Daily Factoid: The ten tallest players in NBA history (ranging from 7’4 to 7’7) have played, on average, a total of eight seasons. To date, Yao Ming, the third tallest player in league history, has been in the NBA for eight seasons.
- ESPN – ‘Yao might quit if foot doesn’t heal’: “Houston Rockets center Yao Ming is considering quitting basketball after next season if he doesn’t fully recover from his lingering foot injury… ‘If the foot injury does not heal next season, I might choose to call it quits,’ he said… ”The chance is very small,’ the 7-6 center was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency. ‘The foot injury will not allow me to play so many games anymore. Like I said before, I will quit the national team and the sport one day. It’s what happens to every athlete.‘”
- Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle: “My favorite experience with the China syndrome will always be June 2007 when Yao Ming went home and announced that he was back in China for traditional Chinese medicine. This was a nice thing to say. The man knows his audience. But as we are reminded every year, when Yao speaks in China, the stories are usually blown completely out of proportion. We go through this every year. Next year, Yao will say something again about not playing in the London Olympics, and that will get everyone a little crazy for a day. A few years ago, we had the breathless reports about a Chinese investor buying a part of the Cavaliers with the intentions of getting Yao to play in Cleveland. That was a good one… This time, Yao said if he does not recover from his foot injuries, he might consider retiring. This seems pretty obvious. Yao cannot play with a broken foot. If Yao’s foot remains broken, Yao cannot play. This feels like a revelation because it brings up the possibility that Yao will not recover. The Rockets, however, believe he already has recovered. ‘If we did not think he had recovered,’ one Rockets official said Tuesday with a laugh, ‘we wouldn’t be letting him go through full contract, on-court workouts.’”
- TheDreamShake: “If Yao Ming re-injures his foot this season, then it’s all over. Did anyone think that this would be any different? This is it. A long career that should have been longer and could be longer all hinges on this upcoming season. That’s why Yao has taken a year off. That’s why he hasn’t played Summer ball for China. It’s this season or bust. And if all goes well this year, then it’s next season or bust. Pretty simple, really…I don’t have a problem with Yao discussing his retirement. He has always been honest with the media, in the States and in China. The world’s largest basketball icon believes in maintaining good discourse with his fans. And, if anything, this is likely a move to get the Chinese National team off his back. If we’re going to keep going nuts over a tiny tidbit of Yaoness such as this, we’re in for a long season. Don’t start holding your breath until opening night, because if you start now, you won’t make it far.”
- Ken Berger – ‘After Hornets meeting, Paul still seeking way out’: “The developments in New Orleans on Monday had all the hallmarks of modern-day damage control: A rosy statement via Twitter, some positive spin in a media availability session that was noticeably devoid of actual information and apparent reasons for optimism that Chris Paul’s desire to be traded will quiet down for a while. In other words, the smokescreen formed exactly as planned after Paul met for 90 minutes with the Hornets’ new basketball decision-making team in New Orleans. This is the united front being portrayed to the outside world. On the inside, little has changed: Yes, Paul wants to win, but realizes that for reasons beyond the control of new GM Dell Demps and new coach Monty Williams, it can’t happen in New Orleans. And the organization itself has begun the inevitable process of exploring ways to make this end to everyone’s satisfaction.”
- Marc Stein of ESPN: “The NBA issued an unexpected, leaguewide memorandum to its teams Tuesday to remind them about tampering regulations and specifically warn them about illegal contact with Chris Paul. ESPN.com learned that the memo spells out that ‘no team should be having communications with Chris Paul or his agent or representative about a potential trade for Paul that have not been authorized in advance by the New Orleans Hornets.’ This measure comes in the wake of various media reports in recent days that Paul’s new agent, Leon Rose, has been talking to a handful of teams about pursuing trades for his client.”
- Royce Young from Daily Thunder posts a video of Kevin Durant showcasing his favorite moves.
- ESPN - “The Chicago Bulls have expressed an interest in free agent guard Eddie House, according to House’s agent Mark Bartelstein.“
- Mayo, Evans, Wallace expected to be cut by Team USA.
- Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun: “The teardown of the Raptor roster has been going on all summer, and now, the teardown of former franchise face Chris Bosh has commenced as well. Raptors president/general manager Bryan Colangelo chose his words carefully during a Monday interview with the FAN 590’s Bob McCown, but clearly is not pleased with the way things turned out with Bosh. Colangelo intoned that Bosh took a long time to return from injury even though he had been medically cleared and that he started thinking ahead to his future to the detriment of the Raptors. ’Despite limited swelling and any excessive damage on an MRI, he felt like he needed to sit for six more games … I’m not even questioning Chris’ injury. I’m telling you he was cleared to play subject to tolerance on his part, and the tolerance just apparently wasn’t there and he chose not to play,’ Colangelo said… Colangelo also said Bosh was hard to build around. ‘We tried in vain to put pieces around Chris. Different pieces, different styles. It didn’t work out. No matter what type of player we brought in, it didn’t seem to have the right mix with him as that centrepiece.’”
- Henry Abbott, on whether it is unlawful for NBA teams to impose a minimum body fat standard on their players.
- NBA Playbook: A video analysis of the New York Knick’s newest big man, Timofev Mozgov.
Note: Rahat Huq is currently on vacation and will post his thoughts on Yao later in the week.
.jpg)
