CHN - Yao says he may have to quit game over foot injury

BEIJING (National Team) - Yao Ming has shocked Chinese basketball by claiming he could quit the sport if his long-term foot injury does not heal soon.

The 29-year-old, who turns 30 in September, missed all of last season with the problem, and has been hampered by a series of injuries for the past several years.

Although he is expected to be ready for the start of the Houston Rockets' pre-season training camp, Yao sounded pessimistic about the long-term future.

"If the foot injury does not heal next season, I might choose to call it quits," he said in comments reported by the Chinese media.

Yao also said it was unlikely he would play for China at the 2012 London Olympics.

"The chance is very small," Yao said. "The foot injury will not allow me to play so many games anymore. Like I said before, I will quit the national team and the sport one day. It's what happens to every athlete."

Yao issued a rare criticism of the Chinese national team, saying not enough has been done to develop the sport in the country.

"We are paying for what we didn't do leading up to 2008," he said. "We skipped the development of a reserve team and the CBA league and focused only on the national team and the Olympics. It's like you are killing the goose that lays the golden egg.

"I'm 30. As an athlete, I am not the future of China basketball anymore."

FIBA