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Hong Kong (CNN)  – China loves the NBA – or at least it used to.

With the news that China’s basketball icon Yao Ming plans to announce his retirement from the NBA on July 20, a once burgeoning Chinese basketball market may soon be at risk.

According to Monday poll on Sina Weibo, China’s popular microblogging site, 57% of those surveyed said they would stop watching the NBA after Yao's retirement.

   

During the Finals, I published some research compiled by ESPN's Alok Pattani showing how today's players compare to Michael Jordan when it comes to taking shots in the final seconds of very close playoff games. It included a chart, showing, for instance, that Jordan made half of his 18 such shots. Nobody could touch that. An assortment of players had great percentages on tiny numbers of shots, while Ray Allen had made half of his dozen, LeBron James was a tick behind at 5-of-12, and Dirk Nowitzki was 5-of-13 for his career.

 Michael Jordan Motorsports (MJM) rider Roger Lee Hayden earned his first-ever AMA Pro Superbike podium finish with a great ride to third place and a Suzuki podium sweep in Sunday’s race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, OH, bettering his fine fourth place on Saturday. Teammate Ben Bostrom earned valuable points with a Saturday finish just outside the top ten, then raced to a hard-fought sixth place in Sunday’s event during the sixth round of the 2011 AMA Pro National Guard Superbike Championship.