'I didn't want to end up in a wheelchair' - Yao Ming reflects on his decision to retire at 30

When he was selected by the Houston Rockets as the first pick of the 2002 NBA Draft, Yao Ming was quite a unique physical specimen. A 7'6'', 310-pound giant from China with an incredibly soft touch around the rim, he showed great promise as a future superstar in H-Town.

Even in his first three seasons, things looked quite promising. "The Dynasty" missed only two games, earned three All-Star appearances, and was named to the NBA Third Team in the 2003-04 season. However, as is often the case with players of such extraordinary physical proportions, nagging injuries soon followed.

The beginning of the end for Yao

The talented center's decline started in 2005 when he was diagnosed with osteomyelitis of his left big toe, a medical term for inflammation or swelling that occurs in the bone. In December of that same year, he underwent a season-ending surgery.

After that, in 2006, another year and hope for a title was lost when Yao broke a bone in his left foot. Then came a stress fracture in his left ankle, and Ming was never the same again. But who would be? From a promising towering center, only a shadow of what he could have been—and could have brought to his franchise—remained.

However, reflecting on his injury-riddled eight-season NBA career, Yao has no regrets. To this day, he is grateful that he retired at 30 years old, preserving what mattered most—his health for a somewhat normal life.

“I was mentally stressed from the injuries and the recovery process. It’s hard to imagine waking up every morning, going to rehab for two to three hours, and then still going to practice after that. That’s really hard. You worry about getting hurt again, Once or twice it’s OK, but then yo get hurt three or four times a couple years in a row? You lose that confidence, and when you lose confidence you cannot compete at that level. Of course, I was concerned about my future life,” the “Great Wall” said while pointing at his feet. “I didn’t want to end up in a wheelchair.”

The Hall of Fame career

Had his body allowed it, there’s no doubt Yao would have had at least one championship ring in his collection, along with many more individual accolades. His partnership with the super-talented scorer Tracy McGrady, who also struggled with injuries of his own, will forever remain one of those "what if" scenarios fans love to discuss.

The Chinese center cemented his place in basketball history when he was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2023. To this day, he remains connected to the sport that gave him so much but also took so much away.