It has been three months -- Sept. 21 if you are counting, and this eager man-child can't help counting -- since his big Mercedes smashed into a tree and exploded. Three months since he came within a fraction of an inch, literally, of becoming a quadriplegic.

Even in the darkest times DerMarr Johnson could manage a smile, and on a Tuesday night when he is in Philips Arena surrounded by the game he loves and the people who are such an integral part of his life, the 22-year-old Atlanta Hawks guard can talk health with an ailing friend and then switch back to his own condition.

	DerMarr Johnson no longer has to wear a neck brace.

"I'm doing good, real good," Johnson said. "I'm doing exercises to strengthen my neck. I'm just starting to work on other parts of my body. Things are moving along."

There are questions about Johnson's future. Doctors express doubts about his ability to return to the court. They wonder if his injuries can withstand the pounding of basketball games, whether the healed cracks in his spine can withstand tumbles and the often-frightening collisions of the NBA.

Johnson says yes.

"I'll play again," he said. "I'll do everything I have to do to get back and I'll do it. I believe it."

On the morning of Sept. 21, Johnson had not a care in the world. He was entering his third season as an NBA player, earning $2 million with the Hawks and with the anticipation of a stunning career most likely as Atlanta's starting shooting guard.

At 6-foot-9, he had the size as well as the quickness and shooting range to develop into quite a player. Through a series of voluntary workouts, Johnson clearly had been penciled in as a starter, and he was going to be one for a long, long time.

Then came Sept. 21. At 5 a.m., the big, late-model sedan sped down Cascade Road in southwest Atlanta with Johnson at the wheel and James Burnett and Floyd Williams as his passengers.

They apparently were all sober but sleepy after a night of clubbing. "I must have closed my eyes for a moment. Dozed off," Johnson recalled. "Next thing I knew I was being pulled out of the car."

He thinks that's what happened. This much is certain: The car slammed against a tree and caught fire. Williams pulled the other two men out before the Mercedes Benz exploded into flames.

	“	I remember being pulled from the car and getting away from it and the car exploding. I kind of pulled my legs out and rolled down the hill. ”
		— DerMarr Johnson

"I remember being pulled from the car and getting away from it and the car exploding," Johnson said. "I kind of pulled my legs out and rolled down the hill."

Johnson said he was conscious throughout the aftermath. "I remember somebody driving up to help us and getting in the back of her car," he said. "I remember being driven to the hospital and bleeding from a cut on my head and laying down on a hospital bed."

He is very specific about his sobriety. "We weren't drunk. We weren't drinking," he said. "Any of the three of us could have been designated drivers."

There is no corroboration in this case. Major Wanda Pfeiffer of the South Fulton police department said this week that a toxicology report has not yet been delivered for what is considered a low-priority case.

So what were Johnson and his friends up to in the hours approaching dawn? "Not much," he said.

Johnson came within a fraction of an inch of becoming a quadriplegic, suffering fractures to four vertebrae in his neck. Doctors say he is very fortunate to have lost only a single basketball season to this catastrophic accident.

Today, Johnson is up and about. He no longer wears a brace, and the halo he wore for six weeks after the accident is long gone. The mobility in his neck is returning rapidly. There are no noticeable limits on his range of motion.

	DerMarr Johnson believes he'll play somewhere in the NBA next season.

"I can wear my clothes and I can go to the games and sit (behind the) bench. I'm busy," he said. I'm working hard."

And he can prepare for an uncertain future. Johnson will not be allowed to play this season, although he does not fully understand why he can't be ready for the end of the season.

Doctors Michael Bernot and Allen McDonald, both orthopedic surgeons, have stated unequivocally that Johnson will recover fully from his accident. However, there is no guarantee that he will regain all of his athleticism.

The Hawks had so many questions that on Thursday they declined to pick up his contract at $3,072,792 for next season -- a salary with financial implications that double because of the NBA luxury tax -- and risk the chance he will not be able to play at a high level or at all.

Johnson said he understands the Hawks' reticence.

"It's a lot money," said Johnson, who isn't angry or bitter about the team's move. "There's a lot they don't know, but I'll play somewhere next season."

"But one thing I've learned. Bones heal," he added. "I broke my arm twice. That healed. Bones break and they heal. I don't understand why I can't play this season when the bones heal.

"It's hard, waiting, sitting. I really want to play. I want to play now. I'm impatient. But they say eight to 10 months. I don't understand that."

This has been a difficult time for Johnson. Following the accident came the death of his father, the heart attack of his college coach, Bob Huggins of Cincinnati, and now the Hawks' decision not to take his option.

"I've just got to deal with it all," Johnson said. "But I will play again. I know it."

Jeffrey Denberg, who covers the NBA for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.