San Antonio Spurs guard
Gary Neal has had a rough time of it lately.
Neal, 28, has suffered a lacerated finger due to a suitcase zipper, a torn-up forehead after a run-in with his medicine cabinet, and a scar on his abdomen from an infected appendix. And this was all in the last 15 months.
But all of those things seem like a walk in the park compared to the pain Neal is now feeling from plantar fasciitis and
Achilles tendonitis in his left foot.
Neal told the Express-News after Sunday's 11-75 victory over Detroit, "I just have to keep treating it and keep trying to push it out. Not making any excuses. If you're on the court, you're healthy enough to play."
Neal has been dealing with the pain all season and it's negatively affected his scoring numbers. He's averaging career-lows at 40.8 percent and 35.7 percent from the 3-point range. The third-year bench player could see his free-agency value go down at the end of this season because of it.
When Neal is feeling healthy, he is known as a lethal and quick-strike scorer. The team's official medical report has him listed with tightness in his left calf, which is only partially true.
Neal guesses it has been since late November that he's been playing in pain. It's been so long that he's forgotten what it feels like to play pain-free. Neal watched footage from the February 22nd loss against the
Golden State Warriors and realized that overcoming injuries is not just mind over matter.
"I went for a layup and didn't even jump," Neal commented.
Neal has a history of being consistent: he averaged 9.8 points as a rookie and 9.9 points last season and shot 41.9 percent both seasons from the 3-point range. In the 14 games played in November, Neal shot 47.7 percent and averaged 11.6 points, tying for the highest month of his career. He hasn't been over 38.8 percent since.
Coach Gregg Popvich sidelined Neal for three games after the game against Golden State hoping his injuries would heal with rest. And like we've seen in the recent past with basketball players and plantar fasciitis, the time off just didn't cut it.
"It doesn't do much but make you lose your conditioning," said Neal.
Neal had originally planned on taking time off in December to rest his foot, but injuries to small forwards
Kawhi Leonard and
Stephen Jackson put him in the starting lineup. He felt "It was an opportunity for me to start and show what I was capable of. So I kind of just treated the injury and played through it. Before I knew it, I'm 45 games in with the injury bothering me."
Neal has consulted with team doctors and fellow teammates
Tony Parker (who is currently out four weeks with an ankle sprain) and
Tim Duncan, both of whom have plantar fasciitis in the past. Neal believes he will need a complete offseason to recover. He's done an orthotic in his left shoe, iced, and stretched with little relief thus far.
Neal is hoping to make it to the end of the season and be able to bargain for a new contract. More than that, he's hoping to be pain-free soon.
"Honestly, I'll be able to fight through this injury and stay on the court, and get to playing my basketball," he said.
Reference:
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