Rockets Doctor: Future Unclear for Yao

HOUSTON - In the wake of a report from Yahoo.com that Houston Rockets center Yao Ming could miss the upcoming season because of his broken left foot and that his career could even be in jeopardy, Rockets team physician Dr. Tom Clanton told FOX 26 Sports it is way too early to try and make predictions about what may happen.

However, Dr. Clanton acknowledged those are two scenarios that may eventually come into play. He also said it is also possible Yao could decide to retire from the game rather than face another surgery.

"I don't think we can say this is a career-ending injury at this point," Dr. Clanton said. "It's still very early in the process and we still have a very significant difference between the way Yao looks and what a study of his foot, an imaging study has shown.

"It's still very early in the treatment course of this problem and we may not have enough information yet to know the best treatment option and the direction it's going to go.

"Sometimes you actually need a little more time for a problem to evolve before you can tell whether it's actually going to get better or going to get worse."

Yao underwent surgery on his left foot in April, 2006 and again in March, 2008.

The problem centers around the tarsal navicular bone in Yao's left foot. He re-injured that bone during the 2009 playoffs.

"There's certainly significant cause for concern about the upcoming season just because of what we are seeing," Dr. Clanton said. "It could potentially jeopardize the upcoming season for Yao.

"Is there a possibility it could be career-ending? Of course there is. It's because of the type of bone it's in. It's because of the fact he's had multiple prior stress fractures. It's because there is the potential for further surgery. All of those things raise a level of concern that it could create a career-threatening situation.

"I would emphasize it more from the standpoint of the upcoming season, than his career itself."

Clanton said he will not rule out the possibility Yao will play next season. However, he said it is unlikely..

"I think that that's a possibility, but I wouldn't say it is a probability."

Clanton also said it's realistic to think Yao will not want to go through anymore medical procedures to continue playing.

"He's had multiple operations over the past four seasons, maybe five seasons now," Clanton said. "If I were him I would probably get pretty tired of having people operate on me.

"It maybe that he'll say you know I've had enougn operations."

Clanton believes retiring from the game has become an option for Yao.

"Yes I think that is an option," Clanton said. "He may still require some form of treatment to get it to heal, but retirement is a legitimate option.

"There are some people that decide just not to have more surgery in order to keep playing when they have already been though a lot of surgeries."

The Rockets organization said last week when they announced Yao's left foot was not healing properly that they would have no further comment.

General Manager Daryl Morey did not change that stance Monday.

"We are not going to comment until we have all the facts," Morey said.