NBA Capsules: AP source says Yao set to retire
HOUSTON (AP) — Houston Rockets All-Star center Yao Ming is retiring after nine NBA seasons, according to a person with direct knowledge of his decision.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity, because Yao has not announced his plans. Yao has scheduled a July 20 news conference in Shanghai to talk about his future.
Yahoo! Sports first reported that Yao is retiring. The person says neither Yao nor his representatives have informed the league office of Yao's decision, and the league says Yao has not filed paperwork that would make his decision final.
Neither the Rockets nor the league are allowed to comment on Yao's decision because of the lockout.
The 7-foot-6 Yao was the top overall pick in the 2002 draft, but his promising career was cut short by foot and leg injuries.
He sat out the 2009-10 season, then lasted only five games in 2010-11 before sustaining a bone bruise and fracture in his left ankle. He underwent surgery in January, and was hopeful to return to Houston this season, even though his contract expired.
But Yao turns 31 in September, and the person close to him said Yao decided the risk of another injury and subsequent rehab was too great.
"There is no way he will come back," the person wrote in an e-mail. "His body can't hold that, and if he plays again, there is risk to get hurt again. Yao does not want to take another surgery. He is done."
Yao was an eight-time All-Star, and averaged 19 points and 9.2 rebounds in eight seasons. He was already an international star before the Rockets made him the top overall pick, and he answered skeptics by earning first-team, all-rookie honors.
Yao played in the postseason four times, and helped Houston win a first-round series in the 2009 playoffs for the first time since 1997. He ranks second in team history in blocks (920) behind NBA career leader Hakeem Olajuwon, and ranks sixth in points (9,247) and rebounds (4,494).
But his impact on the NBA transcended statistics, as he evolved into a global icon, and expanded the league's reach throughout China and across Asia.
Merchandise sales and TV ratings for games skyrocketed, and Yao's presence in the league helped several other NBA players secure shoe contracts in China.
The first speculation of Yao's retirement triggered a frenzy in China. Thousands of fans flooded online forums on Saturday reacting to the news. One wrote: "He's China's top athlete ... it's a pity to lose such a sports icon." The country's most popular online portals, sina.com and sohu.com, headlined the news of Yao's possible retirement prominently on their home pages.
Yao's life was intensely scrutinized in his home country. When Yao's wife, Ye Li, became pregnant, Chinese fans wondered if the baby would be born there or in America, and Yao said the couple's decision would be a "private" matter. The baby girl was born in Houston in May 2010.
John Huizinga, one of Yao's American agents, would not confirm the early reports of Yao's decision to retire, out of respect for Yao's privacy.
"The guy has worked very hard, he's put up with a lot, carried a lot of burden for a lot of people," Huizinga said. "I think he would like to run this part of his life the way he'd like to run it. I understand other people don't feel that way. I don't like it, but I'm not going to be able to change it."
Other times, Yao embraced the spotlight, and was eager to show his national pride.
He carried the Olympic torch through Tiananmen Square and carried his country's flag during the opening ceremony for the Olympics in Beijing in 2008.
He broke his left foot late in the 2007-08 NBA season, but hurried his recovery so he could play for his team in those Olympics. Yao guided China to the quarterfinals, averaging 19 points and 8.2 rebounds in six games.
Yao also donated $2 million to set up a foundation to rebuild schools destroyed by the earthquake in Sichuan province in May 2008.
Marc Ganis, president of Chicago-based consultancy SportsCorp, said Yao became "the embodiment of the cultural aspirations of the Chinese society," through his work ethic, humility and team-oriented attitude.
"''There's never been anything like him before," Ganis said, "and I doubt we'll ever see anything like him again."
Former Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy, now a television analyst, said Yao deserves Hall of Fame consideration, not just for his statistics, but for his unprecedented impact on the game. Van Gundy coached Yao from 2003-07.
"He's been one of the greatest ambassadors to ever set foot on an NBA floor," Van Gundy said. "This guy touched so many people, and really opened doors in China, not only for himself, but for so many others.
"In his eight years, he accomplished as much as any player has ever accomplished," Van Gundy said. "He was the real deal, as a player and as a person."
On Basketball: Yao did much in little time
Those beat-up legs that cut short seasons, and eventually a career, would never have sat still for China's greatest moment.
