HOUSTON -- Thaddeus Brown, the Houston Rockets CEO, described Yao Ming best on Sunday: A native Texan and a Houston Rocket for life.Drafted No. 1 overall in 2002, Yao played an integral role in helping the NBA become a global enterprise in China. Now, following a nine-year career that was cut short by foot injuries, Yao will have his No. 11 jersey retired Feb. 2, when the Rockets host the Atlanta Hawks.Jersey retired? Yao said at a news conference officially announcing the event. It just happened too soon. Its something I couldnt have dreamed of. I appreciate everything Houston did for me, the opportunity to come over here and play.This has been a special year for the center, given that he was inducted into the Hall of Fame last month.?Yao will join fellow Rockets Hall of Famers Calvin Murphy, Moses Malone, Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon as players to have their jerseys hung from the rafters. Beloved former coach and player Rudy Tomjanovich also has his number in lights.I said it before, but so many nights when I walked through that court or played on that court, I looked up to those jerseys and thought, Those jerseys are the spirit of the team of Houston, Yao said. Those jerseys are honored, and those jerseys are motivation ... I would be honored to continue.The Rockets opened the preseason with a 131-94 victory over the Shanghai Sharks, a team Yao owns. It was the first NBA preseason game involving a team from China. Thus, Yao will serve as more than an ambassador for the game when the Rockets visit China next week as part of a two-game exhibition.Every player in the NBA owes a bit of gratitude for Yao Ming, Brown said.Added Yao: I hope my career here is something that meets the expectation of basketball fans. China NFL Jerseys . - The Oakland Raiders re-signed offensive lineman Khalif Barnes on Friday. China Jerseys Cheap . Brad Jacobs and his Sault Ste. 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Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick is backing football coach Brian Kelly, squashing any rumors about a potential early exit plan for Kelly, who just finished a 4-8 season in his seventh campaign with the Fighting Irish and who is only a year into a six-year contract extension that will take him through the 2021 season.I certainly understand the engagement and the discussion of the program, but its very much business as usual, Swarbrick said on his radio show, which was released Friday on YouTube. We have a whole series of things we do at the end of the year. We conduct exit interviews with every senior. We do some statistical analysis. Coach Kellys meeting with every member of the team over a three-day period to talk to them. Obviously he meets with staff. Then him and I come together at the end of that process to sit down and talk about what we need to change, whats next, what the plans are for the upcoming year, so in that sense, its been absolutely business as usual from our perspective.Kelly said after Saturdays regular-season finale, a 45-27 loss at USC, that he wanted to return for 2017. Shortly after that news conference, both ESPN and Yahoo! Sports, citing sources, reported that Kelly was seeking other potential options.Kelly then issued a statement at 3:37 a.m. ET Sunday reiterating his commitment to Notre Dame.We talked about it, Swarbrick said. I dont want to make it sound like I didnt know the answer to that. I did know the answer to that. We had a discussion on the night after the game when the reports came out, and I was sort of -- I fully understood the background of those reports, and Brian and I had had clear discussions about his intentions and his future, and of course he cllarified those, I think both at the press conference after the game and then in the subsequent statement that went out.ddddddddddddSwarbrick said he was not under any pressure from the schools board of trustees to make a coaching change, saying that is not how the dynamic works.He also spoke publicly for the first time on the NCAAs decision to order the Irish to vacate all 21 of their wins from the 2012 and 2013 seasons, which was announced Nov. 22 in addition to other minor penalties in light of an investigation of a student athletic trainer engaging in academic misconduct with several football players.Notre Dame has said it would appeal the order to vacate the wins.Swarbrick, like Kelly had said earlier, sees the on-field disappointment and the NCAA matter as independent factors when evaluating Kellys job.Swarbrick had given Kelly a vote of confidence in an October interview with ESPN after a 2-5 start -- remarks that came one month after he and the school had been informed of the eventual sanctions.I understand why people say that [the NCAA penalty should factor into Kellys evaluation]. I draw a different conclusion, and I think its important to note that while that felt like news publicly, I had all that information, Swarbrick said. The nature of this NCAA proceeding was that you agreed to the underlying allegations and the fact basis. The only thing that was an issue was the penalty. So in midseason when I made the comment I did about Brians future, I already had that information. This isnt something new coming in late in the season that I have to factor in. I knew it. Cheap Jerseys 2019 Cheap NFL T-shirts Youth NFL Jerseys Wholesale Stitched Jerseys Discount NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Online Cheap Stitched Jerseys Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping Wholesale Jerseys 2020 Discount NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Jerseys NFL Cheap Wholesale NFL Autographed Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping ' ' '