Yao Ming

Basketball star Yao Ming has joined up with the wife of China's vice president to lead an anti-tobacco campaign in the country with the world's largest number of smokers, state media said Tuesday. The NBA All-Star Houston Rockets centre was named as an ambassador to the Chinese Association on Tobacco Control and is expected to appear in public service announcements urging people not to smoke, Xinhua news agency said. Also named was pop singer Peng Liyuan, the wife of Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, the report said. About 350 million Chinese, or nearly 27 percent of the country's population, smoke cigarettes, with the nation ... Read Full Story

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese center Yao Ming is progressing well after foot surgery and while a return to court for the Houston Rockets next season remains unlikely, it has not been ruled out, the NBA team's general manager said. The hairline fracture to his left foot is the latest in a string of injuries to the 7ft-6in (2.28m) Yao and was described as "career-threatening" by the team doctor with the Rockets saying it would definitely rule him out for the 2009/10 season. However, the 28-year-old underwent surgery on the fracture in Houston in July and Daryl Morey said the prognosis was positive. "Yao Ming ... Read Full Story

Yao Ming's surgically repaired foot is showing signs of improvement but the giant Chinese centre says he will need a full season of rest before he can return to the Houston Rockets. "The (X-ray) picture looks good. The bones heal well," Yao told a Houston television station. Asked what are the chances he could play in the National Basketball Association season next year, Yao said zero. "The answer is no. You don't want to rush it, because they want it to totally heal this time. I have been in this situation enough," he said. The Rockets star underwent surgery in July and then sought ... Read Full Story

Menk Bateer, the first Chinese to start an NBA game, has urged his injured countryman Yao Ming not to rush back into action, advising the star Houston Rockets centre to skip the 2009-2010 season. "He is higher and heavier than most of the NBA players and has more duties during the off-season. It's better for him to take a rest next season," he told the Oriental Sports Daily. Yao underwent surgery in July after suffering a fracture in his left foot during a playoff game against eventual champions the Los Angeles Lakers. Rockets general manager Daryl Morey said last month that Yao was improving ... Read Full Story

China hopes that superstar Houston Rockets centre Yao Ming will make a speedy recovery and will not force him to play for the national basketball team, a top sports official said Thursday. "We expect him to recover as soon as possible and return to the basketball court," Vice Minister of Sports Cui Dalin told AFP. "He is injured, this is a fact, so we are not going to force him to do anything he does not want to do." Yao underwent surgery on his broken left foot in Houston last month, but is expected to sit out the 2009-2010 NBA season. He is currently ... Read Full Story