The new season is almost here! Monday was media day at the Rockets where a bevy of Rockets had their photos taken, including new ones you’ve probably never heard of. Check out lots of photos in the forum.
From left: Luis Scola, Trevor Ariza, Tracy McGrady, and Shane Battier
Yao said on Wednesday that an examination shows that the bones in his foot are healing properly after having surgery in late July. Obviously, this is great news, but he knows for sure he’ll miss all of next season.
Yao reveals how bummed he was when he heard he was going to need surgery, but now feels ‘born again’ since he knows he’ll be able to play in the 2010-11 season.
It’s hard to believe we’re so close to training camp. Ramping up the P.R. machine, the Rockets in advance released the design of a third new uniform, what they call their ‘alternative’ uniform.
Raymond reports that Yao said the following about the uniform: “This looks very nostalgic like an uniform/jersey for a school team, But I like it very much. Everything about the color, the design and the texture of the fabric feels great. But regrettably, I can’t wear it in the new season. But I’m already getting impatient and itchy to wear it in the next next season.”
Click here for more on the story behind the uniform change. Click here for more photos from the unveiling event at Toyota Center.
Simultaneously, the Rockets announced their new marketing slogan: “We are Red Nation.” Uhhh. Okay. Personally, I think it’s ‘been there, done that.’ Raider Nation and all the other ‘nations’ have been overused. What’s wrong with keeping, “Get Red?” Click here to understand the Rockets’ logic behind it.
Many of us have been wondering what Yao has been up to the past few months. We’ve seen periodic updates and photos on his Facebook page (Facebook.com/Yao) as well as YaoMingMania.com. But we haven’t seem much video of him. Until now. Check it out below.
Earlier this week I spent a couple of hours with The Big Man, who was gracious enough to let me record him working out.
Yao had posted on his Facebook page a few weeks ago that he was working out 5 days a week, on weekdays, for 2-3 hours a session. He said these workouts were ‘light,’ just to keep his upper body in motion. So I was thinking he’d be doing something along the lines of ’12 ounce curls,’ or maybe a little more than that. After all, he has over a year before he’ll be playing serious basketball. Kick back and relax, go to Toyota Center mainly to get out of the house, right?
After seeing what I saw, I feel like such a wuss. A light workout to Yao is a P90X-like workout to me! Understand that Yao will not be playing basketball professionally for more than a year. But he’s still commuting into downtown Houston — during rush hour mind you — every weekday and slaving away in the gym.
He has every excuse to just lay low, maybe go to Toyota Center a couple of days a week, workout an hour, and just ramp up his workouts a couple of months in advance before the 2010 season starts. Or do what Charles Barkley did — start trying to lose the flab during training camp.
I now know why Jeff Van Gundy and many others around the league say that Yao is the hardest working player they’ve known.
Making the workouts even a little more challenging was that the weight room was a bit warm and humid, probably more than normal [Note: a second video will be posted in a few days from his weight room workout]. I was told by a Rockets’ staff member that the room partly gets cooled by the air conditioning that hits the arena floor. Since there are no events scheduled at Toyota Center they obviously don’t need to cool the arena like they normally do. That made the sweat pour out of their skin in just a few minutes.
In the weight room were other players like Joey Dorsey, and recent free agent signees Jelani McCoy and Lorenzen Wright. They were going through some pretty impressive workouts themselves. But they are all vying for jobs with training camp only a few weeks away. Yao is a YEAR away.
Thanks Yao for the privilege of letting us see what you do during the off-season. Hopefully this is an inspiration to all of us so that the next time you don’t feel like exercising when you know you need it, think of Yao.
In the Chinese town of Guangyuan a couple of days ago, the opening of a new school was celebrated, built in the aftermath of the Sichuan earthquake last year. The Yao Ming Foundation funded the construction of the school.
Yao called into the opening ceremony from Houston. He wasn’t able to attend in person because of travel restrictions due to the recuperation of his foot. He congratulated the principal, teachers, and students, and told them that he hoped that the new school can give them renewed hope and confidence. He also told them the school represented the love and care of many people, and that they should study hard and stay healthy. Through their diligence and good results, they would repay the love and care shown to them.
ESPN.com is reporting that Yao could return sooner than anyone expected based off Yao’s progress. Rockets GM Daryl Morey had this to say to ESPN The Magazine:
“Yao Ming is progressing well. I don’t think that [a career-ending scenario] is something that will happen, based on what I’m hearing from the doctors. They do know that the bone will heal and he’ll get back on it. And they have not actually ruled out [his return] this season. I think that’s less likely than likely, but they haven’t ruled it out.”
First, the good news is that Morey feels confident it won’t be a career-ending condition. However, I think it may be way too early to say Yao could return next season. He had the surgery on July 21st, a little less than 6 weeks ago. So let’s not get our hopes up too high, folks. After all, he’s still in a cast.
Yao thanks his fans in the video below, and asks you to support the Rockets this season.
As you know, I met with Yao recently. I asked him some questions that I thought you guys wanted to know (as did I). Yao will actually be responding to those questions over time through a new platform that I’ll tell you about later. So please be patient. It should be announced soon.
