To Yao, We Hardly Knew Ye?!

The breaking news in the sports world today has centered on multiple reports putting the career of Houston Rockets center Yao Ming in jeopardy due to a broken bone in his left foot. Preliminary estimates today from Yahoo Sports and the Houston Chronicle suggest Yao will miss all of next season and might have possibly played his last NBA game. If asked, would you have guessed Yao Ming would already be entering his eighth NBA season playing for the Houston Rockets next year? Probably not because, much like Bill Walton and Greg Oden have proved, a man built 7’ 6” is not meant to play 82 basketball games year after year. This setback for Yao is the latest in a long line of injuries that have derailed a once promising career.

It seems like only yesterday pundits were predicting Yao Ming’s career arc to resemble centers like Manute Bol and Shawn Bradley, instead of the likes of Hakeem and other greats. But, Yao proved the doubters wrong early in his career, even standing up to Shaq in a memorable 2003 overtime victory in his rookie year, on his way to being named to the All-Rookie team. Yao would miss only two games in his next two seasons leading the Rockets to the playoffs and averaging 18 PPG. However, even after trading for Tracy McGrady (a star-crossed superstar in his own right) in 2004, the Rockets would begin to toil as classic underachievers the next few years.

From 2005 to the beginning of the 2008 season Yao missed 86 games, mainly because of injuries to his feet. Finally, this season it seemed Yao had broken the injury bug, missing only 5 games and getting the Rockets past the first round of the playoffs. But again, fate had another cruel twist in store as Yao suffered a hairline fracture in his left foot against the Lakers in the second round. The Rockets would go on to lose the series and any certainty about the franchise’s future. With reports today of his career possibly over, what is his impact on the game if he never steps onto an NBA court again?

Of course, there’s no doubt that Yao Ming has been responsible for the greatest worldwide growth the NBA has ever seen. The Association now has a strong foothold in China, with or without Yao’s presence. This gateway into the world’s largest market has undoubtedly been a huge financial windfall for Commish David Stern. Worldwide, the NBA has never been more popular, on the backs of a strong contingent of international players, with Yao at the center. Yao’s popularity at home and abroad can be gauged by his six All-Star selections, where he routinely garnered more votes than the likes of Kobe and Lebron. Without question the NBA is in a much better place now because of Yao Ming.

What about Yao’s on-the-court legacy? He’s averaged 19 PPG and 9 RPG over a once-promising career, having a much greater effect than many initially predicted. However, due to a myriad of factors including injuries to himself and teammates, a mismatched supporting cast, and plain bad luck, Yao has yet to reach his full potential. Hopefully that potential can still be reached. The Cavs Zydrunis Ilgauskas has come back to become an All-Star himself after missing almost two years because of major foot surgery. If Houston can shed itself of dead weight like T-Mac and Ron Artest and place unselfish players around Yao, perhaps he can come back in 2011 and finally lead the Rockets to the promised land.

But, if Yao’s played his last game, his legacy will be one of the most unique in sports history. In one respect, Yao Ming will be seen as a blip on the radar in the NBA, while still being a global icon. On the court, he will have followed in the fragile footsteps of Bill Walton, a potentially great center cut down by the fragility of his own physical gifts. But off the court, no player in NBA history will ever be able to match his impact on the globalization of what is now, truly, the world’s game.