| Tuesday, December 14
By Jeffrey Denberg
Special to ESPN.com |
|
The physical plight of professional athletes rarely has relevance for the middle-aged guy who likes to shoot a few hoops, play some Sunday touch football, a little tennis, a little golf.
|  | | Jackson (left) is feeling better and ready to raise his game. |
Now, for a different story.
Jim Jackson, 28, now of the Atlanta Hawks, is fresh from a series of treatments for severe and debilitating tendinitis in his left knee. Jackson played in extreme pain for about four years, saw the quadriceps muscle in his leg weaken because he could not bear the exercises to strengthen it, saw his ability to defend and jump diminish.
Jackson got by on skill and guile, but certainly not on athleticism.
"He was always in pain," said Bimbo Coles, Jackson's teammate when both played at Golden State in 1997-98.
"Definitely limited last season," Jackson's friend Isaiah Rider said of their season together in Portland.
Traded to the Hawks and given the freedom by Lenny Wilkens to expand his game, Jackson became increasingly frustrated because his condition limited his versatility. That's when he decided to act on an idea he'd picked up from Lee Mayberry, who had gotten relief at a clinic in Canada that used sound waves to heal tender, aching joints in similar fashion to the lithotripsy treatments that bombard and destroy kidney stones. Known by many as "shock wave" therapy, the treatment was first used successfully in Europe and now in Canada. It has not yet been approved in the U.S. by the FDA.
Jackson, who played 35 minutes a game in extreme pain for two seasons, 20 minutes last year with Portland, initiated contact with therapists in Vancouver and Toronto, eventually going to the Sonorex Therapy Center last week for a series of three eight-minute treatments.
"Jim's terrific, a throwback guy," trainer Chris Tucker said. "He did all the investigation on this. He started it, and then when he was up there, I went out and rented a gym so he could practice some. I gotta tell you, I'm impressed."
So is Jackson. His discomfort is markedly diminished and will continue to improve for several weeks, he said.
"It was well worth taking the time away (two games, five days)," he said after scoring 21 points in 38 minutes Saturday against Cleveland. "I was moving with a lot more freedom. My timing wasn't what it should be. I expected that, but the pain wasn't there nearly as much."
Now, comes the tough part, he said. He has to learn to enjoy good health.
"I have to make the adjustment. You're so used to compensating for the pain that you don't play the game the way you did when you were healthy. So, now I have to get that part back. The key is the strengthen my (left quadriceps muscle). It wasn't strong and I couldn't do the exercises I needed because when you've got pain in your knee like I had, you simply can't do the work. It will do a lot. It's a challenge, but it's a good challenge."
As for the weekend elbow, Vancouver scout Larry Riley had the treatments and reports his tennis elbow much improved.
Around the league
The Milwaukee Bucks can be fun to watch, but they aren't going to stop anybody, and that means they aren't going to be more than marginally successful this season.
"I don't think we have the defensive players we had in Seattle," George Karl explains. "In Seattle, you had Gary Payton. You had Nate McMillan. You had Vincent Askew. You had solid defensive players at almost every position. I don't think we're blessed with that yet."
No, the Bucks are built for offense. "When you think of Glenn Robinson, you think scoring. You think of Sam Cassell, you think numbers. You think Ray Allen, you think shooting and running," Karl says.
Consider a recent game with Detroit. Allen, Cassell and Robinson, who account for about 62 points a game, surrendered a combined 71 to Grant Hill, Jerry Stackhouse and Lindsey Hunter. The Bucks lost by 19.
Doc Rivers deserves a lot of credit for the way his Orlando team competes, but the Magic are fighting an uphill battle at the box office -- and losing. The club is drawing franchise record-low numbers, an average of 13,587 this season. That marks a steady decline from the peak season, 1995-96, when 17,248 saw them play nightly.
Of course, there is no good excuse for Patrick Ewing's boorish behavior toward the New York press corps. But you have to understand the city's tabloids don't make it easy on Mr. Gold Club Gold Bucks.
Last week when Ewing's willingness to play was in question, the back page headline in the Daily News screamed, "BIG 'BABY.' "
The same day, the Post countered with, "GET BACK TO WORK!"
Like everyone else in New York, Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy learned Ewing would play last Friday when his old Georgetown coach John Thompson said so on TBS.
Marcus Camby isn't happy losing minutes to Ewing. "I don't know," Camby said. "We got guys coming back hurt and going back into the starting lineup. I came back hurt and I'm still on the bench.
Annoyed? A little, Marcus said. "It's not a real big deal. But I mean, guys have been playing well. It's taking guys who have been playing well and converting them to the bench. It's crazy. But it remains to be seen how it works out."
Here's Charles Oakley's response to stories recounting Gold Club visits by Ewing, Dennis Rodman and Oakley, now with Toronto.
"What's the big deal? If I want to go there, I'll go there. I might take the (U.S.) President with me next time, or Howard Stern or somebody. It's like going to the mall. It's for people who want to spend money and who have money."
Oakley said he has nothing to hide. "I answer my own questions. I answer my own door. What's the big deal?"
Agent Don Cronson says rumors of an Anthony Mason trade are dead "right now. Will it stay that way?" Bob Bass and Paul Silas refuse to look ahead. Coach and player had an emotional meeting over Mason's reduced role in Charlotte's offense. Then, Derrick Coleman came down with the flu and Mason produced in a big way against Golden State -- 21 points, 12 rebounds, eight assists and five steals.
"Like I've said, I always welcome the challenge," Mason said. "That's part of my job to step up, especially if we're not hitting on all cylinders or don't have all cylinders. I enjoy it wherever (the position is). I just want to get the ball."
Jeffrey Denberg, who covers the NBA for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com. |  |
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