Yao Ming, the Chinese giant who became the first superstar basketball player from Asia, has told the Houston Rockets and the NBA that he has retired, according to multiple reports yesterday.
The Houston Chronicle, ESPN and Sports Illustrated reported that Yao has decided against trying to make another comeback after injuries limited him to playing in only five games over the past two NBA seasons.
The Chronicle reported that the 2.29m Yao told the club a month ago he was not coming back after eight seasons in the NBA, the most recent of which have been dogged by injuries.
There was no immediate confirmation from the Rockets or the league regarding the status of the 30-year-old Yao, whose groundbreaking career helped the global growth of basketball and made him one of China’s most famous exports.
Yao’s agent in China told reporters that his man would make an announcement in his home city of Shanghai on July 20, fueling speculation in Chinese 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 said. “On July 20, we will hold a press conference in Shanghai to discuss the future plans of Yao Ming.”
Yao made his debut for the Rockets in 2002 after a stellar career for the Chinese national team and the Shanghai Sharks.
While Yao was not the first Chinese player in the NBA, his engaging personality made him a favorite for sponsors seeking a way to attract interest in the potentially hugely profitable China market and for NBA fans across Asia.
Beyond that, there was a formidable set of skills. Yao had a shooting touch for shots away from the basket, a quickness with the ball that enabled him to baffle even the best of rival centers, including NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal, who himself retired last month.
“You are one of the greatest players ever to come out of China, one of the greatest players period. I’m going to miss you bro. Enjoy retirement. Let’s go on vacation, bro. Me and you,” O’Neal said in a video posted on his Twitter account.
Yao’s NBA career with the Rockets has been plagued by numerous injuries, the most recent of them a stress fracture in his left leg suffered in a Nov. 10 loss last year at Washington which may well prove to be his farewell bow.
In 486 NBA games, Yao averaged 19.0 points, 9.3 rebounds, 1.9 blocked shots and 1.6 assists.
However, because of broken bones in his left foot, Yao missed the entire 2009-2010 season and played only five games last season, before what was originally diagnosed as a high ankle sprain was found to be a career-ending stress fracture.
Yao was the top selection in the 2002 NBA draft by Houston, becoming the first player from outside the US to be selected as the top choice.
With tremendous support from his hundreds of millions of fans in China, Yao was voted an NBA All-Star Game starter eight times. His 2007 NBA matchup against compatriot Yi Jianlian was seen in more than 200 million Chinese homes.
Rockets owner Leslie Alexander and Daryl Morey, the club’s general manager, said they would have wanted to sign a new contract with Yao if he was healthy.
In May, Yao said he was continuing with rehabilitation in hopes of making a return, but that any decision was unlikely before August.
With the NBA club owners and players having shut down the league for the first time since the 1998-1999 season was cut to 50 games, the planned start of the upcoming season around Nov. 1 is in jeopardy. That might have offered Yao even more time to recover had he felt he had been able to do so.
Brazil has four teams, more than any other country, in the expanded Club World Cup that kicked off yesterday in the US, but for SE Palmeiras, the competition holds a special meaning: winning it would provide some redemption. Under coach Abel Ferreira since 2020, Palmeiras lifted two Copa Libertadores titles, plus Brazilian league, cup and state championships. Even before Ferreira, it boasted another South American crown and 11 league titles. The only major trophy missing is a world champions’ title. Other Brazilian clubs like Fluminense FC and Botafogo FR, also in the tournament, have never won it either, but the problem for Palmeiras
Paris Saint-Germain’s Lee Kang-in has pleaded with South Korea fans to get behind the team at the 2026 FIFA World Cup after more boos were aimed at coach Hong Myung-bo despite leading them to qualification. South Korea reached next year’s finals in North America without losing a game, but that does not tell the whole story. The country’s soccer association has been in the firing line, having scrambled about to find a successor after sacking the unpopular Jurgen Klinsmann in February last year. They eventually settled on Hong, the decorated former skipper who had an unsuccessful stint as coach in 2013-2014, during which
Lionel Messi drew vast crowds and showed flashes of his brilliance when his Inter Miami side were held to a goalless draw by African giants Al-Ahly as the revamped FIFA Club World Cup got off to a festive start on Saturday. Fans showed up en masse for the Group A clash at the Hard Rock Stadium, home to the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, but Messi could not fully deliver, his best chance coming through a last-second attempt that was deflected onto the crossbar. Inter Miami next face FC Porto on Thursday in Atlanta, while Al-Ahly, who benefited from raucous, massive support, are to
Ferrari’s F1 fortunes might be flagging, but the Italian team start this weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans as favorites, targeting a third consecutive triumph in motorsport’s fabled endurance classic. Roger Federer is acting as celebrity starter with the tennis icon getting the 93rd edition of the jewel in four-wheeled endurance racing’s crown under way tomorrow. Twenty-four hours later, through daylight, darkness and dawn, the 21 elite hypercars are to battle it out over 300 laps (more than 4,000km) in front of a sold-out 320,000 crowd burning the midnight oil with copious quantities of coffee and beer. Ferrari made a triumphant return after
RSS