Sonics Update

  • Friday, December 7, 2001 9:00pm
  • Sports

Opponent: Portland Trail Blazers

When: 7 p.m.

Where: The Rose Garden, Portland, Ore.

TV: KING (Channel 5)

Radio: KJR (950 AM)

Probable starters: For Seattle – forwards Vin Baker (6 feet, 11 inches) and Rashard Lewis (6-10), center Calvin Booth (6-11), guards Brent Barry (6-6) and Gary Payton (6-4). For Portland – forwards Ruben Patterson (6-5) and Rasheed Wallace (6-11), center Dale Davis (6-11), guards Bonzi Wells (6-5) and Damon Stoudamire (5-10).

Injury update: Though he is eligible to come off the injured list Wednesday, Desmond Mason says it’s too soon to know if his sprained right knee will be ready then.

Mason, who was hurt in Sunday’s game against Milwaukee when Bucks forward Anthony Mason fell against his leg, has yet to return to practice. He is continuing to receive treatment, and team doctors are evaluating his knee each day.

The medical staff has suggested that Mason return with a knee brace, but the second-year player dislikes that proposal. “I’d rather wait until I know it’s ready,” he said.

Mason was hurt in the first quarter of Sunday’s game, then returned in the second quarter. He played well the rest of the way, but says his knee began to hurt in the second half. Mason was limping noticeably as he walked from the arena after the game.

Still, he said, returning to the court did not compound his injury. “The outcome would have been the same,” he said.

Center Calvin Booth, meanwhile, is gamely trying to play on a sore right ankle. Booth sprained his ankle in the team’s final exhibition game, and there is now tendinitis in the joint.

“Some days it feels better than others,” Booth said. “I’ll just stick with the treatment, and hopefully we can get it to go away and stay away. I’ve just got to roll with it and keep on playing.”

Booth admits the injury is frustrating, but so are Seattle’s other early-season injuries. “I just want our whole team to get to full strength so we can see what we can do,” he said.

Part of the game: Playing with pain is part of the cost of being an NBA athlete, Sonics coach Nate McMillan said. It’s something of a time-honored tradition, which is why several former players – Phil Jackson and Paul Westphal are good examples – don’t move so well.

Competing with nagging injuries “is what we get paid to do,” said McMillan, who moves gingerly himself on some days. “It’s like I’ve told these guys, we get paid to bang up our bodies so when we become 50 we can’t walk.”

Media savvy: Like most NBA coaches, McMillan is cautious in his dealings with the media. Sometimes he says critical things about his team and even makes references to certain players, but “normally I’m speaking the truth,” he said.

“I’ve talked to them about it before I talk to (the media) about it. I wouldn’t say anything just to start a story in the paper. I wouldn’t try to embarrass anyone.

“What I’m asking from our players, they’re very capable of giving to us. I would never try to embarrass somebody or get them upset by going through the papers to get them to play.”

Rich Myhre

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