The Olympic dream of Chinese centre Yao Ming is in jeopardy over a stress fracture in his left foot.
Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey announced late Tuesday that Yao will be sidelined for the rest of the regular NBA basketball season and the playoffs as well.
Time could then be running out for Yao in his bid to play at the home Olympics in Beijing which take place August 8-24.
There was shock in China over the injury and the Chinese basketball federation announced a news conference for later Wednesday on Yao’s fate.
Yao is the most famoust Chinese athlete along with 110m hurdles world champion and world record holder Liu Xiang. He played in the 2000 and 2004 Olympics and had the honour of being China’s flag- bearer at the opening ceremony of the 2004 Games in Athens.
“If I cannot play in the Olympics for my country this time, it will be the biggest loss in my career to right now,” said Yao, who required six months of recovery in his comeback from a fracture in the same left foot in 2006.
