Yao has been out of the game due to a stress fracture in his left ankle and he determined he could not overcome this injury.

The 7-foot-6 gentle giant from China entered the league as the No.1 draft pick in 2002. This marked the start of huge growth in numbers following the game in Asia and especially in China.

Thanks to the huge following back in China, Yao was an eight-time NBA All-Star. He was also voted on the NBA league’s second or third All-NBA team five times.

Yao averaged 19.1 points, 9.3 rebounds and 1.9 blocked shots per game across his NBA career.

Early on Yao did not have too many injury concerns, missing just two games due to injury in his first three seasons things turned around to the point where he missed 250 games over the past six NBA seasons.

He spent months trying to get back to the game however in the end decided it was not worth risking permanent damage to his body.

Yao will be remembered for his well rounded game but people will think he should have delivered more. You would have expected the Rockets to do more in the NBA finals then they did with Tracey McGrady and Yao Ming on the roster.

Here is a statement from the NBA announcing the player lockout.

The National Basketball Association announced that it will commence a lockout of its players, effective at 12:01 am ET on July 1, until a new collective bargaining agreement is reached with the National Basketball Players Association.

“The expiring collective bargaining agreement created a broken system that produced huge financial losses for our teams,” said NBA Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver. “We need a sustainable business model that allows all 30 teams to be able to compete for a championship, fairly compensates our players, and provides teams, if well-managed, with an opportunity to be profitable.”

“We have made several proposals to the union, including a deal targeting $2 billion annually as the players’ share — an average of approximately $5 million per player that could increase along with league revenue growth,” said Silver. “Elements of our proposal would also better align players’ pay with performance.”

“We will continue to make every effort to reach a new agreement that is fair and in the best interests of our teams, our players, our fans, and our game.”

During the lockout, players will not receive their salaries; teams will not negotiate, sign or trade player contracts; players will not be able to use team facilities for any purpose; and teams will not conduct or facilitate any summer camps, exhibitions, practices, workouts, coaching sessions, or team meetings.

End of Statement.

NBA commissioner David Stern said, “We had a great year in terms of the appreciation of our fans for our game. It just wasn’t a profitable one for the owners, and it wasn’t one that many of the smaller market teams particularly enjoyed or felt included in. The goal here has been to make the league profitable and to have a league where all 30 teams can compete.”

The last NBA lockout took place in 1998-99.

Who do you support in this lockout? Leave your comments below.

Irving, 19, was born in Melbourne, Australia when his father Drederick Irving was playing as a professional basketballer for the Bulleen Boomers. He moved to the USA when aged 2. He has dual citizenship in the United States and Australia.

It has been reported that Kyrie has an interest in playing for the Australian national basketball team (the Boomers) although he has represented the US in junior international level.

Basketball Australia chief executive Larry Sengstock will do everything in his power to have Irving suit up in a Boomers uniform.

Irving only played 11 games in his college career with Duke. He suffered a severe ligament injury in his right big toe late in 2010 and his right foot was placed in a cast on December 10.

He returned to play for Duke in March 2011 in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Duke lost to Arizona in the Sweet Sixteen with Irving scoring 28 points in what was to be his final game for Duke.

In what turned out to be an international flavoured draft the no. 2 pick for the Timberwolves was Derrick Williams out of Arizona, no. 3 Enes Kanter from Kentucky was picked by Utah, with the no. 4 pick the Cavs selected Tristan Thompson a forward from Texas. No. 5 pick was Jonas Valanciunas from Lithuania. He was selected by the Raptors.

Draft picks no. 6 and 7 were also from Europe. Jan Vesely a forward playing for Partizan in the Adriatic League was selected by the Wizards and at no. 7 was Bismack Biyombo was selected by the Kings. He plays in Spain.

At no. 8 the Pistons selected Brandon Knight a guard from Kentucky, no. 9 the Bobcats selected Kemba Walker a guard from Connecticut and rounding out the top ten was Jimmer Fredette who was selected by the Bucks. He played as a guard for Brigham Young.

The Mavs won the 2011 NBA Championship after a 4-2 series win over the Miami Heat. Game six was won by Dallas 105-95.

Jason Terry led the way with 27 points, Dirk Nowitzki had 21. For Miami LeBron James scored 21 points, Chris Bosh had 19.

Nowitzki was named the MVP for the finals after some big games that contributed to his team claiming the championship.

For Nowitzki he escapes being classed as one of those great players who never won a championship, same goes for Jason Kidd who at 38 won his first title.

After all of the drama surrounding the move of James to Miami his team fell just short of claiming a title that many thought was a certainty before the season started, but then had second thoughts about after 20 games.

Many NBA fans will be glad to see Miami fall short. Also people now will question James’ ability to perform when it matter most, NBA finals time. He struggled against Dallas and now has to wait another year to see if he can claim a championship ring.

