Yao Ming is Retiring from NBA

Yao Ming is keeping fans in suspense regarding his career plans for a few more days.

The 30-year-old Chinese basketball star was rumored to have decided to retire last week, with Yahoo Sports, citing NBA league sources, reporting that the 7-foot-6-inch center was calling it quits after nine seasons.

But Yao himself has remained mum on the subject, saying only that he will hold a news conference on July 20 in Shanghai to announce his plans.

His agent, John Huizenga, declined to confirm the retirement report.

“I’m not in a position to do that,” Huizenga told the Associated Press.  ”He’s going to have a press conference on July 20. What that says is that’s  the time Yao is going to make a statement, and I don’t think it’s appropriate  for me to say anything before he does.”

Retirement might disappoint Yao’s fans, but it wouldn’t surprise many—Yao played only five games for the Houston Rockets last season, and has missed 250 regular season games over the past six seasons. The eight-time all-star was a difficult matchup for all but the toughest NBA centers, but in the end his greatest opponent may prove to have been his own body.

The stress fracture in his left ankle that ended Yao’s last season was only the latest in a string of leg and foot injuries that held him back. While these sorts of injuries are common among players north of seven feet tall—recall Romanian center Gheorghe Muresan, whose 7-foot-7-inch frame broke down frequently—it was thought that Yao’s broad trunk would provide more support for his massive upper body. The reality proved those forecasts were wrong, but Yao earned the respect of his peers, with old foe Shaquille O’Neal, himself a recent retiree, tipping his cap to Yao on Twitter last week (and taking a clumsy stab at thanking him in Chinese):  “Congrats on your retirement Yao Ming. Shay shay”

But if it is the end of the road for Yao as a player, his legacy won’t be defined by fragility. Indeed, as the first Chinese player to star in the NBA, he blazed a trail for China’s top talent to the world’s biggest basketball stage—and a trail for the NBA to develop its business further in China.

One of his former coaches, Jeff Van Gundy, told the Houston Chronicle that while Yao’s career statistics are good but not great, he nonetheless deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.

Whether that happens or not, Yao, the owner of the Shanghai Sharks, the team he played for before moving to the U.S., will almost certainly continue to play a role in China’s booming basketball story.

Late last year, with Yao’s eventual retirement looming, Sports Illustrated saluted Yao as the most influential NBA player since Michael Jordan, and suggested that when his playing days were done, the next phase of his career might see him as commissioner of China’s professional basketball league.

If that’s the path Yao plans to discuss at his July 20 news conference, it’s hoped that he’ll learn from the mistake of another influential NBA big man whose ‘decision’ news conference a year ago didn’t go over well.

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