The Official Site of TJ Ford

Mon, Feb 4th 2008, 09:22

Raptors' Ford finds help getting back on his feet

The first day they were together, John Lucas looked at T.J. Ford and saw the boy he had known since he was 10 years old. Ford had been a rival of John’s own son, John Lucas III, in Houston, and the two men were friends. And so John Lucas tried to get T.J. Ford to quit playing basketball.

“I said, ‘Why don’t you quit?’ “ Lucas said from Miami, where he watched the Raptors and Ford practise yesterday. “I said you’ve got money and your health, so why don’t you quit?’ And T.J. said, ‘I don’t want to quit.’ And I said, ‘OK. Let’s get to work.’

“I needed to know how bad he wanted to play … and I think after [seeing him in] practice [yesterday], he’s closer [to a return] than he even thought he was.”

Lucas, the former NBA player and coach, has worked with Ford in a Houston gym for the last three weeks after Ford’s latest neck injury, suffered on Dec. 11 when his Toronto Raptors played the Atlanta Hawks. Ford stole the ball late, drove in against Hawks forward Al Horford and fooled the 6-foot-10, 245-pound rookie. Horford’s huge hand hit Ford’s forehead from behind, snapping his neck back.

Ford has a harrowing history of neck injuries. He was taken off on a spinal board. He thought his NBA career might be over.

It’s not. And John Lucas is one reason why.

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