The last time we saw T.J. Ford in a basketball uniform, he was lying motionless in crumpled heap beneath the basket after absorbing a hard foul from the Hawks’ Al Horford. It was a frightening moment, only amplified by Ford’s history of neck and spinal injuries.
Those images have been dancing in T.J. Ford’s mind as he recovers from the fall and tries to decide what the future holds for him.
“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.”
The Toronto Raptors are giving Ford – who has consulted three renowned doctors for opinions on the injury – all of the time that he needs to make a decision regarding his return.
The guy is still very young and could have a long and successful career ahead of him; you almost have to wonder, though, why he would even risk coming back. Who knows if he’ll come out of his next collision unscathed.
