Yao’s status concerns Chinese

ASSOCIATED PRESS

The Olympics will be the biggest thing that ever happened to Chinese sports. Right now, Yi Jianlian isn’t ready to think about them.

Not so soon after the injury to Yao Ming, which could ruin the host country’s hopes of showing how much it has improved in basketball.

“The Olympics is more than five months away right now, so I haven’t really thought too much about that,” Yi said last week through a translator. “But I’m really hoping that Yao Ming can get better before the Olympics and participate in that. But he has a lot of time right now.”

Yao will miss the rest of the NBA season with a stress fracture in his left foot. An expected recovery time of about four months would have the Houston Rockets center ready for the Olympics, which begin Aug. 8 in Beijing.

But any setback would likely put his status in jeopardy, which is why there is such concern back in China. Yi said he has gotten many calls this week from people who want to talk about Yao. Yi said he also spoke to his injured Olympic teammate.

“He just said that I’ve got to watch out for my own physical condition in the future,” said Yi, the Milwaukee Bucks’ rookie forward.

The Chinese aren’t a threat to win a medal, and without Yao they would struggle to win even a game. But if he does play, China certainly can be competitive against some teams, as it proved two years ago in the world championships.