Former NBA star Yao Ming is urging society to let sport return to its original function of bringing joy to children, as the country debates the recent failure of the Chinese basketball team in the FIBA Asia Championship.

China's hoops icon Yao remained silent about the team's performance but stressed more attention should be paid to the game's fundamentals.

"Any sports competition originated from a kind of game, and games bring people happiness. That's the simple but profound function of sport - a simple thing that people tend to neglect," Yao told China Daily during the Yao Foundation Hope Primary School Basketball Season in Lu'an, Anhui province, last week.