all-star center yao ming is out for the season with a stress fracture in his left foot, a stunning blow to the surging houston rockets.
general manager daryl morey made the announcement tuesday, hours before the rockets put their 12-game winning streak on the line against the washington wizards.
yao was having a terrific season, averaging 22 points and 10.8 rebounds per game.
"it is not an injury we feel he can play with," rockets team doctor tom clanton said. "i've made the recommendation that it be treated surgically and we are working with him to get other opinions just to be certain that that is indeed what should be done."
if yao chooses surgery, clanton said, it would involve placing screws across the bone to hold it together. the second option would be to treat it with a cast and crutches. both options involve a healing time of about four months.
clanton would not say when yao could play again, but said he doesn't expect the center to miss the beijing olympics in august.
that possibility is weighing heavily on him though.
"if i cannot play in the olympics for my country this time, it will be the biggest loss in my career to right now," he said.
he doesn't even want to think about how his absence in the game would affect his fans in china.
"i don't want to try, actually and i don't want to know either," he said.
"this is unbelievable," rockets owner les alexander told kriv-tv in houston. "this is the most heart-breaking. this is the worst i've felt."
coach rick adelman and morey told the team before tuesday's shootaround. yao said it was a difficult day for him from the moment he walked into the building.
"when coach tells everybody i am out for the season, everybody is like quiet," he said. "that kind of quietness makes me feel kind of scared, it was quiet like nobody was there and you just feel alone."
morey said he doesn't believe the injury compromises houston's playoff hopes. the rockets were 36-20 entering tuesday's game.
"we've been playing exceptional ball and yao's been a huge part of that," morey said. "we feel very confident about our playoff push. we've managed to step up and play well without yao in the past and coaches and players feel confident that we're going to continue to play well and make the playoffs this year." morey acknowledged that it was difficult news to receive when the team has been playing so well.
"it's a pretty big swing from a high to a low, with how we were playing," morey said. "we feel like our supporting cast is superior to when we played without yao in the past. we remain ready for the challenge ahead."
clanton said there was no specific event that led to the injury, but rather an "accumulation of stresses on the bone. yao first experienced soreness and pain in his ankle before the all-star game and tests were done monday when the situation didn't improve.
this is yao's fourth major injury in the last two years. he missed 32 games last season with a fracture in his right leg and 21 games in late 2006 with a toe infection that required surgery. he missed four games in april 2006 after breaking his foot.
houston went 20-12 when yao was injured last season.
the rockets, who remain in seventh place in the tough western conference despite their winning streak, will now have to rely heavily on 41-year-old dikembe mutombo. the 17-year veteran has been averaging just eight minutes per game.
"i really feel bad for yao," adelman said. "it's just such a shocker. yesterday morning he was ok and then four hours later, he wasn't. it's tough on everybody, but we've got to move on."
yao said he took tracy mcgrady aside after speaking to the team and told him the success of the team is up to him now.
"we're in a good situation right now," he said he told mcgrady. "right now is your time."
on tuesday, the rockets signed bobby jones to a 10-day contract and released adam haluska.
while it took more than two weeks to discover yao's injury, clanton said it sometimes takes months to diagnose.
"this is something that can be treated," he said. "we are catching this at a very early stage."
来自休斯顿的报道——全明星中锋姚明因为左脚应力性骨折将缺席本赛季，这对于休斯顿火箭队无疑是一个巨大的打击。
周二，火箭队总经理莫雷发表了这一声明，数小时之后，火箭队在华盛顿奇才队身上取得了12连胜。
姚明本赛季的表现极具统治力，他平均每场得到22分和10.8个篮板。
”我们认为，他不应带伤比赛，“火箭队队医克兰顿表示。”我已经建议实施手术治疗，现在我们正在与他商讨其他的选择以确定手术确实是必须的。“
如果姚明选择手术治疗，
克兰顿说道，如果姚明选择手术治疗，一种情况是利用钢钉固定骨头，第二种情况是利用石膏和拐杖。这两种情况都需要大概四个月的恢复时间。
克兰顿并未说出姚明复出的时间，但是他表示希望姚明参加八月份举行的北京奥运会。
尽管复出与否给他带来了很大的压力，但他仍表示“如果这次不能代表我的国家参加奥运会，那这将是我职业生涯中最大的遗憾。”
他甚至不愿想象自己的缺席将给中国的球迷带来怎样的影响。
“我不想试着想象，事实上我根本就不想知道，”他说。
“这真的难以置信，”火箭队老板亚历山大在接受kriv-tv采访时表示，“这是最令人痛心的事情，我觉得非常难过。”
阿德尔曼教练和莫雷经理将这个消息在周二的训练前通告了全队。姚明说，从进入球馆的那一刻，痛苦的一天开始了。
“当教练告诉每个人我将退出本赛季的比赛时，大家看上去都很安静。”姚明说，“这种安静使我产生了一种恐惧感。仿佛周围空无一人，而你只是感觉孤单。”
莫雷说他不相信伤病会危害到火箭队季后赛的希望。火箭队周二比赛时的战绩是36胜20负。
“我们打出了无与伦比的比赛，而姚明对此做出了巨大的贡献，”莫雷说，“我们对于季后赛的突破抱有很大的信心。在以前姚明缺席的情况下，通过一定的弥补措施，我们队伍的表现同样出色，而且教练和球员们相信，我们会延续现在的出色的表现并在季后赛中有所突破。”莫雷承认，在队伍的表现如此出色的时候，这个消息真的很难接受。
“这对我们现在的表现真的是巨大的打击。”莫雷说，“与以前姚明缺席比赛时相比，我们的角色球员将发挥出更大的作用。我们已准备好迎接今后的挑战。”
队医克兰顿表示，并不是特定的事件导致了姚明的受伤，而是“骨骼受到的压力日积月累造成的”。在全明星赛之前姚明第一次感觉到脚踝的疼痛，周一，由于情况没有好转，姚明接受了检查。
这是姚明在过去的两年之中第四次受伤。上个赛季他因为右腿受伤错过了32场比赛，2006年后半年因为脚趾感染手术缺席21场比赛。2006年4月，在脚掌骨骨折之后错过了4场比赛。
上个赛季，休斯顿火箭队在姚明伤停的情况下取得了20胜12负的战绩。
尽管取得了连胜，但是火箭队在竞争激烈的西部仅仅排名第七，而目前的情况是火箭队不得不依赖已有41岁高龄的穆托姆博。这名已有17年nba生涯的老兵目前的平均上场时间只有8分钟。
“姚明的情况使我非常遗憾，”阿德尔曼说，“这太令人震惊了。昨天早上的时候他还很好，可是四个小时之后情况就大不一样了。这很糟糕，但我们必须继续前进。”
姚明说，在与全队的谈话之后，自己将麦迪叫到一边并告诉他全队现在就靠他了。
“我们现在的形式很好，”他告诉麦迪。“现在就靠你了。”
周二，火箭队与博比·杰克逊签订了一份10天的短合同，并且放走了adam haluska。
当谈到过了两周多才发现姚明的伤情，克兰顿表示有时诊断可能会长达数月之久。
“现在还处于可治疗的阶段，”他说，“我们还是比较早的发现了姚明的伤情。”