Yao Ming to resume full training next month

(BEIJING, May 25) –- Chinese basketball star Yao Ming will resume full training next month and hopes to join the Chinese national men's basketball team at the end of June.

The Houston Rockets center suffered a stress fracture in his left foot in March and had to undergo surgery. His ability to compete in the Olympics has been a hot topic of discussion since the injury prematurely ended Yao's fifth season in the NBA.

Though Yao will still need to undergo evaluation by doctors before determining his status for the Games, which begin August 8, his physical condition since the surgery has been good. He's recently begun training at 75 percent of his full power.

"He will probably come back to China at the end of June," Bai Xilin, team leader of the Chinese national men's basketball team, said in an interview, "but it all depends on the doctor's evaluation."

Milwaukee Bucks forward Yi Jianlian, also from China, is suffering from knee and wrist injuries. The exact time of his recovery is still not known.