Yao Ming is recovering well from a broken foot and could be fit
to play in August's world championships, a spokesman for him said
yesterday.
Zhang Mingji of "Team Yao"?said that the Houston Rockets
center would start rehabilitation soon and could be training again
in eight weeks.
He would return to China in June, Zhang said, two months before
the start of the world championships in Japan.
The Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) confirmed yesterday
that Yao's compatriot Yi Jianlian would not be joining him in the
NBA — in the near future at least — after withdrawing from the 2006
draft.
(Agencies via Shenzhen Daily April 27, 2006)