Yao’s got it in him to come back and he will.

A source I have says that Yao is 90% unlikely to ever play again, according to sources with the Rockets. I told him to go f—k off.

I like it. I hope Yao Ming doesn’t have a premature end to his career even if that’s the feeling. Still, you have to wait until you get to that bridge before you can say his career is done. And, as you say, all we know now is that Yao is having surgery.

Wojnarowski is doing everything in his power to piss fans off nationwide.

Woj’s stuff is hit or miss. He knows his stuff when it comes to basketball in the large, but he tends to come up short when writing about specific teams and players.

Besides, he knows that writing negative stuff generates a lot more buzz among fans than he’d get writing puff pieces. He knows what buttons to push to get more traffic, more page hits and more reads.

Thanks for the link to the SI article. It was a very enlightening read. I particularly enjoyed reading that, in ‘07, Yao was benching 310, while Dwight Howard’s personal best was 345.

I can’t say I was entirely surprised to read that whenever Yao plays against Howard, Yao plays extra hard; it certainly helps explain why the Rockets own the Magic darn near every time Yao is in the lineup.

Additionally, reading that U2’s Desire makes him drive too fast, leads me to wonder if he’s ever been pulled over for speeding. I don’t care how jaded the cop is; the “ZOMG IT’S YAO MING” reaction is inevitable. :D

Here are some possibilities to consider:

1. Many people think Yao is done because this surgery is proceeding as a way to allow Yao to live a more or less normal life (without basketball) afterwards.

2. No one knows what the outcome will be. It might be great, it might not, but it is the best chance of a real recovery and subsequent career.

3. The Rockets are downplaying a recovery to playing basketball for Yao as a way of getting the Chinese national team out of the picture.

If the China national team thinks Yao is recovered, it will place demands on him as soon as he’s able to play at all. This would naturally ruin his long term recovery. The Rockets are also downplaying the recovery chance as a means to get Yao the rest he needs, and has never, ever, gotten in his pro career.

I believe #3. There is a significant risk that Yao really won’t be able to play at an NBA level again, but the Rockets are fairly optimistic he will, in about 18 months. The Rockets and Yao are doing the hard thing now for a better payoff later. They are also trying to lay a bit of a smokescreen, not to alarm their fans, but to throw the Chinese national team off Yao’s case.

Yes.

Unlike Fail Walton, Yao’s legacy will go on regardless.

It would be a devastating blow to the NBA if Yao doesn’t return.

Yao’s return? Yes he can.

he sucks as a journalists, i’ve never seen real journalism from anyof those Yahoo Sport writers, and I just emailed Adrian about his writing the other day. Aweful.

Yao WILL be back! He is dedicated, true gentleman!

lol…i am so glad someone posted an adrian wojnorwaski (or however, you spell it) article and refuted it. the guy talks so much smack…