Yao Ming to retire

Not a big shock, but sad nonetheless:

http://eye-on-basketball.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/22748484/30521353

Say what you want about his on-court game (which I think was excellent), but his presence in the NBA was a pivotal cultural milestone.

 

Shaq was unavailable for comment.

 

Damn, isn't he only 30 or so?

I remember watching him play about five years ago and as I was leaving the game, I thought, "Didn't see much of Yao tonight..." and I looked at the box and he had 25 points and 12 boards. He did his job very quietly.

 

Yes, he was.

@shaq
Congrats on your retirement Yao Ming. Shay shay http://www.tout.com/yet74p

 

Loved to watch Yao play, but 20 minutes after the game was over you wanted to watch him play again.

 

Fairly similar career to Bill Walton: a very good, sometimes dominant player when healthy, but he could never stay healthy.

Ming and Walton each had about 1 1/2 seasons in which they were really healthy.

 

Can I write a check?

I had that commercial in my head for years.

 

I've been debating this all day with friends, co-workers.

Is Yao a Hall of Famer? By numbers, of course, I'd say certainly not. But in terms of his impact globally and what he did to bring China into the NBA mix, I'd say he is worthy in that regard.

He's a game-changer, and, IMO, game changers belong in the HOF.

 

God no.

 

Absolutely not. The only reason he had such impact globally is because he was Chinese. The HOF does not need to be awarding bonus points for reasons based on nationality/race.

 

"Yo ... "
"YAO!"

Fun little ad.

It would have been great for both the game and the player had Yao been able to stay healthy. But now is the time for him to get out to preserve whatever chance he possesses of living a somewhat normal, physically healthy life.