China dismisses speculation over Yao "retirement"

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese basketball officials have denied local media reports that NBA All-Star Yao Ming is set to retire from international basketball.

The 7ft-6in (2.286m) Houston Rockets center has always insisted on representing his country as well as playing in the NBA, a year-round schedule which critics say makes him vulnerable to the injuries that have hampered his career.

The 28-year-old said before August's Olympics that Beijing would be his last Games and a report in a Shanghai newspaper on Tuesday said he no longer felt able to commit his time to the national team.

"We do not know anything about this. He has never told us of his intention of retiring. Never," Hu Jiashi, deputy director of the Chinese Basketball Association, told the China Daily newspaper. Yao's China agent said the report was irresponsible.

"I have never heard of Yao planning to retire," he told the paper. "Yao proved he was fully devoted to the national team in the Olympics even if he just returned from injury."

The six-times All-Star, China's most popular and wealthiest sportsman, had to battle back from a stress fracture in his left foot to lead his country to eighth place at the Olympics.

After the tournament, Yao sidestepped questions about returning for a fourth Olympics in London in 2012, when he would be approaching his 32nd birthday.

"Four years ago, I thought 2008 would not be far away, but I had three major operations over that time," he said.

China's next major tournament will be the 2010 world championships in Turkey.

(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney; Editing by John O'Brien)