Yao Ming's achievements range far beyond basketball. But the Chinese superstar's primary focus has always been on the court. In an interview right after the news conference, Yao said the future for basketball in China is looking better all the time.

Yao said: "As for the Olympics, you can not change anything that happened in the past. And we all see the gap between our team and the others. Players in our generation are unable to catch up. That's up to the players in the following generations. Apart from the breakthrough we hoped for in the Olympics, the rest of my memories regarding basketball were beautiful. I even believe there must be some reason we had such regrets during the Olympics."

"As for Chinese basketball in the future, I think we may improve the way we train. We need to make it clear, what we are looking for is a basketball machine, or a basketball player. I strongly feel we should concentrate on developing a player's internal game, rather than external training."

"Basketball will always be the top interest in my life. As the owner of the Shanghai Sharks, I can do things I consider useful for Chinese basketball. As for my future, I will definitely continue studying. I will go to college to attend advanced studies."