HOUSTON -- Yao Ming has cleared all the hurdles necessary to begin his NBA career with the Houston Rockets, his agent, Erik Zhang, confirmed Thursday. "I think it's done,'' Zhang said in a telephone interview with the Associated Press. "We're trying to get him to Houston Sunday or Monday. We're ecstatic. This is great. Everything has turned out great.'' Yao was the Rockets' first pick in the NBA draft and has been playing internationally for the Chinese national team. He has missed Rockets training camp, including their first five preseason games. "He's not going to miss any regular-season games,'' Zhang said. "He'll have 10 days to get ready, although he missed a lot of time in training camp.'' The Rockets host the San Antonio Spurs Sunday in a preseason game. After completing his obligations with his national team in China, Yao had to give assurances that he would return for future international events. "Yao has signed an agreement with the CBA (China Basketball Association) basically affirming his responsibilities as a national team player,'' Zhang said. "Houston has reached agreement with the CBA on various issues. The key was allowing Yao to play for the national team.'' Zhang said Yao's mother already is in Houston and that his father will travel with the 7-foot-6 center. "The plans are for his mother to stay for the season to help him in his adjustment,'' Zhang said. "His father will stay for about a month and then return to China.'' The last hurdle was thought to be a release from the international basketball organization (FIBA), but apparently that was not the case. "Yao informed me that the CBA told him it is not necessary to wait for the release from FIBA because it is forthcoming and that he has fulfilled his national team obligations for now and he is free to go to Houston and they wish him the very best,'' Zhang earlier told Houston television station KRIV. Yao already has received his visa and signed his allegiance to the CBA, also requirements to become a Rocket. Michael Goldberg, a Rockets attorney, told the Houston Chronicle and KRIV by telephone from Seoul, South Korea, that he has worked out the terms of Yao's release and the signing was expected early Friday morning in China, which is Thursday evening in Houston. "I'm very proud of our organization and the work we've done to get this finished,'' Goldberg told the Chronicle. "I have felt positive that we would get to this stage. But with almost every day people asking me if the big man is here yet, it's a tremendous relief to finally be able to say 'yes.' "Every day, for the last three weeks, I would get a call from (Rockets general manager Carroll Dawson) telling me that the big man hasn't showed up yet. I'll be happy on Sunday, when the call is the big man is here.'' Yao has agreed to a four-year, $17.8 million contract, including an option year. "The paperwork will be finished sometime (Thursday),'' Goldberg said. "But we're done. We're done.''
