Yao Ming has successful left foot surgery

HOUSTON, July 21 (UPI) -- The Houston Rockets said center Yao Ming had successful surgery Tuesday to repair a broken bone in his left foot.

He is expected to be out the entire 2009-10 season.

The fracture was discovered following Houston's Game 3 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Western Conference semifinals.

"We were able to achieve not only fixation of the broken bone, but also realignment of the bones to improve the stress pattern on his foot," said Dr. Tom Clanton, the Rockets' team physician.

The 7-foot-6 Yao began playing in the NBA in 2002 and missed only two of 246 games in his first three year, but has been plagued with injuries since. In April 2006, he suffered a broken foot bone. The following season, he played in 48 games after suffering a knee injury.

Yao was limited to 55 games in 2007-08 due to a stress fracture in his left foot, but missed just five regular season games this past season.