I thought during lockout yao can't talk with the rockets. So his retirement would have to go through the NBA league offices.
I am sure all will be known at Yao's press conference set for the 20th of July. I for one will be looking forward to it so that all the speculations can be done with. Whatever Yao decides I wish him the best.
Yao's chinese agent backtracks or clarifies. No way Yao holds a presser to announce he's not retiring. http://nz.sports.yahoo.com/news/article/-/9812637/yao-mings-retirement-officially-announced/ " Yao's agent in China told reporters that his man would make an announcement in his home city of Shanghai on July 20, fuelling speculation in China's media that he would formally announce his retirement then. "I am not denying the reports... I'm just saying Yao Ming has not announced his retirement," Zhang Mingji told AFP on Saturday. "On July 20, we will hold a press conference in Shanghai to discuss the future plans of Yao Ming." "
When I saw "Maybe he'll be an assistant coach," I kinda stopped following the thread word-for-word. Sorry if my sentence wasted your time. I already felt mine was wasted. And I don't see a rule stating that one cannot express a similar opinion to others in the thread. There is a rule about making duplicate threads. That, I did not do.
I saw something on Twitter yesterday, I think it might have been Chris Mannix, that said Yao does not have to "file" anything to retire. He is an unrestricted free agent and you do not have to contact the league or team for any reason. He can just simply walk away, doesn't have to do any official paperwork. I think this is why a lot of outlets are getting confused.
as in take some time off.. go to med school.. and return as a doctor for the rockets??? sounds like a good plan!
He knew that if he hurt his hometown enough the NBA would give them 2 first round picks the following year.
The thing that seems odd to me is that there has not been a report of Yao's Leg not healing properly. It seems like less then a month ago the word was that we was going to attempt a come back and play for a max of 2 years. Maybe on the 20th he will announce the Medical reason behind the retirement. Maybe he does not want to be involved with the NBA again till a new CBA is reached.
The message I get for that article is that he is not announcing his retirement yet, but he will in July 20.