Yao Ming: The Great Wall of Shattered Dreams

(Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

And with the first pick in the 2002 NBA Draft, the Houston Rockets select...disappointment.

That's not the only thing the Rockets got when they drafted the 7'6" powerhouse center from China. They also inherited the most heartbreaking left foot in all of basketball.

Announced on Monday, June 29, Yao Ming was still suffering from a hairline fracture in his left foot that he received against the Los Angeles Lakers during Game Three of the Conference Semi-Finals.

The Houston Rockets' team physician informed the media that Ming's injury would keep him out of basketball for the next season and potentially end his career. Losing Yao will greatly decrease the Rockets' chances of making deep playoff run this season; losing Yao completely would destroy any chance of the Rockets making the playoffs at all for years to come.

Contrary to conventional wisdom and Steve Francis' over-zealous nickname, Ming was the franchise. He was going to be the cornerstone, the literal centerpiece in the Houston Rockets future championship picture.

Coming out of China in 2002, he was already a seasoned veteran playing in the Chinese Basketball Association since he was 17, averaging 23.4 points on 65.1 percent shooting and 15.4 rebounds in five seasons, including an impressive 32.4 point on 72.1 percent shooting and a 19 rebound average in 2001-2002.

What the Rockets saw in the 22-year-old Ming was a young, yet experienced center with otherworldly size and an extremely polished game for a big man. He could post up and shoot over any defender on the block, knock down mid-range jumpers with great ease, and unlike most big men, step up to the free throw line and shoot a decent percentage. Though his feet were slow, his size allowed him to be an effective shot blocker.

What they got was the real deal, with Ming becoming an All-Star, averaging 19.1 points and 9.3 rebounds a game, an effective leader, and a high-character individual to market to the public.

What they did not foresee were the injury problems that came with a man of his frame. Suffering through broken legs and a chronically injured left foot, Ming has never played a full 82-game season since 2004, missing at least 25 games three times in his seven-year NBA career.

He just advanced past the first round of the playoffs for the first time this past postseason because this time, he was relatively healthy. His presence, or lack thereof, prevented the Rockets from making deep runs into the playoffs. Next season held much promise as Ming was thought to fully recover from the fracture in his left foot and shoulder the load as the Rockets would ride him into the conference finals and maybe beyond.

There are rarely people that you never want to root against: Ming is one of them. Since he came into the league he has been nothing but a model citizen, taking part in many ventures to improve the local community. His personality exudes confidence without passing over into the realm of arrogance.

That's why it's a shame to see this happening to such a model athlete in what seems to be a very unethical era in athletics. It's not from a lack of effort that Ming's career is diminishing before our very eyes. He consistently produces at an All-Star level when he's playing, has never a discouraging word to say, except about Ron Artest, who became his best friend apparently, and has never backed away from his responsibilities.

Even when hampered by that same left foot last season, he pushed himself to compete in 2008 Olympics in Beijing for China, putting his home country on his back and trying to compete with the world's best with him as the focal point of the team.

Ming was supposed to be the basketball savior for China, bringing the gold in Beijing and immortalizing himself as hero to a billion people. Ming was also supposed to take the Rockets to the promise land in the NBA, anchoring a team built around his talents and give Houston its first championship since Hakeem Olajuwon dream shook his way to the title.

But the pressure of both expectations weighed heavy on Ming, breaking the promise he once showed and the left foot that tried desperately to hold him up.

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