Yao Ming

You can't say it wasn't expected, but Yao Ming's career is at its end.

After undergoing an MRI today in Houston, it was discovered that Yao had suffered another stress fracture, this time to his left ankle. This comes after Yao missed all of last year with a broken left foot due to a stress fracture. He had looked to comeback this season, but lasted just five games before going out with what was originally diagnosed as a sprain. That was upgraded to a bone bruise a week later, before today's devastating news came out.

For Yao, who has always been a class act and has been the ambassador of the NBA as it has gone global to China and around the world, it has been a bittersweet career. Expected to be the heir to Moses Malone and Hakeem Olajuwon and continue the line of dominant Houston centers and lead a championship-starved city back to prominence, Yao played nearly four injury-free seasons before getting ravaged by injuries, causing him to miss all or parts of every year from 2005-2010. In total, Yao made seven all-star teams, and has career averages of 19 points, 9 rebounds, and nearly 2 blocks. Perhaps his finest moment occurred when he refused to come out of a game because of an injury in Game 1 of the 2009 Western Conference Semifinal series against the Lakers and helped the Rockets to victory. Other playoff appearances included first round losses to the Lakers in 2004, Mavericks in 2005, and Jazz in 2007. (He missed 2008 series against Jazz)

Below is a video tribute to a man that worked so hard to try to comeback for both his team and his country (whom he represented at the 2008 Olympics). He deserved better, but in the end, his 7-6, 310 lb frame just couldn't hold up.