"With the door to the NBA that swung open nine years ago closed to him, Yao Ming on Wednesday chose "a new life."

Yao announced his retirement in a ceremony and news conference in Shanghai, citing the repeated injuries to his left foot and ankle.

"At the end of the last year, my left foot had a third fracture," Yao said. "Today, I need to make a personal decision. I will stop my basketball career and I will formally retire. Today, thinking back and thinking of the future, I have been very grateful. First of all, I need to be grateful to basketball. It has brought happiness to many people including myself.

"Life is my guide. Just follow it and it will open doors. Out of each door, there will be beautiful world outside. Since I am retired, one door is closed. But a new life is waiting for me. I have left the basketball (court), but I will not leave basketball."

He also will not leave Houston, and sent a message to his "second hometown."

"I'd like to thank you for giving me a great nine years in my career," Yao said. "Nine years ago, I came to Houston as a young, tall, skinny player. An entire city and team changed me to a grown man, not only as a basketball player. I gained my first daughter over there. I feel I'm a Houstonian and I will always be with you."

Yao thanked former national team teammates including his longtime friend Liu Wei and former Bucks and Wizards player Yi Jianlian, and former Rockets teammates Chuck Hayes, Kyle Lowry, Aaron Brooks and Luis Scola, and said there are many others to thank.

"They will all stay in my heart," Yao said. "I thank all my beloved and my friends. I will do my best. I will not leave you. Yao Ming will stay with my friends forever."

While Yao moved on, the NBA could not quite let go.

Rockets owner Leslie Alexander said he was still "sad" that Yao's career would end too soon, short-circuited by the injuries he could not avoid.

Rockets chief executive officer Tad Brown, who had grown particularly close to Yao, was still "in shock."

NBA commissioner David Stern said he would soon offer Yao a place in the NBA, likely working with the league's initiatives in China that have taken off since the Rockets made Yao the first pick of the 2002 NBA draft."