What about my list: shaq - 38 years old. Won championship at 34. 7 foot 2. STILL contributing. David robinson- Played until 38. Won championships at 34 and 38 missed a whole season due to injury. 7 foot 1 shawn bradley - played until 35, 7 foot 7 bill walton - played until 35 ,7 foot. similar foot injuries to yao wilt chamberlain - played until 37 , 7 foot 1 Jabbar - played until 42 ,7 foot 2 ,won 3 championships AFTER 38 Ilgauskas - 35 years old, 7 foot 2 ,missed a whole season and came back exact same injury as yao. STILL Contributing olajuwon - 7 foot (okay well maybe 6'10) won championships at 32/33
Nice list...if there was a Tim Duncan in next year's draft, even I would seriously consider giving some of our better players some extra rest... . Regarding what NIKEstrad said...13/6...yes, it's a dilemma...how do you pay the guy. I'd be ecstatic if we could keep him around long-term for something like 7-8 million/year or so. As you said, 13/6 (I think that's a low estimate) is more than most teams get out of the center position. He just makes such a positive difference to our game when he is out there. I just don't understand fans who want him to go, regardless of how much he is paid. Neither is it deserved nor does it make much sense from a basketball standpoint. I can see where they are coming from, being frustrated, but it's not fair to hate on the guy.
Perhaps it's been mentioned already, but I see two potential futures with Yao, each with a best and worst-case scenario: 1) We keep the team Yao-centric, plug him into the post upon his return, hold our breath every game, and hope for the best. The best case scenario here is also the least likely scenario: Yao holds up and returns to his former dominant self and eventually retires at a respectable age. As much as I would wish-wish-wish for this to be the case, I just can't see it happening. The worst case scenario here is, in my opinion, the most likely scenario: Yao goes down and stays down, leaving the team without it's focal point and forced to rebuild/restructure everything. 2) We let Yao heal as much as he needs to, recognizing that his feet simply cannot take being the beating of being the offensive focal point in the low-post. Upon his return, we utilize his passing and shooting strengths by turning him into an outside/high post player, like Ilgauskis, Smits, or Sabonis. He wouldn't even have to change his game as Yao has always been a good shooter and passer. If anything, he'd be going back to the game he came into the NBA with in the first place. The best case scenario, I think, is fairly likely: not being in the low post and not being the focal point means he takes far less of a beating game in and game out. This let's us move on as a team by establishing another offensive focal point while having a 7'6" passing and shooting over every other team in the NBA. The worst case scenario is he goes down and stays down, but the team isn't hurt nearly as much because they've already established they cannot pin their future on Yao's feet. I hate saying all of this because man I just love the guy, but I'd much rather see him stay in Houston and get all that he can out of his career. I'm hoping for a miracle like most everyone else, but I believe his days as a 20/10 traditional center are over. That said, I see no reason why he can't put up 10-15 with a few-to-several assists per game.
All comes down to money, ultimately. How much is going to get offered elsewhere? How low will he go to be what you're suggesting, above? Honestly, I think what you're suggesting above is the very maximum of what he's going to be physically capable of over the next couple of years. From a purely psychological standpoint...how many more injuries until he says enough is enough? Until he shuts it down. He's out right now...has been about a month...with no timetable yet for his return. No idea when he's coming back. If he comes back...and gets injured again this season, similar to this one (and honestly, don't you almost expect that now? staying healthy would NOT be the norm)....does he say, "enough's enough" at that point? We're talking about 5 years of this, now. Missed seasons. I can't imagine how frustrating this is for him.
Great post - I also think option 2 a) is the most likely one. Hopefully we can find a deal with him and his management team that makes it possible to keep him at a price that allows the team to get the other pieces to compete for a championship.
There's a big difference between 7'1'' and 7'6''. It's like comparing a 7'0''er with a guy who is 6'7''.
You're right: Yao staying healthy most definitely is NOT the norm. Hasn't Yao stated in the past that if he suffers another season-ending injury, he'd retire? Maybe this is naive on my part, but I would think this would indicate that he'd be willing to accept a lesser role (or at a minimum, explore the possibility) if it meant making the most of, and thus extending, his career. Besides, isn't Adelman known for this offensively? I can't think of a coach more experienced at utilizing a high-post playing, mid-range shooting, passing center than the coach we have right now: Sabonis, Divac, Miller, even Webber....they all played, and played very well, under Adelman. I'd have a harder time imagining an American-born player (and their people/handlers) doing this, but Yao has done nothing but buck the trend of ego-centric professional athletes since day 1. Again, maybe it's naive on my part, but Yao is and always has been just....different. Agreed. Even if it's just a year or two to see how he holds up. I'm not a cap-ologist....would it hamstring us to entice him with a max-money, 1-2 year contract to see where it goes and what he's capable of? Would any other team be foolish enough to offer him a full-blown max-money, max-time contract with his health issues? Crazier things have happened, I guess.
MadMax, The fact that you nullify any comparisons of Yao to Big Z over a 2 inch difference and your use other centers (mostly unknown/not famous or good at all really) who better meet your end argument tell me 2 things. 1) Your argument skills need serious work. 2) Your posts here are a waste of time.
Most of these guys were not as proportionate as Yao. I think some of them suffered from acromegaly. None of them ever proved to be able to play as well as Yao did, so there was also much less of an incentive for teams to fight to keep them around, which also influences the retirement age. I still maintain that Ilgauskas is the most appropriate comparison, and I draw hope from that.
But that's kind of the point: what would they get for him? Some merch sales? His feet make him an incredible risk for max money, no matter the team. And if he'd bring them so much money that they'd be willing to risk it, that means the Rockets would benefit from the exact same thing, so they might as well keep him regardless of the price, right?
Is there a specific date on when he'll be back in uniform?? It's about to be January and before you know it the season is gonna be over soon...
There's no sample bias in Max's list. In fact, he used the full population of NBA players over 7'5''. On the other hand, wanting to select the one person that happens to have overcome injuries is a textbook example of sample bias.
