By Xinhua,
Washington : Chinese basketball and NBA star Yao Ming has resumed training after surgery and he looks good ahead of the Beijing Olympics.
“Yao just came back to the team. We are better than ever compared to the last couple of years,” said Yi Jianlian, another NBA star from China, at a press conference in New Jersey.
“He (Yao) is much better right now, he’s very healthy right now,” he said. “We practiced a couple of days before I came here.”
Speculation was on about the possibility of Yao attending the Beijing Olympics after he suffered a stress fracture in his left foot. He was forced to suspend his season with NBA Houston Rockets for the injury.
Last month, he said he had 80 percent recovered and expected to play in mid-July.
Yi, who was acquired by the New Jersey Nets from the Milwaukee Bucks last month, said at the press conference that the Olympic basketball tournament was his current priority.
Asked about his expectation on the grand sport event to be held in his hometown, Yi said he believed the Chinese men’s team could be “at least top eight” and his team would “try to get maybe top six or something”.
In the first Olympic game, Chinese men’s basketball team will play with the US. “It’s a very tough game but I’m excited and looking forward to playing the US,” said Yi.