Yao Ming has a stress fracture in his left ankle and will be out indefinitely.

He has been out since Nov. 10 with what has been called a bone bruise in the same ankle.

An MRI revealed the fracture on Thursday.

"This is very sad," Rockets owner Leslie Alexander said. "This is a very disappointing moment in the history of the Rockets organization, for our wonderful fans, for the city of Houston and for everybody in our organization. I feel terrible for Yao."

Yao averaged 10.2 points and 5.4 rebounds a game in his five games this season.