao off the books and make a splash in 2010 with 2 top free agents like Joe Johnson or Dwayne Wade + Chris Bosh.

 

Hardly, his foot will be reshaped so that it will be allow to heal and prevent further injury in the future. Ilgauskas has done the same surgery and came back healthy, he has being health for 3 years since then. I am sure Yao will rehab back to his original form. I am sure rehab process is very long and tough, but if there is a man who can handle it then it will be Yao. We all know how hard this guy train.

 

wow...far fetched...

 

At least, we can draft Tim Duncan next year, play Twin Towers with Yao and Duncan, and win the championship. It's worked before.

 

Any complications or rehab setbacks pushes it back even further. Even with no setbacks, Yao would have gone over a year without playing competitive basketball. It'll take months before he's in any kind of shape to play ball.

In other words, as far as serious oncourt contributions, I wouldn't expect anything from Yao until close to midseason of next year.

 

I hope we can sign a big free agent next offseason but the salary cap news is not very good. I hope yao can come back from this surgery and put up 20/10.

 

Wow. Jaw dropper. I thought he would be ready around the draft. My godness this is serious. Looks like we will be waiting another 5 years before dreaming of a chip

 

Yao sucks.

 

Best wishes to Yao. I can not think of a player more deserving to be healthy. Get well soon big fella.


On the other hand, from what I read, this foot-realignment surgery is rare and there is no guarantee that it will succeed. The Rockets must be prepared to move on without Yao.

 

Okay,(if Yao is out till Oct 2010 )
New Goal would be to get the top pick of draft and pull a San Antonio Spurs
JOHN WALL.....
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Paul Wall looks way better than Ricky Rubio.

He's got great control of his speed and can score.

 

his hang time is niiiice, he just floats up there and hangs for the right amount of time very effortlessly........good footwork also

 

so if he really is ruled out for the season then why are they leavig him on the 15 man roster?...i read earlier that he will count on it...if he is 100% out for the season then why would he not be taken off the roster for this year?

 

Great news. Best of luck to Yao!

 

Because his contract is guaranteed.

 

So has Yao actually come out to the Chinese news websites and said he is using Ilgauskas' surgeon yet?

I am still hoping he said it.

 

He better ****ing say no to playing at the FIBA 2010 WC!!

I'm tired of my favorite sports franchise being held hostage by his damn feet!

 

good luck Yao.

 

Yao hopeful for 2010 return! {espn}

Yao to have surgery, likely out 2009-

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4336553

Houston Rockets center Yao Ming has elected to have extensive surgery on his fractured left foot that almost certainly eliminates his chances of playing next season but offers hope that he can resume his NBA career and not fracture the foot a career-ending third time.

After consultation with a battery of doctors, Yao, 28, has decided to undergo a bone graft to heal the existing fracture and have his arch surgically lowered to reduce the stress on his foot.

Cavaliers center Zydrunas Ilgauskas had a fracture in the same part of the foot, had a similar combination of surgeries and has played the past eight seasons without suffering another fracture.

Yao has broken the foot twice, most recently in May in Game 3 of Houston's second-round playoff battle with the eventual champions, the Lakers.

It originally was hoped the fracture would heal with rest and Yao would be back for training camp, but a check-up in June revealed the fracture had not improved.

Yao spoke with Ilgauskas before making his decision and was encouraged by what Ilgauskas told him.

"I am confident that the path I have chosen is the best one," Yao said. "I know I have a lot of work ahead of me before I can be back on the court, and I am committed to do whatever I can to make my recovery 100 percent successful. I have full confidence I'll play again."

The surgery will be performed next week by Dr. Tom Clanton, one of the Rockets' team physicians. If all goes well, Yao said, he could begin rehabilitation "a couple weeks" after surgery and could return to basketball activity in six months.

The Rockets said Friday that there is no timetable set for the return of 7-foot-6 Yao, a seven-time All-Star but that he is "expected to be available for the team's training camp in 2010." That camp is in October -- 15 months away.

"This combination of procedures should not only allow healing of his navicular stress fracture, but also improve the mechanics of his foot to reduce the stress on that bone and give him the best long-term prognosis," Clanton said in a statement.

The decision for surgery was expected. The Rockets applied for a disabled player exception from the NBA a few weeks ago, betting that their center will miss next season as he recovers. The NBA agreed that Yao's return is unlikely and approved the request, freeing up about $5.7 million, which the Rockets used to sign free agent Trevor Ariza from the Lakers.

Houston has also scrambled to find a center since free agency began and this week acquired 6-foot-11 David Andersen in a trade with Atlanta.

Yao has been consulting with doctors since late June, when the Rockets said he would be out indefinitely.

After Yao suffered a hairline fracture in the foot in that May playoff game, the team initially said he would miss only eight to 12 weeks. When doctors re-examined the injury about seven weeks later, however, they discovered that the injury had not healed and amended the prognosis.

Yao started 77 games in 2008-09, his most injury-free season since 2004-05, when he played in 80.

He sat out one game in November with soreness in the foot, but didn't have another problem with it until the playoffs. He led the Rockets past Portland in the first round -- Houston's first playoff series win since 1997 -- before hurting his foot late in Game 3 of the second round against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Yao said two days later that the injury wasn't as severe as other ones and that he wasn't overly concerned. He had missed the last 26 games of the 2007-08 with a stress fracture in the same foot. He had pins inserted and rushed his rehab to play in the Beijing Olympics.

Yao is due to make about $16 million next season and holds the option of returning to the Rockets for 2010-11. General manager Daryl Morey called Yao the "cornerstone" of the franchise before the team changed Yao's prognosis in June.

Yao recently purchased his former team, the financially troubled Shanghai Sharks, but said this week that that was not an indication that he was planning an early retirement.

"I do not have any plans to retire and my doctors and I are very confident that I can fully recover and return to the stadium; the team and the acquisition has nothing to do with my injury," Yao said in an interview Friday with Xinhua.

Houston drafted Yao with the No. 1 overall pick in 2002. He averaged 13.5 points and 8.2 rebounds as a rookie and quickly established himself as a perennial All-Star.

The injury issues began in the 2005-06 season, when he sat out 21 games with an infection in his left big toe. He broke a bone in his left foot near the end of that season and had surgery.

Yao then broke his right leg early in the 2006-07 season and missed 32 games, then suffered the stress fracture in his left foot in 2007-08.

The latest injury likely drops the Rockets out of contention next season.

Houston acquired Tracy McGrady in June 2004 and envisioned the two-time scoring champion joining Yao in a devastating inside-out threat. The Rockets went 146-74 when Yao and McGrady played together, but it happened so rarely in five seasons that it never mattered in the end.

McGrady ran into as many injuries as Yao. He underwent microfracture surgery on his left knee in February and was expected to miss as long as 12 months. His contract expires after next season.

The Rockets acquired forward Ron Artest last summer with the hope of creating a "big three" that would vault Houston into championship contention. But now McGrady and Yao are out for months to come and Artest bolted for the Lakers a few weeks ago.