The Houston Rockets suffered an important loss for the remainder of the season, after NBA’s tallest player suffered a stress fracture in his left foot that will keep him out of the game and the Western Conference.

Yao Ming managed to create distress to both the adoptive NBA team and the Chinese officials, who want Yao Ming back on his feet for the Beijing Olympics this year. The chances for China’s superstar to make it into the Olympic competition: the way things look right now, probably close to zero.

“When we heard about Yao’s injury, we felt shocked and concerned just like all basketball fans in China,” Bai Ximin, manager of the national men’s team said, the Canadian Press reports. “We can totally understand how he feels right now and we hope he’ll remain positive and optimistic while receiving treatment.”

The Houston Rockets were also unhappy about the situation, but said they were prepared to handle the remainder of 26 games with or without Yao Ming, and kept a positive attitude at the same time, saying fortunately the injury had been discovered on time and could be treated.

Yao’s injury could be the cause of accumulated stress, doctors said, which affected the bone, and perhaps the high demand for Yao’s game exhausted the player. As injuries are something common in this sport, Yao’s condition could improve just in time for the Beijing Olympics. What is of main importance at the moment is for him to stay away from the games and avoid further injuries.

One thing that concerns the sponsors and TV stations is that once Yao is out of the game, the viewers might not be as eager to tune in to Rockets’ games, but none of the partners involved wished to make comments on that.

In the meantime, Yao remains positive, hoping for a recovery in time for the Olympics, which would be a dream come true for him, especially since the competition is hosted by China.