TJ Ford Weighs Risks Of Returning to NBA

[thug3]

Chance of spinal injury if he's hit again, so Raptors point guard says the decision is his

SAN ANTONIO, Tex.–Of course T.J. Ford is a bit scared, who wouldn't be?

The last time he was on a basketball court he left it on a stretcher, the memories of past injuries washing over him, concerns about his future as a man and a father clouding his mind.

It can't be easy to make those thoughts go away, to banish them to the recesses of the mind so he can do what he does best: play the game that defines him to many but a game that has to be secondary to his future as a father, a friend, a normally functioning human being.

And because no one can feel what Ford feels nor think what he thinks, he remains on an island, weighing options, considering his future and his place in the world. Some day, it will become clear.

Some day. A day that has yet to arrive.

"I don't think anybody can give me advice because nobody is actually going through what I'm going through," Ford said here yesterday. "Nobody's experienced it as many times as I've experienced it. People just there for me, giving me support, they can't tell you to either or because they don't know.

"It's a tough situation but I think I will definitely bounce back."

The "it" is the lingering threat to his long-term health every time he takes a jolt to his spinal cord. He has the degenerative condition known as spinal stenosis which is a narrowing of the spinal column around the spinal cord. He is more susceptible to the sort of "stinger" pain that radiates throughout his body after a jolt to his back.

That's exactly what he felt after a collision with Josh Howard in Dallas in November, and exactly what he worried about after Atlanta's Al Horford knocked him to the court earlier this month.

The difference? He walked off the court in Dallas, he left the floor in Atlanta on a stretcher.

"Yeah, it scared me," he said. "I always said I never wanted that to happen again. I didn't care whatever else happened, but never that. I put a lot of pride in not having to do that again.

"To put a scare in my family in general. We play so many games and they're not there. Imagine your mom or your dad seeing that on TV. It's tough, you know."

He's not sure when he'll play again, or even practise, but he sounds determined to get back as soon as his mind will let him

He's seen doctors in Los Angeles and New York and Toronto, seeking opinions. The decisions will be his.

"My opinion is, whatever the doctor says, you've got to take it in," he said. "... You just take their opinion and you make whatever decisions you want to make from it."

The decision to return is entirely Ford's. The Raptors are willing to give him as much time as he needs before deciding it's time to practise again. For now, he'll be with the team, but he won't play until he's ready. In his mind.

"I think now my body just needs to just recover and just relax and that's all I want to do right now just relax," he said. "It's tough, being taken off on a stretcher, it's definitely tough to hop right back into it a week later, just knowing your body went into a big shock. Right now, it's just letting my body calm down and when I feel like my body's right, we'll go to the next step."

Which will be a lot like his last ones. Ford, all 6 feet and 165 pounds of him, knows he has to be more careful than most; he finds it odd that when he finally played a little less recklessly, he got hurt. He said he was actually trying to avoid Horford when he was knocked down the last time.

"I think my game has got a lot smarter, the only bad thing is a smart move cost me, that's all it was," he said. "There's nothing I can say or do about it, it happened. That's a move where I thought I was really protecting (myself from) the collision or getting hit. It so happened his judgment was a little off and it caused an injury for me."

TheStar.com | Sports | T.J. Ford weighs risks involved in returning to game he loves

[Vucko]

ford is a huge contributor to the raps i really hope he recovers soon. on the bright side calderon is playing amazing and only getting better

[Jalal]

ford is too good to leave the game... but his body is so fragile, he needs to hit the gym or something.. put on an extra 20 pounds for a try, especially in the back