As Yao Ming made his way across the podium in the Toyota Center press conference room, an unfortunate memory infiltrated the celebration of the moment.
"I think the last time I was here," Yao said, "it was to announce my season-ending injury."
Rockets CEO Tad Brown quickly added that his return was for a much happier occasion, with Yao's Shanghai Sharks becoming the first CBA team to play an NBA team in the United States. But with Yao, even making history comes with reminders of what could have been.
Yao's thoughts, however, were quickly overrun by reminiscences of the good times and the success that put Yao in the Hall of Fame last month and will have his No.