China's first player in the NBA Wang Zhizhi has again been placed on the injured list by the Miami Heat, one day after he took paternity leave to take care of his expecting wife.

The 26-year-old power forward has a turf toe on his right big toe and withdrew from the game against the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday.

There is a big question mark on whether he could make a comeback to Heat's play-off line-up.

Wang is averaging 3.0 points and 1.1 rebounds in 13 games with Miami, which has won eight of its past nine games to climb into sixth place in the Eastern Conference.

The 2.12m Wang made history in 2001 by joining the Dallas Mavericks but became a free agent after the 2002 season.

His arrival paved the way for Yao Ming's heralded debut as the top selection in the 2002 NBA Draft.

The past few months have been a struggle for Wang, who was released by the Clippers in November after playing only twice this season.

The Heat signed Wang but a sore right knee sidelined him for 17 days in December and a sprained right ankle kept him out for five weeks until March 10.

In addition, Wang Zhizhi, who represented China at the Atlanta and Sydney Olympics, is unlikely to make his third Olympic appearance after having been at odds with the Chinese basketball authorities in the past two summers. 
 
(CRI April 2, 2004)