Adrian Wojnarowski on twitter: "Rockets' Yao Ming has decided to retire from the NBA, league sources tell Y! Sports. He informed the league office within past 48 hours. Yao hasn't been able to recover fully from numerous operations. He is one of the seminal figures in globalization of the NBA and basketball."

I usually don't like writing a lot about topics, I usually just comment and listen to what others have to say. This time feels different. Yao Ming is the reason I became a fan of the Rockets. I was too young to get into the championship teams from the 90s, and I didn't really start watching a lot of basketball until the last few Jordan years. Yao Ming seemed bigger than life to me. He was going to turn our franchise around, a guy you could build a team around. He was more than that though. Not only was he one of the most talented, fearless basketball players I had ever seen...but Yao Ming seemed to be a different kind of person. Never saying "look at me", and was always a team player. Even though everyone wanted a piece of this guy, it never seemed to bother him. Yao Ming is the definition of a role model. No matter how many times he fell, he worked harder than everybody else to get back up. While a part of me is happy for this team to move on, I'm more sad that he'll never play again. I'll never get to watch his tremendous ability. He'll never get to hold up that trophy. Most people will remember him for his injuries, but I'll remember him for his dominance and determination. So I'd like to say thanks to Yao Ming, for everything he did for this franchise. I hope that he can finally take it easy and be healthy for his wife and family. If anyone deserves a great life after his career, it's the Great Wall.