Yao Ming knew the Chinese needed to be successful as the hosts of the 2008 Olympics, and he knew they couldn't do it without him. So when he was injured that February, just six months before the opening ceremony, he threw himself into a rehab that ensured he'd be on the floor, though sadly not for much longer.
And with Yao set to retire from the NBA, it's easy to focus on how much he lost during an injury-plagued final few seasons.
It's better to think about how much the 7-foot-6 star accomplished in the time he did play.
"People forget how good he is, because he's been out of the picture for a few years, because of injuries. This guy was the best center of his generation, his timeframe. They also forget the intangibles — the grace, the humility, the humor, the wit, the selflessness, which he conducted himself with every day, despite enormous pressures," former Houston Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said.
So much would have been different without Yao, both for the NBA that has made millions in basketball-crazed China, to the superstars who found endorsement dollars there that never existed previously. Kevin Durant spent the last week there, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade all are expected this summer.
Think that would be the case if it turned out Yao couldn't play?
That was the pressure Yao faced as the No. 1 pick in the 2002 draft. He not only had the usual scrutiny on the floor of a top pick, he had to show he had personality off it, that along with that work ethic the Chinese were known for was a sense of humor good enough to land him opposite Yogi Berra in a comical Visa commercial on Super Bowl Sunday of his rookie season.
He quickly won over Shaquille O'Neal, one of the many NBA players to post his appreciation of Yao on Twitter over the weekend, and every other big man he battled. His numbers were solid: 19 points and 9.3 rebounds per game, but he started getting hurt just as he was getting better. After playing at least 80 games each of his first three seasons, he lasted more than 60 only once the rest of his nine-year career.
""Yao Ming has had an extraordinary impact on the growth of basketball, worldwide. We consider that he only played, effectively, five seasons," Marc Ganis, president of Chicago-based consultancy SportsCorp. "He opened up the most populated nation in the world, at a time when it was going through its greatest growth, in a way that will never be duplicated."
But all those extra summers playing for China were going to catch up to Yao. He should have sat out in 2006 after missing four months because of a broken foot, but instead rushed back for the world basketball championship, guaranteed beforehand the Chinese would advance out of pool play, and carried them to that goal.
Opponents who knew how much it meant for Yao and the Chinese were worried he wouldn't be able to play two years later in Beijing after surgery that March to repair a stress fracture in his left foot. Somehow, that foot was strong enough to carry his nation's flag into the games, strong enough to make a 3-pointer for the first basket of the game in China's opener against the gold medal-winning Americans, setting off as raucous an ovation as can ever be heard inside an arena.
"I was just really happy to make that shot," Yao said after the Americans' 101-70 victory. "It was the first score in our Olympic campaign here at home and I'll always remember it. It represents that we can keep our heads up in the face of really tough odds."
Yao struggled to make it through the game, exhausted after making his return to competitive play against the most athletic team in the world. But he gutted his way through the competition, leading the Chinese to a stirring victory over Dirk Nowitzki and Germany days later to ensure the hosts would reach the medal round.
His career was rarely the same afterward. He broke his left foot in the second round of the 2009 playoffs, right after Houston's lone playoff victory with Yao, and missed the entire next season. He made it just five games in 2010-11 before realizing he just didn't want to put himself through another difficult rehab, knowing his feet simply couldn't hold his huge frame any longer.
He'll stay active with the team he owns in the Chinese league, though at just 30 it seems he should still have more time on the court. But he gave so much to the Rockets, and especially the Chinese — "team first, team last, team always," Van Gundy said — that it subtracted from what could have been a greater individual legacy.
His first major injury came in the 2005-06 season, his first with averages of 20 points and 10 rebounds. Instead of a full summer off, he went to Japan for the worlds. So fatigued in China's final group stage game that he couldn't even cross halfcourt on some possessions, he summoned the energy to play all 40 minutes, scoring 36 points against NBA centers Rasho Nesterovic and Primoz Brezec to will the Chinese to a 78-77 victory over Slovenia, pumping his fists after a spot in the knockout round had been clinched.
"Maybe only he can do those things," China coach Jonas Kazlauskas said.
It's a shame he can't do them anymore.
Brian Mahoney covers the NBA for The Associated Press.
