Doctor Clears Yao Ming to Play Again

Doctor clears Yao Ming to play again

Chinese player, Yao Ming, All-Star center of the NBA's Houston Rockets, has been cleared by team physician Tom Clanton to resume basketball-related activities after determining that his surgically repaired foot has fully healed.

Yao's foot injury and subsequent surgery prevented him from playing last season.

His team was confident then that Yao can fully heal in time for the 2010-2011 season, and now he is is feeling excited about his comeback.

“I am just looking forward to playing a great season. I think I can count on my foot now,” the 7-footer Yao said.

He practiced in front of reporters at the Toyota Center and did some post moves with teammate Chuck Hayes and NBDL player James Cripe.

At one point, he landed awkwardly on his left foot and was seen wincing in pain, but resumed playing a few moments later. He started running again two months ago as part of his rehabilitation.

“That's just the confidence,” Yao said. “I think everybody would have that after a foot injury, and I'm just still a little bit weak on that. I just need to continue to build on that. Compared to two months ago, it's really a lot better.”

Rockets' general manager Daryl Morey says that they will limit Yao's minutes initially when he comes back next season.

“It's great news. It's what we anticipated, but until you get over these milestones, you're never for sure,” Morey said. “He looks like his old self. He still has a ways to go on his wind and things like that. But it's just as good to see him out there.”

Yao said it was a hard time for him when he was told that he would miss last season, and he hoped that the doctors might have made a mistake.

Posted by Andre Monohan on Thursday August 26 2010, 10:13 AM EDT. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0