granted, statistically he's been anything but, and he's only 27, but he hasn't really been healthy for the last 4 years, they haven't gotten out of the first round, and they had won 12 straight and were actually gonna be a threat in the west til the foot fracture

It's way too early to say. If he doesn't ever get to the finals I would say definitely.

His injury plagued career to this point has to be disappointing to Rockets fans though.

Personally, I don't consider someone who has fallen short due to injury a bust. To me, a bust is someone who has been healthy, but has not performed close to expectations.

I can understand the opposite point of view, though.

You 're only a Bust if you're not meeting predraft expectations.
Yao Ming has fullfilled all thjis expectations.
He was basically compared to Rick Smits by scouts and there were legitimate concerns with injuries due to his size and body type.
There was a lot of Hype because he was chinese and it had a lot of advantages from a Marketing point of view, and since 2002 Houston has been reaping the benefits of ths selection.
All in all, he was selected number 1, and even with injuries, he is one the best two players in his draft class, so he is hardly a bust.

Houston's problem is not really that Ming is injury prone, but that their two stars are injury prone, making it very unlikely that they can play at their full potential for along time.
This is something that had clearly been overlooked when they decided to trade for T-Mac. On the other hand, the TMac trade was such a rape, that they had to overlook it.

No way he is a bust.

He is underrated if anything.

Kwame Brown was a bust. Michael Olowokandi was a bust. Are we really grouping Yao with these 2?

I probably take Yao over all of them...with Stat its close.

Pre-foot fracture I think it was pretty clearly Yao > STAT > boozer > butler, now I have no idea

Now it's probably boozer>Yao=Stat>Butler( I forgot about boozer earlier)
Supposedly, this injury is not severe and should have little impact on the rest of his career. He 'll stay a high performing injury prone center good for 60 games a season.
I'm probably underrating Stat here, but let's not forget that he had his own injury problem, and also had a staying on the bench when he should during the playoffs problem that can dramatically reduce your chances of winning a title.
And I make it a point underrate sun players because it allows me tu understant why they have yet to win a title with such a stacked team.

my wifes reaction when i asked if Yao was actually 27...

LAUGHTER...

more LAUGHTER...

straight face...

"No"

Don't have much of an informed opinion on this, but I remember the absolute SHOCK when I heard that Amare beat him for ROY. Not that Yao didn't deserve it but I thought the relentless hype machine that followed Yao around that year (I believe he was also an all-star) made him a mortal lock for the award.

Later that day I ran into Frank Johnson (then Suns coach and he plays basketball at our gym) at a gas station. I mentioned how surprised I was at the news and he said he was too. These things are so press-driven and this one went against that grain big time.

lol, that is almost the exact image i was picturing as i posted that

lol ban OP, Id like to say how dumb this thread is but I dont want to violate the FAQ. Just look at the numbers http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/player...?playerId=1722

Hes a career 19/9 and 2bpg player with a >50% FG% and a >80% FT%. How could he be a bust?

Who is the Butler you are talking about, if its Caron you need your head examined. Yao>Boozer>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Butler. If you would take Amare over Yao, I wouldnt blame you one bit.

I really like Carlos Boozers game. A lot.

Yao is def not a bust however he certainly is no where near the level of dominance that was hoped for him.

You know he can stroke it from the 3 point line? Its funny to see a guy that big drain triples.

I'd like to see them (and expect to after this injury) start cutting his mins. The Cavs have kept Z on the floor for 95% of the last 6 years games after he missed a ton of time his first 5 years (0, 82, 5 24, 62 games played) by being careful with his time on the floor.

He's obviously good, but you can certainly make the case for him being a bust relative to the expectations he had coming in.

yao is one of my favorite players so i'm very biased here, but i think he's performed far too well to be considered close to a bust, injuries and all.

how does not getting to the finals make someone a bust? if you perform well and your team falls short idk how much of that should fall on you. i think his stats are waaaaay too good for him to be a bust. while his injury issues definitely mean he hasn't and probably won't reach his full potential, when i think of busts i think of players who are highly touted, but can't even perform at the level of an average nba player. when you start using the words all star and bust in the same sentence, something doesn't make sense.

me too

omg he's 27...

Danny Almonte was 14 right?

I mean he obviously has good numbers, but Yao wasn't projected to just be some 19/9 guy when he came into the league, he had an INSANE amount of hype. I mean this guy was all anyone talked about for a while, it was ridiculous.

If he continues to be injury plagued and never gets out of the first round in his career then I personally would consider him a bust just relative to the expecations he had coming into the league.

That's not the same thing as saying he's a bust because he's only averaged 19/9 so far. We know he's good and only 27, he just hasn't accomplished that much yet.

Well KG is a career 20/11 guy with like 1.7 bpg and no one in their right mind would consider him a bust even though his team has never really done anything in the playoffs. Granted KG is a better passer, but stats wise Yao is close to KG so if Garnett is certainly not a bust, how could Yao be one?

I mean to call Yao Ming a bust is just really ridiculous. Maybe he didnt live up to the hype, but that is not what a bust is.

20/10, 19/9, whatever. Considering the scheme that Houston runs, that's a pretty insane amount of contribution.

Not a bust.

To be fair KG has been consistent for a long time now. And has gotten his team to the playoffs with virtually no other talent on the team. (This year is the obvious exception)