NEW YORK _ The Olympics will be the biggest thing that ever happened to Chinese sports. Right now, Yi Jianlian isn't ready to think about them.
"The Olympics is more than five months away right now, so I haven't really thought too much about that," Yi, the Milwaukee Bucks rookie forward, said on Thursday through a translator. "But I'm really hoping that Yao Ming can get better before the Olympics and participate in that. But he has a lot of time right now."
Yao will miss the rest of the NBA season with a stress fracture in his left foot. An expected recovery time of about four months would have the Houston Rockets center ready for the Beijing Olympics, which begin on August 8.
But any setback would likely put his status in jeopardy, which is why there is such concern back in China. Yi said he has gotten many calls this week from people who want to talk about Yao. Yi said he also spoke to his injured Olympic teammate.
"He just said that I've got to watch out for my own physical condition in the future," Yi said.
China is not considered a medal contender of men's basketball in the 2008 Games without Yao. But if he does play, the Chinese certainly can be competitive against some teams, as it proved two years ago in the world championship.
The New Jersey Nets' Bostjan Nachbar was on the court for one of Yao's most courageous performances.
Yao had 36 points and 10 rebounds to help China stun Slovenia 78-77 in Japan, a victory that advanced the Chinese out of the first round. Shortly after returning from a four-month absence following a broken foot and far from in top condition, Yao played all 40 minutes, dominating NBA centers Rasho Nesterovic and Primoz Brezec.
"He's definitely carrying that team," Nachbar said on Thursday. "He's obviously the main, main player over there, so it didn't surprise us that he had a good game."
When Yi spoke, he was one of many Chinese awaiting results of a second opinion Yao was seeking to determine if he would need surgery. In the meantime, Yi wasn't ready to think beyond that.
"All the Chinese fans right now are really caring about the results of the examination. What we need to do right now is wait for the results to come out and after that we can make a plan for what's going to happen," Yi said. "So right now, since everything isn't certain, there isn't really any point in thinking too much about 'what if' or what could happen."
