NBA – Yao Ming cleared to play again
Houston Rockets star centre Yao Ming has been cleared by the doctors to play again, after undergoing a successful foot surgery. Yao missed the whole of last season due to a devastating left foot injury, which erupted rumours in the media how the Chinese native might never return to the league. This left many fans in distraught, and the team wondering if they would ever be able to sign up on vivid player like Yao.
However the one-year misery has been put to an end, the 7’6” giant who once who landed gawkily on his left foot, stepped back on court this evening to resume practice. Yao told the press his fans and teams support is what got him through the awful injury, helping him recover sooner than it was anticipated.
"That was really a hard month for me, got a lot of phone calls from the Rockets staff, coaches, players, teammates and my friends and of course, my family will always be there to stay with me,” said Yao Ming to the reporters on his return.
Yao has lost more than 18kgs of weight during his time off, he told the reporters he is determined and will work extremely hard in the upcoming season to get back into shape. Yao was wearing a gray T-shirt which was wet due to sweat after his vigorous workout at the Toyota Centre. He was accompanied by his NBA’s development team player James Crispe and teammate Chuck Hayes.
General Manager of Houston Rockets, Daryl Morey, told the press he will be extremely careful and give Yao limited runs on the court, as he does not want to risk the player with another injury.
“It's great news, it’s what we anticipated, but until you get over these milestones, you never know for sure. He looks like his old self. He still has ways to go on his wind and things like that. But it's just good to see him out there,” said Daryl Morey.
When Yao was flooded with questions by the reporters present at the Toyota Centre, regarding the upcoming season which is due to begin in October that whether he would be making an appearance in it or not. Yao said "I am very excited; I am just looking forward to playing a great season. I think I can count on my foot now."
Yao who turns 30 next month, has a stellar career average of 19.8 points with 9.3 rebounds per game and has made it to the playoffs four times since he was drafted in 2002 as the 1st pick overall in round one.
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