HOUSTON, Texas - The hairline fracture in Houston Rockets center Yao Ming's left foot could reportedly keep him sidelined next season and may be career-threatening.
The Houston Chronicle on Monday quoted Rockets team physician Tom Clanton: "At this point, the injury has the potential for him missing this next season and could be career threatening. One of the things we are trying to get is a consensus opinion on that, to make certain there is no option we are overlooking that would provide an earlier return or would be an option for treatment that he would prefer rather than doing additional surgery."
Yao will receive several more opinions regarding the various options recommended to repair the bone, which was expected to be healed by last week.
Instead, the fracture -- originally discovered following Houston's Game 3 loss to the Lakers in the Western Conference semifinals -- grew worse despite treatment, and no timeline was set for his return to basketball activities.
Yao missed only two out of 246 games in his first three years in the NBA, but he's been hit with injury problems since then. In April 2006, he suffered a broken bone in his left foot and the following season played in just 48 games after suffering a right knee injury. Yao was limited to 55 games in 2007-08 due to a stress fracture in his left foot, but he returned to play in the Beijing Olympics and missed just five regular season games in the 2008-09 campaign.
The 7-foot-6 center has been named an All-Star in each of his seven seasons in the NBA after being selected No. 1 overall in the 2002 Draft.
In 481 career games -- all with Houston -- Yao has averaged 19.1 points, 9.3 rebounds and 1.9 blocks, leading the Rockets to just one appearance in the second round of the playoffs, which occurred this past season.
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