BEIJING - HOUSTON Rockets All-Star center Yao Ming will have to wait up to a week before he knows whether he will need surgery on his broken left foot.

The future of Yao is in question amid reports from the team doctor that the hairline fracture in his foot could keep him out of all of next season, and potentially end his career.

'It hasn't been decided yet,' Yao's agent, Eric Zhang, told The Associated Press on Friday. 'He is still in the process of group consultations of doctors holding different opinions and different plans. The result of the consultations is due within a week.' Before that there is no way of telling whether surgery will be performed, Mr Zhang said.

Yao is due to make more than US$16 million (S$23.2 million) next season, with a player option for 2010-11 that would pay him more than US$17 million.

The uncertainties come at a bad time for Houston, with Rockets forward Ron Artest verbally agreeing on Thursday to join Kobe Bryant and the NBA champion Lakers.

David Bauman, Artest?s agent, told The Associated Press the final details are still being worked out. ESPN.com reported Artest had agreed to a three-year deal worth US$18 million. Mr Bauman would not confirm those numbers, saying the deal was still being negotiated.

The Rockets envisioned Artest, acquired in a trade with Sacramento last summer, as the final piece to a ?Big Three? with Yao and Tracy McGrady, but those two All-Stars are now dealing with long-term injuries. -- AP