Chinese superstar and Houston Rockets center Yao Ming has informed the NBA that he intends to retire, according to Yahoo Sports.
The 2002 #1 overall draft pick was the tallest player in the NBA at 7 feet, 6 inches, which helped him become an instant sensation out of China but unfortunately also proved to be a curse like so many other big men such as Gheorge Muresan, Bill Walton and Greg Oden who battled constant injuries due to their massive frames.
Yao was an eight-time All-Star starter and an All-NBA selection five times but was injury plagued through large stretches of time between 2002 to present.
The Rockets never went as far as the second round with Yao and that was only once, even after pairing him up with Tracy McGrady. With injuries to both stars rendering them unable to reach their potential in Houston, GM Daryl Morey has likely been looking forward to the day this would happen so that the franchise could finally move on from that era and free themselves of his max contract.
Yao retires with career averages of 19.0 points, 1.9 blocks, 9.2 rebounds, and 52.4% FGA per game in 486 games out of a possible 656 games.
