In a way I'm happy for Yao that he will get a little bit of off time. He's been playing basketball non-stop for a long time. It's sad that China gets so much of his money though, not to mention the IRS, so I wonder how much he really makes.
Even though Yao may be going back to China in the offseason, I am pretty sure he will dedicate himself this year to improving SPECIFIC aspects of his game more so than previous years. I think this because I remember Yao commenting after a Suns/Rockets game how impressed he was with Amare Stoudemire developing a midrange jumper and how he realized that the way to improve in this league is to target a particular aspect of your game and work to improve it. I guarantee you next year we will see one aspect of Yao's game dramatically improved. Book it!
I think there are some trades on yao's travel. obviously, yao and rox would not like him to go back china. but NBA, CBA(china), and all the sponsors dislike the idea. the result is yao will be back in beijing and jabbar will be there too. I am pretty sure he will teach yao sth there.
Jabbar? (Here's the transcript of the videotape shown in the league offices; in the case of David Stern vs. Yao Ming, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Mo Taylor) Jabbar's voice: "No, no....hold the screen like this; OK, now light it....inhale....inhale....not so much (laughing) you'll choke. See? (laughing) Big fella can't hold his smoke. That's OK, you'll get better at it. Hey, Mo! The bag's running low!" Mo Taylor's voice: "Ah man, you smoked all my s**t." Jabbar: "You got some more over there, you 8 million-a-year 3rd-string no-'count muhf***a." Taylor: "Look, if the Chinese know what we're doin up in here....I ain't even gonna mention the NBA..." Jabbar: "Young fella, this s**t is makin you paranoid." (sound of door getting kicked in; shouting voices in Chinese; cue, "Cops" theme with Chinese tones overlaid) Yao: (translated from the Chinese) "You've got it all wrong! These guys kidnapped me! I'm a national hero! Hey, that hurts! Do you know who I am? How about an autographed card for your kids? I want my mom! Aaaaaugh!"
