The Houston Rockets are in the midst of one of their greatest seasons in some time. New head coach Mike D’Antoni is leading the charge of an offensive juggernaut spear-headed by James Harden and his historic performance thus far this year. During this time of great optimism and success, the team is simultaneously looking in the past and has announced that they plan to retire the #11 jersey of center Yao Ming during halftime of the Rockets matchup with the Chicago Bulls on February 3rd. Following from the NBA:
The Houston Rockets announced today that Owner Leslie Alexander will retire Yao Ming’s #11 during halftime of the game vs. Chicago on Friday, Feb. 3, 2017. The ceremony was originally scheduled for the game against Atlanta on Thursday, Feb. 2, but due to network television obligations, Friday, Feb. 3 will provide a more flexible schedule for the ceremony.
Yao was one of the key pieces in the Houston Rockets organization during the mid-2000’s. During his Houston career, he averaged 19.0 points per game while grabbing 9.2 rebounds. Yao and legendary shooting guard Tracy McGrady made quite a formidable duo for years. The two lead Houston to greater success than they’d seen since the tenure of all-time great Hakeem Olajuwon in the 1990’s. Had his and McGrady’s careers both not been cut short by various injuries, they may have endured even more postseason success. It seems as if Houston has always had a reliable big patrolling the paint and Yao’s 7’6″ frame paired with his scoring prowess allowed him to further that lineage.
Not only did Yao Ming bring wins to the Houston Rockets franchise, but he also paved the way for so many foreign players, especially from China. He was really the global icon that made basketball and the NBA relevant in China. Yao joins Clyde Drexler (22), Calvin Murphy (23), Moses Malone (24), Hakeem Olajuwon (34), and Rudy Tomjanovich (45) as the only Rockets to have their jerseys retired.
