Yao Ming has a stress fracture in his foot and will miss the rest of the season.
This is devastating news for the Rockets, who will find it difficult to hold on to a playoff spot without their franchise center. Teams like Utah, New Orleans, Golden State and Denver are probably breathing a little easier knowing he’s out. There was talk of a 50+ win team missing the playoffs for the first time in league history, and Houston just has to win 13 of its remaining 25 games to reach that mark, so it still could happen.
More importantly (for Houston), are the Rockets going to reconsider building around an injury-prone player? Is Yao Ming injury-prone? He played in all 82 games in each of his first three seasons, but in the last three, he has only played in 57, 48, and 55 games, respectively. He is only 27, so conventional thinking would say that he has four or five years left in his prime, but at 7’6″, one has to wonder if his body will be able to hold up that long. Right now, it’s not looking too good.
