Tue 7/19/11 9:46 AM

Yao Ming is expected to formally announce his retirement Wednesday in Shanghai. Yao, 30, played nine seasons in the NBA. But he missed 252 games due to injury and his chronic foot woes simply became too much to overcome. It's an all too familiar sight for the game's tallest men. The NBA has not yet received Yao's official retirement paperwork, but it's coming.