The Christian Science Monitor reported the following today…

Basketball fan Barack Obama opened his speech to a Washington meeting focused on building a strategic and economic dialog with China by citing an unusual philosopher – Yao Ming, the seven-foot, six-inch Chinese-born star of the Houston Rockets basketball team.

Obama ended by quoting a more traditional philosopher, Mencius, born in 372 BC and a major figure in Confucianism. The reference came as Obama outlined the need for continued dialog between the two nations. “A trail through the mountains, if used, becomes a path in a short time, but, if unused, becomes blocked by grass in an equally short time.”

According to published reports that Raymond read in the Chinese press, Yao checked out of Houston’s Memorial Hermann Hospital on Saturday, four days after his surgery.

Yao’s parents will be taking care of him at home. His wife Ye Li is making arrangements to return to Houston from Shanghai as soon as possible.

Yao will return to the hospital in a few days time to remove the stitches, and his foot will be placed in a plastic cast for 3 months. He’ll use crutches for 6 to 8 weeks to get around.

Yao can resume upper body training during the 3 month span and can start his rehabilitation training after the cast is removed.

In case you missed it, Yao had his foot surgery yesterday. This from the Houston Chronicle…

Rockets center Yao Ming underwent surgery Tuesday morning to repair the hairline fracture in his left foot and another to realign the bones in the foot in an effort to prevent the recurrence of the injury that has ended his past two NBA seasons.

The Rockets did not provide any timetable for Yao’s return to basketball-oriented workouts or competition, other than he expected to participate in training camp in October 2010.

I still feel very bad for Yao. Having surgery is no fun, especially after not thinking you would need it, and having it done in the same area as before.

The Houston Chronicle, ESPN and Rockets.com are reporting that Yao has finally made the decision to have surgery on his foot next week, just like Zydrunas Ilgauskas did back in 2001.

Let’s hope Yao goes on to have an injury-free career like Big Z has had since that surgery. I personally think Yao will miss all of next season, although one of the stories says he can start taking on ‘basketball activity’ in 6 months. We’ll see.

Click here for the Chronicle and ESPN stories on the specifics of the surgical procedure he’ll undertake.

Raymond has translated an interview that Yao gave to the Xinhua News Agency about his recent purchase of the Shanghai Sharks. It’s interesting to see Yao “save” his former team and see him become a businessman before our eyes, although he’s adamant he has no plans to retire anytime soon. That’s good news to Yao fans!

While we await word for Yao to decide what kind of treatment he’s going to pursue to treat his injured foot, Raymond caught the news that Yao has purchased the Shanghai Sharks! Click here for more on the story.

This from the Houston Chronicle this afternoon…

In an indication that Yao Ming will miss all of the 2009-10 season, the Rockets signed Trevor Ariza using the disabled player exception they expect to receive with Yao out.

The use of the injury exception would indicate he plans to undergo season-ending surgery, rather than choosing the more conservative option of immobilizing the injury again in the hopes that his hairline fracture would heal without surgery.

If Yao was to recover quickly from the surgery, Yao could come back and play next season, though granting the exception indicates that the league agrees that Yao will likely miss the season.

So it’s not all gloom-and-doom. Yao COULD come back next season. But listening to Houston sports radio and reading the Chronicle for over a week now, everyone has been resigned to the prospect that Yao will most likely miss next season, although it hasn’t been confirmed yet, nor has the treatment that Yao will opt to take.

The good news is that using this exception on Ariza gives the Rockets the flexibility to still use the mid-level exception on another free agent, perhaps Orlando center (like Marcin Gortat?). Go Daryl, Go!

Here’s more from the Chronicle on today’s announcement.

So Ron Artest is gone and Trevor Ariza is coming to Houston. I’m okay with that.

Ariza reminds me of a more athletic Robert Horry, and we all know how he helped the Rockets win a couple of rings. Both have shown they can hit big shots in the clutch, something the Rockets have needed.

If it turns out Yao is going to be hurt for all of next season, then the Rockets can’t build around Artest. He’s not a cornerstone player, and he’s not getting any younger. And as much as I liked him as a player, I was very disappointed how he never learned how to stop being a ballhog and jack up terrible shots. He is what he is.

Although Artest is going to sign for the mid-level exception with the Lakers for around $5-$6 million per year for 3 years, he would have cost a lot more to the Rockets (maybe $9 million/year for 3 years, if not more).

The Rockets can’t tie up that kind of money for an offensive liability as they try to retool for the future. Not for a 40% shooter. I actually think Artest is going to disrupt the offensive chemistry on the Lakers, as this Yahoo article points out, but that’s their problem. Regardless, it will be interesting to see how it all plays out in LA-LA land.

Hopefully what we’ll see this coming season, if Yao is out, is that this is a “David Robinson year” for the Rockets. You may remember about 12 years ago the Spurs were a decent team, but then Robinson got hurt for almost the entire year, they ended up in the lottery, and got Tim Duncan. Robinson came back, and that’s when the championships ultimately ensued.

In the meantime, I don’t think the Rockets are going to tank too bad this season. They’ve got good players like Ariza, Brooks, Landry, Lowry, and Scola, and that’s not even taking into account their draft picks. They aren’t chopped liver, they are still going to be fun to watch under an Adelman offensive system that won’t be disrupted by Artest’s ball-stopping, and they could still sign a serviceable center. And don’t forget that Joey Dorsey could evolve into being a defensive presence they need down low. They are definitely going to be more athletic, and that’s always fun to watch.

Finally, if Yao can come back during the season, the Ariza acquisition may end up being a nice compliment to the Rockets, Horry-style.