I would be irresponsible if I didn’t report what Yahoo Sports and the Houston Chronicle are reporting about how Yao may miss next season, and maybe longer.

Here’s Yahoo’s story, and here’s Jonathan Feigen’s story from the Chronicle.

Because Yao is in no pain, I think alot of this may be speculation. I prefer to agree with the statement Rockets’ physician Dr. Tom Clanton made: “The fact he is having no symptoms gives us reason for optimism.”

Discouraging news late yesterday came out that Yao’s left foot hasn’t healed. Yao flew to Houston from China to get his foot checked out as scheduled. This statement came from Rockets team physician Tom Clanton…

“Yao is not experiencing any pain in his left foot. However, the results from the CT and bone scans we performed over the past two days indicate that the hairline fracture has not responded to the degree that we expected. We will review a variety of treatment options before proceeding.”

This could mean anything from wearing a cast to surgery. I know Yao has got to be really bummed right now. He was itching to get back to running, so this is a setback.

Here’s more of the story from the Chronicle.

Yesterday Yao gave an interview in China that stated he thinks the Chinese national team needs to have “fresh blood” if they want to continue and improve, and give young players more court time to increase their experience. We already know from last year that Yao said he had played his last Olympics in the 2008 Beijing Games. So it looks like a changing of the guard is occurring before our very eyes.

In the YaoMania forum, Raymond reports Yao will be cheering on his Chinese teammates when they play exhibition games against Australian national team in Beilun of Ningbo June 28-30th.

Before that, though, he will be flying back to Houston on Sunday June 21st for the scheduled medical checkup on his foot. It will be a short trip, though, since he will return to China sometime next week for a summer camp sponsored by China Life for orphans and child survivors of the Sichuan earthquake in Beijing.

In case you didn’t know, Yao has a Facebook page that has been getting updated while he has been in Beijing with some good stuff. Make sure to check it out at Facebook.com/Yao and become a fan.

Also, Yao was interviewed after the Lakers and his Chinese National teammate Sun Yue won a ring. Here’s a video that Yao gave in Chinese (it may take awhile to play since it’s being hosted in China):

Raymond in China reports the following…

Yao congratulated Sun Yue on his achievement, but said he felt somewhat jealous/envious of him. He said if he didn’t feel envious or jealous, then he must be someone that lives without desire and expectations ????.

He said players always should dream to improve and move higher. He believed that even now that Sun Yue had already obtained his first championship ring, he will not be satisfied and self-complacent in light of this. He thought Sun Yue will (work much harder and) hope he could obtain more play minutes as well as to gain more experience. After all, he thought the worth and value of a player is only manifested when he actually plays.

Aaron Brooks, along with Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo, have been in Beijing for a couple of days for a Nike “All-Asia” basketball camp.

Click here for more photos of Brooks and Rondo at the camp, including photos of their vertical leap!

Aaron and Yao have also talked with each other over the phone, and plan to meet up for dinner sometime this week.

A couple of days ago in Beijing, Yao was the recipient of the Classic Icon Figure in Sports Award at the 2009 China Fashion Awards in a star-studded event. It also marked the launch of a broad new integrated multimedia brand called Enjoyoung for the Shanghai Media Group, China’s No. 2 state-run media firm after China Central Television.

Click here for more photos from the event. Click here for a video of Yao accepting the award.

Raymond has been busy in the forum this week with all kinds of updates from Yao. Here’s a summary:

Early this week, an interview of Yao was published in the Shanghai Morning Post where he summarized his achievement with the Rockets this season, who the leaders are on the Rockets, as well as a story he told about a rare speech he gave to the team after a blowout loss earlier in the season.

On Tuesday, June 2nd, Yao and wife Ye Li paid a visit to men’s and women’s Chinese national teams. Here they are pictured having some fun on the court.

Also this week, Yao did some voice-over work for a Chinese animated film called The Magic Aster where his character is an old Chinese herbal doctor.

Click here for photos of Yao at the press conference where he promotes the film, which debuts June 19th.

Yao will donate his earnings from the film to the Shanghai Special Care Foundation, which he started with other people who worked for the 2007 Shanghai Special Olympic Games. Established in July 2008, the foundation helps mentally handicapped people and the poor. Part of the box office income from the movie will go to the foundation.