Yao Ming suffering from hypertension
( 2003-08-26 15:14) (HOOPSWORLD.com)
The Rockets sensation may have to cut his NBA career short due to stress and
hypertension.
Reports out of China today have Yao Ming suffering from severe hypertension
and talking about cutting his NBA career short. The 23-year-old Yao claims that
the stress of basketball and the continuous media attention is taking a toll on
him, both physically and psychologically, and that his body may not be able to
take the pounding for much longer.
"Every time when leaving the playground, I am out of breath with my feet
heavy as leaded," Yao told China's People's Daily newspaper on Sunday. This is
not the first time we've heard it either. Houston coach Rudy Tomjanovich took
fire for his decision to use Yao sparingly last season, often using Kelvin Cato
for as much as half of games to preserve Yao's strength. Now it appears that
Rudy T was justified in doing so. The most common answer from Yao when we asked
how he felt last season was, "I'm tired." It makes one wonder how much longer he
can really play a full NBA schedule and then return to China and play all summer
without a break.
The potential that Yao Ming has shown after just one
year in the NBA would certainly seem to tag him as the next big star of the
league, but a situation like this could sabotage his career before that
potential canbe realized.
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