Yao retirement risks NBA profile in China
BEIJING (AP) — Yao Ming's expected retirement could diminish the NBA's once-burgeoning popularity in China, with many fans saying they would no longer watch games.
"What's the point of watching NBA now?" asked an online user called Lubingxia on Sina Weibo, a Chinese Twitter-like site.
An online poll on Weibo by Monday lunchtime showed that 57 percent of respondents would stop watching the NBA after Yao's retirement.
The 7-foot-6 center is expected to announce July 20 at a news conference that he's retiring from the NBA after nine seasons because of leg and foot injuries.
He boosted the popularity of the basketball league in China and throughout Asia, spiking merchandise sales and TV ratings for games after the Houston Rockets made him the top overall pick in the 2002 draft.
The 30-year-old Yao has missed 250 regular-season games over the past six seasons.
"He is one of the most influential people in today's society — especially to those born in the '80s," said Ren Bo, a 25-year-old sports trainer. "It's probably going to be a while until we see another Yao Ming."
Yahoo! Sports first reported that Yao is retiring. A person with direct knowledge of his decision confirmed to The Associated Press that Yao decided the risk of another injury and subsequent rehabilitation was too great.
The news upset fans in China, where he has been praised as a role model for the past decade, and strengthened that image by carrying his country's flag during the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
"It is Yao Ming who makes the kids in China like basketball and it's also Yao Ming who makes the kids know how a real professional basketball player should be," said Xu Jicheng, a longtime basketball commentator.
"I'm not thrilled about his retirement, but I will still support him. Millions of Chinese still idolize him," said 24-year-old Guo Ju Fei, a small business owner.
Some online comments conveyed sadness that his retirement would mean the end of a great era and that they would not get to see him at the 2012 London Olympics. There also was some anger that his injuries kept him from reaching his peak.
"I still haven't recovered from the fact that Yao is retiring. The feeling is worse than being dumped," wrote one online user going by the name of Xie Chen.
Others hoped a "miracle" would occur and that Yao would change his mind.
Many comments expressed gratitude to the player for being a Chinese icon and an athlete they could be proud of.
Online comments and newspapers also singled out his wit, humor and humility.
"Yao Ming is like an ambassador. With a basketball player's height, a comedian's humor, post-80s generation's freshness ... one does not know how many foreigners' impressions of the Chinese he has changed," wrote the Chinese Business Morning View, based in Shenyang city in northeastern Liaoning province.
-- Louise Watt
NBA Labor
Overseas option far from sure thing for NBA stars
Deron Williams' decision to play in Turkey if the lockout remains could open the door for other NBA stars. Unless FIBA shuts it.
Basketball's governing body has to sign off on these deals for players under contract, and the NBA Players' Association expects that it will.
But what if it doesn't?
"I don't think that's going to be an easy transaction, to be honest with you," said agent Roger Montgomery, whose client Sonny Weems signed in Lithuania last week after playing last season with the Toronto Raptors.
Weems, whose contract had expired, agreed to a one-year contract without an opt-out clause, meaning he's actually committed to spending the season in Europe. But the deal that Williams would get from Besiktas of Turkey — and that any top-level NBA player would demand — would allow him to run right back to the NBA once the lockout ends.
So in approving the deals, FIBA would potentially be giving away valued jobs to players who have no intention of keeping them, diminishing the overseas product for the sake of perhaps a few games with bigger names.
The NBA union's belief is that FIBA would not stand in the way of players whose contracts have been suspended because of the lockout seeking employment elsewhere.
But FIBA needs a little more time to determine that. A spokesman for the organization said it is working on a statement to be sent to its membership and clubs to clarify the legal situation, which will likely be ready early this week.
If FIBA says it will offer letters of clearance, the Williams route becomes available for any other NBA players who want to play, not stay, in Europe. Kobe Bryant, Amare Stoudemire, Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade were among the players who reportedly would be open to playing overseas.
But don't plan on that exodus just yet. One agent said he "wouldn't be shocked" if FIBA rejects the kind of contract they'd be seeking and wondered if many European teams would even offer them.
Of course, it's unclear how many teams could even afford to. With the risk of injury that could threaten their NBA earnings, few top players would consider the move without the guarantee of top dollars. And in a weakened European economy that likely rules out the elite Greek clubs, and a history of headaches with certain teams when it comes to actually receiving payment, top talent may not have many places to go.
