After weeks of consultations with top doctors, Yao Ming has decided to have surgery on his injured left foot. The surgery he has chosen will almost certainly keep him out all of next season. He will endure a bone graft to heal the existing fracture and have his arch surgically lowered to help prevent similar problems in the future. This is obviously a major decision that will affect the remainder of his career. On the positive side, it is the same surgery that Cleveland center Zadrunas Ilgauskas had following career-threatening foot injuries early in his career and he came back to play the last seven seasons without issue.Both to replace Yao on the roster next year and to replace Dikembe Mutombo permanently as Yao's backup, the Rockets acquired the rights to David Andersen from the Atlanta Hawks. Andersen is a native of Carlton, Victoria, Australia and was the second round draft pick of the Hawks in 2002. He is 6' 11" tall and weighs 242. He plays best facing the basket and has good offensive skills. Defense is another matter. Let's hope working with Adelman, Turner and Sikma can teach him enough about the NBA game to be a capable fill-in.
A nice interview with Andersen:
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