Shaquille O’Neal and Dwight Howard fold up like rusty old lawn chairs whenever they need to make a clutch free throw, Mike Vick pops a boner whenever he hears the words dog fight and Yao Ming is injured again.  So, what else is new?

The Houston Rockets already acknowledged Yao’s recovery from a broken foot was behind schedule, but now it turns out that setback might cost him even more time than was first expected.

“At this point, the injury has the potential for him to miss this next season and could be career threatening,” team physician Tom Clanton said, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Clanton then vehemently denied the accusation that Yao’s bones were more susceptible to injury due to a rare condition often referred to as being really f*cking tall.

“There is no proof this has anything to due with tallness.” Clanton said.  “Tallness is not even a real disease!”

Hmm… perhaps, just accepting the problem is the first step to recovery because suddenly, Greg Oden looks durable in comparison.

Meanwhile, the Rockets without Yao are how you say f*cked in Chinese?

“Get our coach on the phone!”  Rockets general manager Daryl Morey screamed.  “Who’s our coach?  Ron Jeremy’s brother?  Oh, we fired him last year?  Well, get whoever it is on the phone!!!”

Yao, who last season averaged 19.7 points and 9.9 rebounds per game, is due to make over $16 million next season with a player option for 2010-11 that would pay him over $17 million.  Yao played in 77 games during the 2008-09 campaign before injuring the same troublesome foot in Game 3 of their playoff series against the Lakers.

“There’s a billion people in that country,” Morey said.  “We get the one guy that has bones as brittle as Dick Clark!”

Houston Rockets center Yao Ming spent some quality off-season time at a Houston-area Salvation Army on Thursday. The 7′6″ NBA star was in the search for fitting socks, but it is unknown if he found what he was looking for.