Chinese center Yao Ming is confident that he will be ready for the start of the NBA regular season after a Houston Rockets doctor declared his surgically repaired foot fully healed.
Yao missed last season after undergoing complex surgery on his left foot in July last year. Team doctor Tom Clanton has cleared Yao to resume basketball activities.
The Rockets had said all along that they expected Yao to play in the 2010-2011 season. Yao was still relieved when he got the official diagnosis.
“I am very excited,” Yao said on Tuesday. “I am just looking forward to playing a great season. I think I can count on my foot now.”
The 2.29m Yao sweated through a gray T-shirt during a vigorous workout for reporters at the Toyota Center. He mostly worked on post moves with teammate Chuck Hayes and 2.14m James Cripe, a player in the NBA’s developmental league.
He landed awkwardly on his left foot at one point, wincing in pain. He resumed the workout a few seconds later, and said he is less afraid to test the foot than he was two months ago, when he started running again.
“That’s just the confidence,” Yao said. “I think everybody would have that after a foot injury, and [I’m] just still a little bit weak on that. I just need to continue to build on that. Compared to two months ago, it’s really a lot better.”
General manager Daryl Morey says the team will be cautious with Yao and limit his minutes early in the season.
“It’s great news,” Morey said. “It’s what we anticipated, but until you get over these milestones, you’re never for sure. He looks like his old self. He still has a ways to go on his wind [fitness] and things like that, but it’s just good to see him out there.”
Early in his recovery, Yao had doubts about his future. In the month after he was told that he would likely miss the 2009-10 season, Yao said he secluded himself and hoped to find out later that the doctors had somehow made a mistake.
“That was really a hard month for me,” Yao said. “I got a lot of phone calls from the Rockets staff, coaches, players, teammates and my friends and of course, my family will always be there to stay with me. That was the hardest time, [and it’s] already passed. Now, we’re looking forward and making something good.”
The Rockets open training camp on Sept. 25. They will travel to China in mid-October for two preseason games against the New Jersey Nets.
At this point, Yao seems more concerned about rebuilding his stamina than re-injuring his foot. He said he’s lost 18kg in the last thee-and-a-half months, and still wants to lose 4.5kg to 7kg before the regular season begins.
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