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Yao unlikely for London Games
Source: Xinhua |
July 28, 2010, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
YAO Ming, the Houston Rockets' 30-year-old All-star center, has all but ruled himself out of the 2012 London Games due to his lingering foot injury.
"The chance (to play in London) is very little. The foot injury will not allow me to play so many games anymore," Yao said. "Like I said before, I will quit the national team and the sport one day. It's what happens to every athlete."
Yao, who sat out the past NBA season and is still recovering from the foot injury, led China to an eighth-place finish at 2008 Beijing Games.
"I'm 30. As an athlete, I am not the future of China basketball anymore," the Shanghai native said. "We have young players in the national team. They have creativity and a fresh understanding of the sport."
Yao criticized the team's preparation for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and said China was now suffering because of its lack of quality reserves and lack of league development.
"We are paying for what we didn't do leading up to 2008.
We skipped the development of a reserve team and the CBA league and focused only on the national team and the Olympics. It's like killing the goose that lays the golden egg," he said.
Without the 2.26-meter Yao, China lost to Iran in last year's Asian Championship final and is likely to struggle at next month's World Championship in Turkey as well.
Asked about his future, Yao said any decision would depend on his injured foot. "If the foot injury does not heal next season, I might choose to call it quits," he said.
Yao also ruled out the possibility of becoming a coach after retirement.
"I have no interest in coaching. I don't think I have the talent for a coaching job," he said.
Yao, who is in Taipei for a charity exhibition game, told a press conference that he had recovered quite well from the injury after a year of treatment.
"When I return to Houston, I will start training," he said. "In the past year, I have been working very hard so that I could play again."
"The chance (to play in London) is very little. The foot injury will not allow me to play so many games anymore," Yao said. "Like I said before, I will quit the national team and the sport one day. It's what happens to every athlete."
Yao, who sat out the past NBA season and is still recovering from the foot injury, led China to an eighth-place finish at 2008 Beijing Games.
"I'm 30. As an athlete, I am not the future of China basketball anymore," the Shanghai native said. "We have young players in the national team. They have creativity and a fresh understanding of the sport."
Yao criticized the team's preparation for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and said China was now suffering because of its lack of quality reserves and lack of league development.
"We are paying for what we didn't do leading up to 2008.
We skipped the development of a reserve team and the CBA league and focused only on the national team and the Olympics. It's like killing the goose that lays the golden egg," he said.
Without the 2.26-meter Yao, China lost to Iran in last year's Asian Championship final and is likely to struggle at next month's World Championship in Turkey as well.
Asked about his future, Yao said any decision would depend on his injured foot. "If the foot injury does not heal next season, I might choose to call it quits," he said.
Yao also ruled out the possibility of becoming a coach after retirement.
"I have no interest in coaching. I don't think I have the talent for a coaching job," he said.
Yao, who is in Taipei for a charity exhibition game, told a press conference that he had recovered quite well from the injury after a year of treatment.
"When I return to Houston, I will start training," he said. "In the past year, I have been working very hard so that I could play again."
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