Could I have picked a worse time to start following the Rockets? Minutes after jumping on the bandwagon they get blown out by the Lakers in Game 7 of their second round series. Then news breaks that my favorite player on the team, Aaron Brooks (aka "The Skycap") might be heading out of town as part of a trade that would bring the Rockets Amare Stoudamire. (Tracy McGrady for Amare Stoudamire? Somebody should tell the GMs involved that its 2009, not 2006.)

Last night, however, came the worst news of all: Yao "The Dynasty" Ming might never play basketball again.

The fracture in Yao's left foot has worsened and could be severe enough to threaten his entire next season or even his career, depending on the success of potential treatments he could choose, [Rockets team physician Tom] Clanton said.

[...]

Yao, who was hurt during this year's NBA Western Conference semifinals against the Los Angeles Lakers, is scheduled to visit specialists around the country to choose a course of treatment. He could try a more conservative approach by immobilizing the foot in hopes the hairline fracture in his left tarsal navicular bone will heal on its own, as doctors predicted it would when Yao's season ended May 8. Because Yao has no pain or other symptoms, Clanton said there is reason to be optimistic that approach could work.

But Clanton also revealed Monday that a CT scan showed Yao's injury not only failed to heal as expected but has gotten worse, potentially requiring a surgical remedy.

The blame for this injury fails squarely on the shoulders of the Rockets. The facts are these:

The history of basketball is littered with players over seven feet tall whose careers were either cut short or never got off the ground because of injury problems. This includes promising draft picks like Sam Bowie, and Greg Oden; players who peaked for a few great years but could never recapture their skills like Ralph Sampson and Bill Walton; and freak shows like Gheorghe Muresan and Manute Bol.

Yao Ming has played year round since he came to the NBA. Part of his deal with the Chinese national team was that he would play for them during the summers instead of taking any time off. As a result, his body has been unable to recover from the aches and pains of a highly physical game, and he has worn down faster than he otherwise would have.

Yao has already had a history of injuries. His first three years in the league, he played 82, 82, and 80 games. Since then? 57, 48, 55, and 77. This past season was his most effective in four years; he didn't get injured until the second round of the playoffs.

The Rockets are supposed to be the Moneyball team of basketball. Their GM, Daryl Morey, is an MIT graduate who has spearheaded the statistical revolution in the sport. So, tell me why they were unable to figure out that making Yao play 35 minutes a game in as many games as possible was a bad idea? Why didn't he sit out the first 30 games of the season? Or limit him to 20 minutes a game until the last month?

Nope, just keep running him out there every night until his feet can't take it and his career ends. BRILLIANT STRATEGY ROCKETS.

Now that Yao is gone, can we at least bring back this logo?