Yao Ming will have a chance to play for the NBA Houston Rockets in China in a pair of NBA exhibition games set for October, the US league announced on Wednesday.
The Rockets will face the New Jersey Nets, the former team of Chinese star Yi Jianlian, in matches on October 13 at Beijing's Wukesong Arena, site of the 2008 Olympic tournament, and October 16 at a new arena in Guangzhou.
Yao missed all of last season following foot surgery but is expected to be ready for the start of the team's training camp ahead of the exhibitions and the upcoming NBA season that starts October 26.
The Rockets-Nets games will be the fifth set of pre-season NBA games in China and the second for the Rockets, who selected giant center Yao as the top pick of the 2002 NBA Draft.
Houston was part of the inaugural China exhibition series in 2004.
Jianlian was traded after the season from the Nets to the Washington Wizards.
Copyright 2010 AFP Global Edition