"There's not a lot of teams over there that could pay the salary of what a rotational NBA player would earn," agent Mark Bartelstein said last week. "I wouldn't say it's a vibrant market for NBA rotational-caliber players."
While seeing its players getting jobs overseas could potentially threaten owners at the bargaining table, the NBA has shaken off the European challenge before and likely would again.
Many U.S. Olympians were asked if they would consider the option in 2008 after Josh Childress left the Atlanta Hawks for Greek club Olympiakos and other lesser players followed, agreeing they would have to listen for a deal that would offer them $40 million a year, tax free. But NBA Commissioner David Stern quickly played down the idea, saying "the system will not support it," and that was before the economy tumbled.
So while the Williams deal was interesting, deals for ones like Weems are far more likely.
"That's going to be difficult at best, especially for your A-tier player," Montgomery said.
Brian Mahoney covers the NBA for The Associated Press.
WNBA
Capsules: Taylor's strong start helps Mercury rout Shock
PHOENIX (AP) — Penny Taylor scored 16 of her 18 points in the first half as the Phoenix Mercury built a big halftime lead and routed Tulsa 102-63 on Sunday in Teresa Edwards' debut as interim coach.
Edwards took over from Nolan Richardson, who resigned after the Shock's loss to Phoenix on Friday night that gave Tulsa a WNBA-worst 1-10 record on the season.
Diana Taurasi added 12 points and six assists for Phoenix (8-4), which has won four straight and eight of its last nine to move into first place in the Western Conference by percentage points. The rout was on early in this one as the Mercury made their first 11 shots — a WNBA record to start a game — and built a 32-point halftime lead.
Tiffany Jackson led the Shock (1-11) with 19 points, and rookie Elizabeth Cambage added 15 points.
Liberty 80, Sky 73
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Essence Carson and Cappie Pondexter scored 18 points each to rally the New York Liberty to a victory over the Chicago Sky.
Pondexter hit a 3-pointer to tie it at 73 with 1:15 to go and Carson hit one of her own with 31.7 seconds remaining to put New York ahead for good. Pondexter then hit four free throws to seal New York's third straight win and fifth in six games after the Liberty trailed by 17 in the second quarter.
Plenette Pierson had 13 points, Quanitra Hollingsworth added 11, Nicole Powell and Kia Vaughn 10 each for the Liberty (7-5).
Sylvia Fowles and rookie Courtney Vandersloot had 14 points each for Chicago (6-7).
Sparks promote Bryant's father to coach
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Sparks have dismissed Jennifer Gillom as coach and replaced her with Joe "Jellybean" Bryant, the father of Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant who previously coached the WNBA team.
General manager Penny Toler announced the move Sunday night, saying it was necessary to take the team in a different direction.
Bryant previously coached the Sparks from August 2005 through the 2006 season, guiding them to two playoff appearances. He was hired in March as an assistant to Gillom. Sandy Brondello remains as an assistant.
Toler says it was difficult to dismiss Gillom, who lost several players to injuries during her tenure, including Sparks star Candace Parker. She is currently out six weeks with a knee injury.
Last season, Parker was limited to 10 games because of a shoulder injury, and the team lost guard Betty Lennox to knee surgery. The Sparks won just three of their first 10 games, but made the playoffs in Gillom's first season, when she had just nine healthy players.
The Sparks are 0-5 on their current seven-game road trip and 4-6 overall.
International
Hardaway's 21 leads U.S. to fifth place in under-19s
RIGA, Latvia (AP) — Tim Hardaway, Jr. of Michigan scored 21 points and Jeremy Lamb of NCAA champion Connecticut tipped in his own miss with 29 seconds to play to give the United States a 78-77 victory over Australia on Sunday in the fifth-place game of FIBA's Under 19 World Championships.
Lamb finished 2 for 16 from the field for the U.S. (7-2), which came in as the defending champion but was beaten in the quarterfinals by Russia.
Hugh Greenwood had 26 points for Australia (6-3), including six 3-pointers, but he missed a desperation 3 in the final seconds against some solid defense by Hardaway.
Lamb finished as the team's leading scorer with a 16.2 average, followed by Joe Jackson of Memphis (11.5) and Doug McDermott of Creighton (11.3).
