"Last year started the same way. We never got it right, and ultimately he had to have surgery. Anybody who dismisses this as something minor is overlooking the bigger problem. Why does this continue to happen? Why don't we solve this issue yet? Somebody has to step forward with Yao's best interest at heart."

Yao, 26, developed his most recent problem during Wednesday's morning practice but practiced again that night and the next morning. No Reebok representative has been to the training camp since the problems began, although Leary said he would have been in Austin if the Rockets had requested he make the trip.

Yao's agent, John Huizinga, who is the primary contact for Yao with Reebok, said he does not believe Yao's current foot problem is related to his shoes.

"The fact of the matter is, he is wearing the same shoes now he wore all through the World Championships," Huizinga said. "It doesn't have much to do with the current situation. He is wearing his favorite shoes, the ones he loves the most.

"They continually try to adapt the shoes to whatever is going on at the time. I'm not saying nothing could be done to make them better. I'm saying I don't think shoes are inherently the problem. I don't know where Jeff is coming from. Maybe he (Yao) is allergic to Jeff Van Gundy. For him to pick out the shoes, I don't know what he's talking about."

Yao tried shoes this summer in Shanghai and sent them back for several revisions. He had yet to receive the newest pair through Friday's practices.

Huizinga said he "shares Jeff's frustration," but he said opponents have routinely stomped Yao's foot as a way to defend against him and that the toenail has been damaged so often it does not grow in correctly.

Going heavy-duty

"You could have him out there in steel work boots," Huizinga said. "But they're big and they're heavy and it's tough to play basketball in them. If a part of your body is injured enough, it takes awhile to come back."

Yao had blood drained from underneath the nail Wednesday. He is being treated with antibiotics to prevent infection, although there is no sign of one yet.

"It's not serious at all," Jones said. "A couple of days, he's going to be fine. We're just playing it smart."

But Van Gundy called for more preventive action.

"Yao has to take a vested interest in being so demanding it gets solved," Van Gundy said.

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