Yao is not a greedy person. Despite his salary he lives modestly with his parents and wife (not sure if Yao and his wife have moved out now). If he feels there's a greater chance of winning a championship on another team and he's offered a reasonable contract, he will not waste his remaining years with the Houston Rockets. In order for Les to keep Yao, he has to assemble a contending team by the time Yao is able to opt out. Les is smart enough to know Yao's popularity in China is not invincible and can waver if the team he's on does poorly. That translates to lower income. The novelty of seeing their very own 7'6" Chinese guy in the NBA has worn off, now NBA fans in China also expect to see results. Fans are naive if they don't think teams will court Yao and all the attention from China he brings. Many big market teams are salivating at a very possible Wade + Yao or Lebron + Yao combo. Imagine the money the Knicks would rake in if they somehow managed to land Yao AND Lebron. They could easily do so by convincing both players to take a little less because the benefits from them playing together would be greater than a minor wage decrease.
Yao can opt out after this coming season. He won't, though, because he'll be coming off of a season where he didn't play and won't get the fruitful offers he would've if he had finished last season healthy. If Yao continues to be injury-plagued, I can't see a whole lot of teams (including Houston) spending top dollar on him. That's why he won't opt out after this season, but will let his contract expire after the 2010-2011 season. That will at least give him a full season to see how his body responds to the surgery.
People Stop saying trade Yao les alexander stuck with im for 8 years I dont think it would change now plus Yao can run the break i think given a chance and he proves sometimes (E.g. His block on blake) .. If U wanna trade might aswell relocate U cant say rockets with saying houston and U cant say Rockets with metioning the Great Wall .. we lose a chunk of our indetity as a team .. dont use the words Yao and trade in the same sentence too loosley .. I think Les Alexander statement was a bit unprofessional .. overall he is a great owner were lucky to have him he's a passionate owner he loves the team he's not a businessman like sterling or heisley or kronke .. we should appreciate him more ..
There were a lot of character guys here before Yao, and there will be a lot after. Yao isn't untouchable until he wins a ring with us. If we're getting something great in return, I'd be all for trading him. You CAN say Rockets without mentioning Yao, TMac, or any other current player. Anything that makes the team better should be what Houston wants.
buy a team, give the zealous a chance to micro analyze your lack of enthusiasm. Les gives at least one of these eyebrow raising statements every year. offseason's been slow, understandable that every molehill becomes a mountain.
I don't care what Les says. He wants to win and puts his money where his mouth is. He's not afraid to spend gobs of money and take risks. He's the best owner is the history of professional sports in Houston. Period. Only two things have happened that irritated me during his time as owner: Dream left and he changed our unis to those god-awful pin-stripes. Other than that, I'm more than happy with Les.
