It’s been quiet on the Yao front the past few weeks, but today we learned through this Houston Chronicle article and the video below that Yao will not opt out of his contract and will remain a Rocket next season.

It doesn’t surprise many folks that Yao will remain a Rocket next season. That was pretty much a given based on how much he likes Houston, and how loyal he is. I’m sure a lot of thinking went on about the decision to opt out this season, versus locking in something for the long term.

You’ve got to hand it to Yao for putting everything on the line this coming season without knowing how well his foot will respond to the surgery and rehab he’s been going through. With this decision, you can bet that Yao feels very comfortable with the progress his foot has made.

In case you missed it, on Saturday Yao tweeted and posted on his Facebook the following:

I’m still working out 5 days a week. I’m running on a real treadmill 20-30 minutes each time. I don’t need the Alter-G treadmill any more.

Previously on June 18th, he posted this on the same aforementioned sites:

I watched Game 7 last night. Exciting with lots of 3-pointers at the end. Unbelievable series. I am happy for Ron winning a championship and having a great year. Hopefully next year it will be us in Houston.

We received this video from the Rockets of Yao helping open that playground on June 5th at the Chinese Community Center in Houston. This was Yao’s first public appearance since his baby daughter was born.

It’s good to see and hear Yao since I’m sure he’s been very busy with his new baby, continuing his rehab, etc.

Here’s another video of Yao at the playground opening.

This article on FoxSportsHouston.com has some interesting quotes from Yao that he provided after helping open the playground at the Chinese Community Center on Saturday.

When asked if he would opt out of his contract and become a free agent, he didn’t provide any details, but he did provide this:

“I think my future is still in Houston. Still, my agent will handle this. We will communicate with (Rockets General Manager) Daryl Morey and we will work this out.”

As many of you may already know, even if Yao opts out, that doesn’t mean he does NOT want to be a Rocket and test the free agent waters. With variables like a new Collective Bargaining Agreement and a new salary cap amount the teams will have to work with, it may make sense for many players who are happy with their current team to opt out and sign a longer-term deal with their own team rather than risk getting penalized with a worse contract under the new environment after next season. So don’t get all upset if you hear that Yao opts out. It still means he wants to remain a Rocket, and he’s doing the best thing for his long-term future as a Rocket.

In regards to his action on the court next season, Yao said he expects his minutes to be reduced at the beginning of the season, and perhaps beyond. When asked if he thought this was a good strategy, Yao replied, “I think so, yes.”

Click here for the entire article.

It’s been pretty quiet on the Yao front over the past couple of weeks. He’s obviously been busy tending to his new baby daughter and continuing his rehab and workouts. But yesterday he got out and participated in the opening of a new nature-based playground at the Chinese Community Center in Houston.

This is one of four nature-based playgrounds that Yao promised to have constructed in Houston that were destroyed by Hurricane Ike.

Click here for more photos from the playground opening.

Luis Scola is in China on an Anta tour, and Raymond has been following many of his activities online.

Here’s just one photo that Raymond has posted in the forum. In this one, Scola was in Harbin on June 1st where he drew a big crowd.

Click here for more photos of Scola’s activities in China.

Also, Titan Sports interviewed Scola, and Raymond has translated the article. It’s an interesting read. Scola is a free agent, and says he really wants to stay in Houston and play alongside Yao.

Here are some of the excerpts from the translation:

“I’m just like that. When I like something and grew accustomed to it, then I would not want to change. I love Houston very very much. I’m not willing to leave. I sincerely hope that when this summer is over, I will still be wearing my Houston Rockets jersey. And then when October comes, that is a few months later, I can come to Beijing again for the China Game.

“I really really enjoy playing alongside with Yao Ming. I’m telling the truth from the bottom of my heart. Both on court and off court, he had opened a lot of doors for me, and had completely changed my life. I’m not going to say more about what he did for me off the court.

But on the court, I enjoy playing together with him. I definitely play better together with him. Perhaps it was not reflected correctly in the statistics; he did not play this season, and I’ve improved in major categories of my statistics. However, as a matter of fact, I crave to be able to play together with him. Everything will become relatively easy playing together with him. I have no idea how much he can recover, 100%? 80%? But that doesn’t really matter. As long he stands on the court, he will be a threat. Opponents guarding him definitely dare not lose their target to come to guard me; and opponents guarding me might let me loose so as to help play defense on him. When he plays, you’ll forget that he is actually 2.26 meter tall. His style of play and his response are just like he is a player at least 10 centimeters shorter than he actually is. I eagerly look forward to him returning to court quickly, and definitely we can play much better next season.”

Click here for the entire translation.