sigh, nowhere did I explicitly state or imply that Yao was lazy in any way. I acknowledge that he is probably one of the hardest workers in the NBA, if not the hardest. What I was saying is that the argument that Yao gets injured because he is tall and weights 300 lbs (as a function of his height) is lazy. Yao is less than graceful compared to the average athlete. Each step he takes is more burdensome/heavy/unnatural looking as a result of his lack of gracefulness. This, combined with his heavy usage, is why he has such a tendency to get injured. Zydrunas Ilgauskas was clumsy in similar matter and ended up with the same injuries until he was relegated to mostly a spot-up shooter. Relative clumsiness and heavy minutes in the post is a recipe for disaster. If these tall guys weren't as tall, they wouldn't be in the NBA and would simply be average from an athletic perspective.
I was wrong about the lazy part but i still dont see how being clumsy matters that much. He is a professional basketball with better footwork than most people. Yeah it does have an effect but it still comes down to his height and weight being the main factor. You cant be a good finesse player like Yao without having some good footwork. We have all seen him do spin moves, up and unders, etc. You mention Big Z but his case is different. He was hurt all the time from the start of his career. Yao broke down after several healthy seasons.
Yao's problem is that he lands heavy, which is what probably leads to his clumsiness... He may have a structural issue that he was born with, but mainly i think it just due to trying to live in the world of shorter people. He's constantly having to adapt to smaller things, incuding the rim. Basketball and this world wasn't built for people like him. i think that's taken away some continuity in his body's rythm and as a result he lands heavily, which transfers more force down to his feet when he lands.
his foot is not big enough for his body. he has a size 18 while shaq has a size 24-25 force per unit of area is more for yao therefore causing his bones to break
