Yao Settling Into a Quiet Life of Team Ownership

If this whole playing basketball thing doesn’t work out, at least Ming will have something to fall back on: “Sidelined by a foot injury, Houston Rockets star Yao Ming says he’s finding a new kind of satisfaction as owner of his former Chinese team, the Shanghai Sharks. Yao bought out the financially troubled team’s former owners in July for an undisclosed sum in a bid to revive its fortunes. The club is presently fourth in the 17-team Chinese league, two points out of first place. ‘I bought the Sharks to give them a boost and do something on behalf of Chinese basketball,’ Yao said in an interview with the official Xinhua News Agency appearing in newspapers Thursday. ‘To be honest, they’ve played well this season, beyond my expectations, but we also see their deficiencies and need to toughen up in the coming seasons.”‘