As the pregnancy of Yao Ming's wife is now confirmed, some people are speculating that the couple will give birth to the tallest basketball player in China. But at least one expert does not agree, saying it is unlikely his child will be any taller than he.

The expert cited formulae to predict the height of Yao's future child: son's height = (father's height + mother's height +13cm)/2; daughter's height = (father's height + mother's height – 13cm)/2. The error is within 7 centimeters.

Since Yao Ming is 2.26m tall and his wife, Ye Li, is 1.9m tall, a baby boy should grow up to be 2.075-2.215m tall and a baby girl should grow up to be 1.945-2.085m tall, according to the formulae.

"Under normal circumstances, Yao’s future son should be 10-20cm shorter than Yao. There is, of course, possibility that the son could grow to be taller than the father. For instance, Yao is much taller than his father," the expert said.

Ever since Yao and Ye tied the knot in 2007, there have been speculations about their future child's height.