New Rockets head coach Kevin McHale sat down for a few minutes yesterday with Dan Patrick on the aptly-named Dan Patrick Show. While much of the interview focused on the usual talking points (Why Houston? Why now? Why not 20 years ago?), Patrick made it a point to ask McHale about the future of Yao Ming. McHale essentially threw up his hands ala Bud Selig at the 2002 All-Star Game and admitted he had no clue what the Rockets would do about Yao this offseason:
“I don’t know. We would love to see Yao Ming come back and play and stuff like that, but he’s got to get his feet healthy. That’s a tough thing. How many bigs have you seen that have started to have feet problems. I mean how many bigs have you seen that have started having feet problems. It’s just so hard. I don’t think you ever can say never on a situation like that, but boy it’s awful tough. Yao is such a big man, he’s so huge that I just have to believe that’s awful tough on the feet. We’re hoping, but I guess we’re just going to wait and see.”
Golly shucks, Kev, sure hope you figure it out soon! I love the use of the phrase “awful tough,” and look forward to McHale continuing to bring me back to the sixties with every new interview.
That said, what else could he really say? Nobody knows what to think about Yao right now. They likely won’t know until the NBA Lockout is lifted just how much he can help them.