| | EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Just 3½ months after undergoing a
kidney transplant, Sean Elliott believes there's an 80 percent chance he'll return to the San Antonio Spurs this season.
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| Elliott |
"For this (season), it's 80-20," Elliott said Thursday night
as the Spurs opened a four-game road trip against the New Jersey
Nets. "I think it would be a great statement for a lot of people
if I could come back and play professional basketball."
Elliott received a kidney from his brother, Noel, in a
transplant operation in mid-August. He is currently working as a
color commentator on the team's broadcasts and has been cleared by
doctors to run and get in shape.
Elliott's recovery has progressed so well that he jumped into a five-on-five scrimmage Monday in San Antonio before the team's trainers and strength coaches told him it probably wasn't the best idea.
"I was forcing the issue a little bit because I have been
cleared for some friendly contact," Elliott said. "They were
trying to hold me back, which is understandable, but at the same
time I know my body -- so I know I can get out there and mix it up a
little bit without being concerned about it."
Elliott needed the transplant because of a condition known as focal segmental glomerular sclerosis, an illness that prevents the kidneys from properly filtering waste from the blood.
Without the transplant, Elliott was weeks away from having to undergo dialysis.
Spurs coach and general manager Gregg Popovich has vowed to make
Elliott seek the advice and opinions of several doctors before he
would allow a comeback, and Elliott expects the team to be
extremely cautious about clearing him to play.
"He just got his life back, and taking a chance with that kind of scares me," Popovich said.
Spurs point guard Avery Johnson said Elliott's 80-20 forecast was probably too optimistic, a feeling shared by his teammates.
Elliott, however, sounds pretty certain that he'll be back within a couple of months.
"We pretty much have (a target date for a comeback) set, but
it's guarded by secrecy," Elliott said. "A lot of people have a
lot of preconceived notions about my recovery and the perils of
what I was going through, and that hasn't left people. A lot of
people still think if I take a bump or a fall then something bad is
going to happen, and that's not the case."
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