The P.R. firm representing Reebok sent me this YouTube video of Yao working out from a couple of weeks ago and being interviewed:

Our Raymond has done a great job gathering photos from Yao’s press conference in China on Friday, as well as translating Yao’s answers to the questions the press asked him. Click here for more photos and the translation.

You probably saw the photos a couple of days ago from Yao working out. Now we’ve got video from NBA TV of him working out as well! Check out the video by clicking here.

Our Raymond reports that even though Yao Ming had been working out his limbs and legs in Houston, the wound on his left foot is still very swollen. So with the approval of his Houston doctors and Rockets management, he flew back China to seek more medical help from Chinese doctors and arrived late Thursday night, Beijing time.

For more photos of Yao’s arrival in China, click here.

Yao will stay in Beijing for about 10 days and will go through some Chinese therapy and treatment. After that, he will return to Houston for his Roast and Toast charity event (organized by Calvin Murphy) on April 17th, and continue his rehabilitation in Houston.

On Tuesday we got hold of some photos of Yao doing rehab in his pool at home so he can do leg workouts without having to apply too much weight on his foot.

To see more photos from Yao’s workout in his pool (including a visit from Steve Francis), continue to read the rest of this post.

Read the rest of this entry »

Raymond has some pics in the forum of Yao working out on March 31st to try to stay in shape while he rests his injured foot after it was surgically repaired in early March. Click here for more photos from Yao’s workout session.

Thanks to Raymond for this translation of an interview with Yao where he talks about what he’s doing these days, what he thinks of the Rockets’ chances this season, who he thinks they match up well against in the playoffs, and much more.

Raymond has translated another interview of Yao that was conducted just a few hours after Yao’s surgery on Monday.

In case you missed it, here’s an interview from a couple of days ago with Rocket Steve Francis.

Thanks, Raymond!

Yao had his surgery today, and he’s doing fine. Click here for standard post-surgery info.

Raymond has done a fantastic job translating this long interview that Yao provided to Titan Sports after it was announced that Yao will miss the rest of the season because of a stress fracture in his left ankle. In this translation, we learn:

- Yao and the Rockets trainer initially thought the pain was because of bone spurs before they started checking it out further
- Maybe the stress fracture started back in November in a game against Dallas
- The injury, and the surgery he’ll have, is very similar to what Zydrunas Ilgauskas had done
- He probably could have only played another 2 or 3 games before the pain would have become unbearable
- He probably won’t return to China until late in the recuperation stage because long flights are not good for his ankle
- Much, much more

In my mind, since Yao says he will only be able to work on his upper body during most of the recuperation period, there might be a bright side to all this. Since it’s doubtful he’ll be 100% when the Olympics start, he will probably work hard so he can improve his jump shooting ability so he can provide sure-fire scoring for the Chinese team during the Olympics.

This potential emphasis on outside shooting might help him score more effectively in the long-run since his outside shooting has dropped off since becoming more of a low-post player.

Thanks for the translation, Raymond!