China's Yao Ming goes up for a shot past Senegal's Maleye N'Doye during the first round of the world basketball champion
China's Yao Ming goes up for a shot past Senegal's Maleye N'Doye during the first round of the world basketball champion REUTERS

Houston Rockets center Yao Ming is retiring, according to Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski.

Wojnarowski is reporting that Ming is retiring because of injuries.

Ming, a Chinese professional player, played five games last season, and hasn't fully recover after having surgery in January to repair a stress fracture in his left foot, Wojnarowski reported.

Wojnarowski also reported that sources said the Ming told the Rockets, the league office in New York and NBA China about his decision to retire within the past 48 hours.

It is reported that Ming missed at least 25 games in five of the past six seasons.

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