Houston Rockets center Yao Ming is expected to miss at least two more weeks because of a bone bruise in his left ankle… Team doctor Tom Clanton said in a statement from the Rockets on Friday that Yao’s left foot is “completely healed and the structural integrity of the foot is intact.”
If the continued health of one of the NBA’s most injury-prone players (albeit his status as our injury-prone player) plays into any fan’s optimism for a resurgence of this year’s version of the Houston Rockets, fate has another thing coming. Remember this offseason as every commentator and fan would qualify every lofty prediction or enthusiastic hope with “if the big fella’s healthy”? This is why. It’s just another two weeks, but anyone who follows any oft-injured sports team knows that another two weeks can turn into a season-ending injury announced before the trade deadline to further ensure that a past-his-prime Ron Artest would be the team’s best wing option come playoff time (much love, Tracy). This Rockets team needs to figure out how to integrate its myriad one-dimensional players into winning lineups that don’t completely look incompetent on end of the floor, without keeping that giant in mind. Everyone may love Yao Ming, but we’d be fools to keep depending on his presence.
