Yao Ming is out of the season with a stress fracture in his foot. Image by Keith Allison.
The Houston Rockets will have to sit out center Yao Ming for the rest of the season due to a stress fracture in his left ankle. Even though he has been sidelined since November 10, the Rockets announced the decision on Friday that he will now sit out the rest of the season.
This is not his first stress fracture. As a matter of fact, according to the team’s physician, Walter Lowe, Yao has always been prone to these kinds of injuries.
“When you look at the course of Yao’s career, stress fractures have been part of his foot,” Lowe said. “So to say he’s not at a risk to continue to have stress fractures would be crazy. So he is at a continued risk. The new position of his foot should … make those stresses lower.”
Yao sat out last season as well after he had reconstructive surgery on his broken left foot. Lowe made it very clear that last year’s surgery had nothing to do with this year’s injury.
Doctors are trying to help Yao come up with a solution on how they will proceed with this injury. If he choose to have surgery, which is the usual solution, he will be out for 10 months.
Yao is still due to make $17.7 million this season. In September of 2005, he signed a five year extension contract with the Rockets.
