（以上音頻為滬江英語(yǔ)外教Salena對(duì)文章英文內(nèi)容的朗讀，非授權(quán)嚴(yán)禁轉(zhuǎn)載。）

SHANGHAI — Yao Ming has made it official, telling a packed news conference in his hometown that a series of injuries have forced him to retire from basketball.

The 7-fooot-6 center, who became a household name in China before starting his NBA career with the Houston Rockets as the top draft pick in 2002, said: "I will formally end my career."

Yao played eight seasons in the NBA, but missed 250 regular-season games over the past six years.

Houston general manager Daryl Morey attended Yao's farewell conference on Wednesday, and NBA Commissioner David Stern was scheduled to send a message via video link. Morey had to get permission from the NBA to be attend because the lockout prohibits contact with players.

北京時(shí)間7月20日，姚明在上海浦東嘉里大酒店三層的上海廳召開(kāi)新聞發(fā)布會(huì)，正式宣布退役。姚明的父母姚志源和方鳳娣、姚明的妻子葉莉以及姚明的女兒姚沁蕾都出席了此次發(fā)布會(huì)。到場(chǎng)人員還包括NBA中國(guó)CEO舒德偉、休斯敦火箭隊(duì)總經(jīng)理達(dá)雷爾-莫雷、籃管中心副主任胡加時(shí)等人。姚明說(shuō)：“作為籃球運(yùn)動(dòng)員，我將要結(jié)束自己的運(yùn)動(dòng)生涯，正式退役。今天我退役了，我的一扇門關(guān)上了，但另一扇門正在徐徐打開(kāi)。我離開(kāi)了球場(chǎng)，但不會(huì)離開(kāi)籃球?！?/p>

發(fā)布會(huì)最后，姚明和父母、妻子以及女兒合影，這也是姚明一家首次在公眾面前亮相合影。

姚明退役的消息首先是由雅虎體育透露的。北京時(shí)間7月9日凌晨，雅虎體育透露姚明已決定退役。隨后網(wǎng)易體育對(duì)姚之隊(duì)負(fù)責(zé)人章明基進(jìn)行了采訪，后者否認(rèn)姚明退役。直到7月9日上午，姚之隊(duì)又發(fā)表聲明，表示姚明將在7月20日召開(kāi)新聞發(fā)布會(huì)，宣布關(guān)于自己未來(lái)事業(yè)的一些規(guī)劃。

（以上中文報(bào)道選自網(wǎng)易體育）