Quotable

I'm worried about the future of the Chinese team rather than the plight they are currently facing."

Former NBA star Yao Ming said on Tuesday that the current shortage of talented basketball coaches in the country means the worst has yet to come for Chinese basketball. After Yao's retirement from professional basketball in 2011, the Chinese men's team failed to qualify for the quarterfinals at the 2012 London Olympics for the first time since the 2000 Sydney Olympics. They finished fifth at the FIBA Asia Championships in 2013. Yao was one of the first Chinese players to make an impact in the NBA, playing for the Houston Rockets from 2002 to 2011. The center played at three Olympic Games - Sydney 2000, Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008.