Yao Ming

SHANGHAI -- It was a quiet day for California Gov. Jerry Brown on Saturday, beginning with a meeting of a ranking local Communist Party official and capped with a river cruise featuring former NBA superstar Yao Ming. Just another day in China for Brown and his delegation of nearly 100 government and business officials. The light schedule of the day was a welcome respite for a delegation that has bounced from government meetings to lavish meals this week. Many on the trip are holding side meetings with Chinese business officials, trying to drum up business for their companies back home.

SHANGHAI -- It was a quiet day for California Gov. Jerry Brown on Saturday, beginning with a meeting of a ranking local Communist Party official and capped with a river cruise featuring former NBA superstar Yao Ming. Just another day in China for Brown and his delegation of nearly 100 government and business officials. The light schedule of the day was a welcome respite for a delegation that has bounced from government meetings to lavish meals this week. Many on the trip are holding side meetings with Chinese business officials, trying to drum up business for their companies back home.

Houston Rockets center Yao Ming's broken left foot could be a "career-threatening" injury. Dr. Tom Clanton, the Rockets' team physician, told the Houston Chronicle on Monday that Yao's injury "has the potential for him missing this next season and could be career-threatening." Yahoo Sports first reported that the Rockets and Yao's representatives were concerned the 7-foot-6 All-Star would never play again.

The flight from Beijing to Los Angeles takes more than 13 hours. It would have seemed a lot longer if the UCLA basketball team had lost Tuesday night. But the Bruins can look forward to pleasant travels after wrapping up an undefeated swing through China, finishing their week-long journey with a 92-63 victory over the Shanghai Sharks in a game that was closer than the final score suggests. The Sharks, a professional team playing without key starters, were able to hang close into the fourth quarter before UCLA made defensive stops to pull away.

"It's still very cold." Yao Ming, Houston center on his second visit to Toronto, where the Rockets lost to the Raptors in double overtime on Sunday.

"Talk about a posse? He has a posse two billion strong." Mark Cuban, Dallas Maverick owner, on Chinese prospect Yao Ming.

Pro basketball: An article in Tuesday's Sports section about Lakers center Andrew Bynum signing a marketing contract with the William Morris Agency said Houston Rockets center Yao Ming was another WMA client. Yao is represented by BDA Sports Management.

"You take the best darned player. If you have two players who are equal, take the bigger one.... Hopefully, you learn to speak Chinese." Jerry West, president of the Memphis Grizzlies, on 7-foot-5 Yao Ming's prospects in the NBA draft.

SHANGHAI - The opening-night screening at a major film festival is usually a hot ticket. Not so in China - at least not for the VIPs visiting from around the world, most of whom fled after the government officials' speeches and lifetime achievement awards at the start of the 15th Shanghai International Film Festival on June 16. They ducked out before director Wuershan's action fantasy "Painted Skin II: The Resurrection" got a chance to...

Time: 7:30. On the air: TV: FS West; Radio: 710, 1330. Where: Staples Center. Records: Lakers 3-3, Rockets 2-2. Update: Guard Kevin Martin (19.3 points per game), forward Luis Scola (15.5) and guard Kyle Lowry (13.3) form the core of a Rockets franchise that has slipped since losing to the Lakers in the 2009 Western Conference semifinals. Yao Ming retired after playing in only five games last season and Kevin McHale succeeded Rick Adelman as coach.

Hobbled by leg and foot injuries, Yao Ming surprised no one when he confirmed his retirement from basketball Wednesday in his birthplace of Shanghai to a live global television audience. Fans across China commemorated the bittersweet news by posting streams of gratitude online and tuning in to a five-hour special on state television lionizing the sports star who brought glory to the nation on and off the court. "The NBA can survive without Yao Ming, the Houston Rockets can survive without Yao Ming, but we cannot survive without Yao Ming," read a comment on a Chinese Twitter-like tribute page that received 1.5 million entries within hours.

Rick Adelman is out as coach of the Houston Rockets. The team announced that the Rockets and Adelman "have mutually agreed to part ways. " Adelman's contract expires on June 30. General Manager Daryl Morey said in a statement Monday night that the decision came after "numerous discussions and careful consideration. " The 64-year-old Adelman went 193-135 in four seasons with the Rockets. The .588 winning percentage was the highest among the 11 full-time coaches the franchise has had. Adelman led the Rockets to their only playoff series victory since 1997.

Amid the din of Pau-a-palooza 2010, as the unofficial king of Barcelona returned to his hometown amid throngs of delighted Spanish fans, came a dose of somber Lakers news. It's not going to happen this season, the Lakers hope, but Andrew Bynum might be forced to play limited minutes as a career situational player if he suffers one more serious knee injury, Coach Phil Jackson said Tuesday. Bynum has experienced knee problems the last three years, each injury different but nonetheless representing a pattern that has forced Jackson to contemplate the big picture.

Just for old times' sake, the Houston Rockets, or as they're known in Lakerdom, the Grinches who almost stole last season, won this season's first trip here. Of course, there's a limit to how many times the Lakers can let down against the same team . . . even if the number was getting up there, and they had to fight the Rockets to the wire to win, 88-79, Tuesday night in a defensive struggle, or the NBA version of mud wrestling. Gritty as the Rockets are, starting the night 20-14 without Yao Ming, they couldn't have hit the ocean from a boat in the first half when they shot 36%, and finished four for 23 on three-point attempts overall.

Four months later, Trevor Ariza still has some bitterness when he talks about his contract negotiations with the Lakers. On the court, basketball is about winning, about producing, about becoming an NBA champion. Ariza did all that last season, having the best of his five seasons in the league, as the Lakers won the NBA title with him starting at small forward. Off the court, though, basketball is a business. "You learn that it's cutthroat," Ariza said Tuesday. "It doesn't always go the way you want it to."