Yao Ming: Why This Will Be the Year He's Proven To Be a Bust Once and for All
Yao Ming will be making his return to an NBA court for the first time in over a year tonight as the Houston Rockets take on the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers.
Yao has been one of the biggest international stars in the NBA due to his insane popularity in his home country of China, but has also had a career filled with injury and disappointment.
He's put up solid numbers in his career, but there isn't much to show for it, especially when you consider what people thought he was going to be.
With that in mind, I have given 10 reasons why Yao Ming will be proven a bust this season.
No. 10: No Killer Instinct
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Yao Ming is a guy who can put you in position to win a game, but he's not the type of player who can close them out.
Yao doesn't have the killer instinct to finish teams off and make sure that his team doesn't lose. That's what separates the greats from those who end up as just regular players in the league. He had the tools, he just didn't use them.
If he had had that killer gene in him, it may have been a different story.
No. 9: Lack of Physicality
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Before Yao Ming came into the league, expectations were very high from the center from China based on his physique alone.
People thought Yao was going to dominate opposing players and control a game from start to finish. Yet Yao is perfectly content with being a mid-range shooter with finesse post moves. Yao just never used his size and strength to his advantage the way he could have, and that's disappointing.
Yao will be known more for being an injury-prone disappointment than a dominating force who takes over games. He's more finesse than power, and there's no reason he couldn't have done both.
No. 8: Lack of Minutes
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Yao Ming will play 24 minutes a game this year. No more, no less.
That's the decision that has been made going into this season, and there's no way he can make a serious impact in those 24 minutes. No one thought that Yao would ever be reduced to playing so few minutes for a player of his stature.
Yao and the Rockets have no choice coming off that foot surgery.
No. 7: Untapped Potential
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Look, 19.1 points and 9.3 rebounds per game for a career aren't bad stats at all, but are they stats that people expected out of Yao Ming when he entered the league?
Not exactly.
With Yao's size and physical skills, he should have dominated the NBA, especially without many great centers in the league. Those are good, if not great stats, but he should have been better than that. He should have been dominating the boards each and every game.
I don't know how he hasn't averaged 10 boards a game for his career.
No. 6: Shaky in Early Play
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In the preseason, Yao Ming has looked tentative and rusty in his limited playing time.
He hasn't scored more than 10 points in any of the games he played in. Coming off missing an entire season after foot surgery, I'm not sure how much the Rockets are really going to get out of Yao this season.
It's certainly not a good sign for the long term.
No. 5: Retirement Talk
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As Yao Ming was recovering from his foot surgery, there was talk that he might retire if his foot didn't heal properly.
While Yao is suited up for Houston now, you have to wonder if he's going to be able to play at a level at which he's satisfied. If he gets dinged up again or just struggles this year, will retirement be in the near future?
It has to be in the back of the minds of Houston's management.
No. 4: Hype Before Debut
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Before Yao Ming even played one minute of an NBA game, people had massive hopes for the Chinese center.
He was supposed to change the way we looked at the center position. He was going to challenge Shaq for the title of the best center in the league. Things were going to be different after Yao Ming got going in the NBA.
Nothing has changed—Yao never challenged Shaq in his prime, and he's going to go down as just another center.
It's been disappointing, to say the least, especially for Rockets fans.
No. 3: No Playoff Success
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Yao Ming has had plenty of regular-season success, but once in the postseason, he's gotten his team past the first round of the playoffs only once.
It's a stunning lack of success in the playoffs that just can't be ignored. Great players get their teams deep into the playoffs. It's not as if Houston had terrible teams with Yao once they got to the postseason. There were a bunch of close series that didn't swing in the Rockets' favor.
Players are judged by their playoff success, and Yao doesn't have much to speak of.
No. 2: Limited Game Schedule
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If the Rockets have a back-to-back on their schedule this season, don't expect to see Yao Ming playing on the tail end of it.
Not only that, but Yao probably won't even practice the day after a game, so that's encouraging. He just can't play on that foot anymore, and I'm not sure that any amount of rest is going to change that fact. Houston and Yao are trying hard to make it work, but it just looks impossible.
You can't make an significant impact when you're playing limited minutes, missing practice time and having to sit out games.
No. 1: Injury Issues
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To say Yao Ming has been injury-prone in his career is an understatement.
From 2005 to 2008, he didn't play a full season and he missed all of last year with that foot injury. His massive size, one of his strongest assets, has been part of his downfall as his frame just cannot handle the rigors of an NBA schedule.
I wouldn't be shocked to see Yao go down yet again.
