Yao Ming, the greatest Chinese basketball player ever, is hanging up his size 18 sneakers for good and retiring from the NBA. The enigmatic Ming had been devastated by a series of foot injuries—Blazers fans are well aware that big men have foot and knee problems—that never seemed to properly mend and he was limited to five games in the 2010-11 season.

When healthy, Ming could dominate most any player in the NBA (other than Nate Robinson) and he was blessed with a soft shooting touch not commonly found in 7’6″ centers (he was a 83% career free-throw shooter). Despite retiring at the age of 31, Ming will still be voted in as an All-Star next season. Now that he is done with the game, maybe he’ll take a job in the service industry.

Ezra Ace Caraeff is the former Music Editor for the Mercury, and spent nearly a third of his life working at the paper. More importantly, he is the owner of Olive, the Mercury’s unofficial office dog....

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