Rockets to retire Yao Ming's No. 11 jersey

The Houston Rockets Owner Leslie Alexander announced Friday that Yao Ming will have his Rockets No.11 jersey retired on February 2.

The team plan to retire the jersey of Yao during the team's nationally televised game against the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday, Feb. 2.

Yao Ming, the recent Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, was selected the first overall pick by the Rockets in 2002 draft and spent his entire-career nine years with the organization.

The 36-year-old Yao Ming averaged 19.0 points, 9.2 rebounds and 1.9 blocks while shooting 52 percent from the floor across 486 career games. He was selected to start for the Western Conference in the NBA All-Star Game eight times, and was named to the All-NBA Second Team twice.

Yao Ming also became the only player outside of the United States to lead the NBA in All-Star voting.

(APD)