NBA: Rockets to limit Yao Ming’s playing time
Yao Ming’s career has quickly gone from being one of the most dominant big men in the league to being a player who has to be carefully managed due to health issues.
Due to stress on his bones, the seven-foot-six-inch center will be limited to only 24 minutes per game next season, as reported by the Houston Chronicle. The decision was announced by his team, the Houston Rockets, where the Chinese player has spent his entire NBA career.
However, the time limit is not an average time, where if he plays fewer than 24 minutes in a specific game, he might be able to play more at a later time. The limit is strict in that Yao cannot play more than the set time limit regardless of his average minutes at any time.
The goal for the team is to keep Yao healthy throughout the season, and Keith Jones, an athletic trainer for the Rockets and vice president, stated that the intention was to re-evaluate the 24 minute limit if the Rockets make the playoffs. In previous years, even when the Rockets managed to land in the post season, they did so without their center. Yao is not only contending with his size causing bone stress but also having to split time with the Chinese national team.
Yao’s injuries over the past five seasons, which have stifled his promising career, are all bone-related in nature. After foot surgery that sidelined him last season, he was recently cleared to play basketball again by Team Doctor Tom Clanton.