The scores were level at 100 with 3:23 to play after Jason Terry hit a 3-pt shot that started an 8-0 run. That little burst which included a dunk from Dirk Nowitzki and a Jason Kidd 3-pt shot was enough to give the Mavs the edge.

Once again LeBron James had a below par game scoring 17 points from 8-19 shooting including 0-4 from 3-pt range. Dwyane Wade led the scoring for Miami with 23 points then Chris Bosh with 19.

For a change it was not left to Nowitzki to win the game as Terry and Kidd scored down the stretch to see the Mavericks take a 3-2 lead in the NBA finals. The last two games, if Dallas does not win the next one, will be played in Miami.

Nowitzki scored 29 points from 9-18 shooting including one huge arcing 3-pt shot. Off the bench Terry contributed 21 points including 3-5 3pt shooting.

The Mavs shot 13-19 3-pt shots which is a very respectable 68.4 percent. This was the key to the win for Dallas. Miami were 8-20 from 3-pt land.

With the series returning to Miami on Sunday it will be interesting to see if LeBron James can lift for the occasion or has the pressure got to him?

Dallas of course just need to split the next two games and they are the 2011 NBA champions for the first time.

Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said they will be playing in the moment as they play game six. Whistle to whistle is what he called it. He does not want the team to look too far ahead.

For the Miami Heat there is some concern for Wade as he suffered a hip injury. The Miami coach said it is too soon to see how he pulls up. The next 24-48 hours will be key.

Nowitzki was said to have a 101-degree F fever and he stunk in the first half but when the game was on the line he came through. He scored 10 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter.

This time Dallas overcame a nine-point fourth-quarter deficit to take the win.

Dwyane Wade again was the star for the Heat scoring a game high 32 points. Chris Bosh had 24 but LeBron James went missing and only scored 8 points. That was the first time in 90 career playoff games James was held to single digit scoring.

The series is tied at 2-2 with the next game in Dallas on Thursday.

This time Dirk Nowitzki could not come to the rescue to save the game for Dallas. He had a chance to score and level the game however his off balance shot from near the foul line missed.

Dwyane Wade led the scoring for Miami with 29 points, while Chris Bosh had 18 and LeBron James 17.

The Mavericks again let themselves fall behind at one stage only to charge back to level the scores.

Bosh hit the key go ahead basket with 39.6 seconds to play. After that a Nowitzki turnover was followed by a James missed 3pt shot before Nowitzki had the final shot.

Nowitzki ended the game with 34 points but this time it was not enough.

Dirk Nowitzki hit a game winning basket with 3.6 seconds to play to make it 95-93 to give him 24 points for the match. Nowitzki also hit the final nine points for Dallas in this vital win.

Dwyane Wade had 36 points for the match and at one stage it looked like he would help the Heat blow away Dallas to go up 2-0 in the NBA finals series.

LeBron James only could manage 20 points in this match.

Dallas went to Miami knowing that if they split the two matches they could wrap up the Championship with three home wins back in Dallas.

Over the closing seven minutes the Miami Heat could only score one basket from the field and that was a three-point shot by Mario Chalmers with 24.5 seconds to play. That bucket made it 93-93.

“I thought defensively we really got into them,” Nowitzki said of the rally. “We pressured them full court and we scrambled defensively. We even gave up some offensive rebounds, but we kept scrambling.”

Dallas almost let the win escape them when they allowed Chalmers to score to level the scores. Jason Terry admitted in the after game press conference that it was his mistake that allowed the shot to be let loose. Terry also said Nowitzki was not too impressed with his mistake in the next huddle.

Game three is in Dallas on Sunday.

Who do you think will win the NBA Championship? Leave your comments below.

Shaq will no doubt be heading to the basketball hall of fame after a career that saw him win a total of four NBA championships, three with the LA Lakers and another with the Miami Heat in 2006.

He played for six teams in his career starting with Orlando Magic in 1992. He left them in 1996 to play for the Lakers until 2004 when he made the move to Miami. After leaving Miami in 2008 he spent some time with the Suns, In 2009 it was onto the Cavs before finally playing for the Boston Celtics in 2010-11.

Shaq was the no. 1 draft pick for the Magic in 1992 draft and won rookie of the year in 93-93.

Read more about Shaq at his page on Wikipedia.

What do you most remember about Shaq?

In the first half Dwyane Wade hit just 3 of 10 shots but he managed to show up for the final quarter and hit some key baskets. Wade scored 22 on the night just behind LeBron James who top the scoring for Miami with 23. The third of the big three, Chris Bosh had 19 points.

Dirk Nowitzki lead the way once again for the Mavericks hitting 27 points on 7-for-18 shooting. The big German came away from the game with a tendon injury on his left middle finger. He said afterwards that he will be fine for the remaining games but will probably wear a splint.

Read more at Si.com – What we learned in Game 1 of Mavs-Heat

Read more at the Mavs v Heat series hub at NBA.com